The Killing of the Elephant Kuvalayapida 273

only drinking the nectar of seeing His face, but were smelling the aroma
and licking up the taste of His body and were embracing Him and Balarama
with their arms. They began to talk among themselves about the two
transcendental brothers. For a long time they had heard of the beauty and
activities of Krsna and Balarama, but now they were personally seeing
Them face to face. They thought that Krsna and Balarama were two
plenary incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana,
who had appeared in Vrndavana.

The citizens of Mathura began to recite Krsna’s pastimes, His birth as
the son of Vasudeva, His being taken into the care of Nanda Maharaja and
his wife in Gokula, and all those events leading to His coming to Mathura.
They spoke of the killing of the demon Piitana, as well as the killing of
Trnavarta, who came as a whirlwind. They also recalled the deliverance of
the twin brothers from within the yamala arjuna trees. The citizens of
Mathura spoke among themselves: Sarikhasura, Keéi, Dhenukasura and
many other demens were killed by Krsna and Balarama in Vrndavana.
Krsna also saved all the cowherd men of Vrndavana from devastating fire.
He chastised the Kaliya snake in the water of Yamuna, and He curbed the
false pride of the heavenly king, Indra. Krsna held up the great Govardhana
Hill in one hand for seven continuous days and saved all the people of
Gokula from incessant rain, hurricane and windstorm.” They also began to
remember other enlivening activities: “The damsels of Vrndavana were so
pleased by seeing Krsna’s beauty and participating in His activities that
they forgot the purpose of material existence. By seeing and thinking of
Krsna, they forgot all sorts of material fatigue.’ The Mathura citizens
discussed the dynasty of Yadu, saying that because of Krsna’s appearance
in this dynasty, the Yadus would remain the most celebrated family in the
whole universe. While they were thus talking about the activities of Krsna
and Balarama, they heard the vibrations of different bands announcing the
wrestling match.

The famous wrestler Canira then began to talk with Krsna and Balarama.
‘““My dear Krsna and Balarama,” he said, “we have heard about Your past
activities. You are great heroes, and therefore the king has called you. We
have heard that Your arms are very strong. The king and all the people
present here desire to see a display of Your wrestling abilities. A citizen
should be obedient and please the mind of the ruling king; acting in that
way, the citizen attains all kinds of good fortune. One who does not care
to act obediently is made unhappy because of the king’s anger. You are
cowherd boys, and we have heard that while tending Your cows in the
forest, You enjoy wrestling with each other. We wish, therefore, for You
