278 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

should be plundered and all their riches taken away. Nanda Maharaja
should immediately be arrested and killed for his cunning behavior, and
the rascal Vasudeva should also be killed without delay. Also my father,
Ugrasena, who has always supported my enemies against my will, should
be killed.”

When Kamsa spoke in this way, Lord Krsna became very angry with
him, and within a second He jumped over the high guards of King Kamsa.
Kamsa was prepared for Krsna’s attack, for he knew from the beginning
that He was to be the cause of his death. He immediately unsheathed his
sword and prepared to answer the challenge of Krsna with sword and
shield. As Kamsa wielded his sword up and down, hither and thither, Lord
Krsna, the supreme powerful Lord, caught hold of him with great force.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the shelter of the complete
creation and from whose lotus navel the whole creation is manifested,
immediately knocked the crown from the head of Kamsa and grabbed his.
long hair in His hand. He then dragged Kamsa from his seat to the wrestling
dias and threw him down. Then Krsna at once straddled his chest and
began to strike him over and over again. Simply from the strokes of His
fist, Kamsa lost his vital force.

In order to assure His parents that Kamsa was dead, Lord Krsna dragged
him just as a lion drags an elephant after killing it. On sight of this, there
was a great roaring sound from all sides, as some spectators expressed
their jubilation and others cried in lamentation. From the day Kamsa
heard that he would be killed by the eighth son of Devaki, he was always
thinking of Krsna twenty-four hours a day without any stoppage—even
while he was eating, while he was walking, while he was breathing—and
naturally he got the blessing of liberation. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated,
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah: a person gets his next life according to the
thoughts in which he is always absorbed. Kamsa was thinking of Krsna
with His wheel, which means Narayana who holds a wheel, conchshell,
lotus flower and club.

According to the opinion of authorities, Kamsa attained sariipya-mukti
after death, that is to say he attained the same form as Narayana (Visnu).
On the Vaikuntha planets all the inhabitants have the same bodily features
as Narayana. After his death, Kamsa attained liberation and was promoted
to Vaikunthaloka. From this instance we can understand that even a person
who thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an enemy gets
liberation and a place in a Vaikuntha planet, so what to speak of the pure
devotees who are always absorbed in favorable thoughts of Krsna? Even
an enemy who is killed by Krsna gets liberation and is placed in the
