4 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

cave and took away the jewel. Jambavan had been a great devotee of the
Lord since the time of Lord Ramacandra, so he did not take the valuable
jewel as something he very much needed. He gave it to his young son to
play with as a toy.

In the city, when Satrajit’s younger brother Prasena did not return
from the forest with the jewel, Satrajit became very upset. He did not
know that his brother had been killed by a lion and that the lion had been
killed by Jambavan. He was thinking instead that because Krsna wanted
that jewel and it had not been delivered to Him, Krsna might have there-
fore taken the jewel away from Prasena by force and killed him. This idea
grew into a rumor which was being spread by Satrajit in every part of
Dvaraka.

The false rumor that Krsna had killed Prasena and had taken away the
jewel was spread everywhere like wildfire. Krsna did not like to be defamed
in that way, and therefore He decided that He would go to the forest and
find the Syamantaka jewel, taking with Him some of the inhabitants of
Dvaraka. Along with important men of Dvaraka, Krsna went to search out
Prasena, the brother of Satrajit, and He found him dead, killed by the lion.
At the same time, Krsna also found the lion which had been killed by
Jambavan, who is generally called by the name Rksa. It was found that the
lion had been killed by the hand of Rksa without the assistance of any
weapon. Krsna and the citizens of Dvaraka then found in the forest a
great tunnel, said to be the path to Rksa’s house. Krsna knew that the
inhabitants of Dvaraka would be afraid to enter the tunnel; therefore He
asked them to remain outside, and He Himself entered the dark tunnel
alone to find Rksa, Jambavan. After entering the tunnel, Krsna saw that
the very valuable jewel known as Syamantaka had been given to the
son of Rksa as a toy, and in order to take the jewel from the child, He
went there and stood before him. When the nurse who was taking care of
Rksa’s child saw Krsna standing before her, she was afraid, thinking the
valuable Syamantaka jewel might be taken away by Him. She began to
cry loudly out of fear.

Hearing the nurse crying, Jambavan appeared on the scene in a very
angry mood. Jambavan was actually a great devotee of Lord Krsna, but
because he was in an angry mood he could not recognize his master; he
thought Him to be an ordinary man. This brings to mind the statement of
the Bhagavad-gita in which the Lord advises Arjuna to get free from anger,
greed and lust in order to rise up to the spiritual platform. Lust, anger and
greed run parallel in the heart and check one’s progress on the spiritual path.

Not recognizing his master, Jambavan first challenged Him to fight.
There was then a great fight between Krsna and Jambavan in which they
