78 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately attacked Krsna with his
pointed, sharp beaks and quickly swallowed Him up. When Krsna was
thus swallowed, all the boys, headed by Balarama, became almost breath-
less, as if they had died. But when the Bakasura demon was swallowing
up Krsna, he felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to
the glowing effulgence of Krsna. The demon quickly threw Krsna up and
tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beaks. Bakasura did not know
that although Krsna was playing the part of a child of Nanda Maharaja,
He was still the original father of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe.
The child of mother Yasoda, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the demi-
gods and who is the maintainer of saintly persons, caught hold of the
beaks of the great gigantic duck and, before His cowherd boy friends,
bifurcated his mouth, just as a child very easily splits a‘ blade of grass.
From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered flowers like
the cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as a token of their congratula-
tions. Accompanying the showers of flowers was a vibration of bugles,
drums and conchshells.

When the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the celestial
sounds, they became struck with wonder. When they saw Krsna, they all,
including Balarama, were so pleased that it seemed as if they had regained
their very source of life. As soon as they saw Krsna coming towards them,
they one after another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their
chests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and
began to return home.

When they arrived home, they began to speak of the wonderful activities
of the son of Nanda. When the gopis and cowherd men all heard the story
from the boys, they felt great happiness because naturally they loved
Krsna, and hearing about His glories and victorious activities, they became
still more affectionate toward Him. Thinking that the child Krsna was
saved from the mouth of death, they began to see His face with great love
and affection. They were full of anxieties, but they could not turn their
faces from the vision of Krsna. The gopis and the men began to converse
amongst themselves about how the child Krsna was attacked in so many
ways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the demons were
killed and Krsna was uninjured. They continued to converse amongst
themselves about how so many great demons in such fierce bodies attacked
Krsna to kill Him, but by the grace of Hari, they could not cause evena
slight injury. Rather, they died like small flies in a fire. Thus they remem-
bered the words of Gargamuni who foretold, by dint of his vast knowledge
of the Vedas and astrology, that this boy would be attacked by many
