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4/ Deliverance of the Demon Bhaumasura

The story of Bhaumasura—how he kidnapped and made captive 16,000
princesses by collecting them from the palaces of various kings and how he
was killed by Krsna, the Supreme Lord of wonderful character—is all
described by Sukadeva Gosvamito King Pariksit in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Generally, the demons are always against the demigods. This demon,
Bhaumasura, having become very powerful, took by force the umbrella
from the throne of the demigod Varuna. He also took the earrings of Aditi,
the mother of the demigods. He conquered a portion of heavenly Mount
Meru and occupied the portion which was known as Maniparvata. The
King of the heavenly planets, Indra, therefore came to Dvaraka to com-
plain about Bhaumasura before Lord Krsna.

Hearing this complaint by Indra, the King of heaven, Lord Krsna, ac-
companied by His wife Satyabhama, immediately started for the abode of
Bhaumasura. Both of them rode on the back of Garuda, who flew them to
Pragjyotisapura, the capital city of Bhaumasura. It was not a very easy task
to enter into the city of Pragjyotisapura, because it was very well fortified.
First of all, there were four formidable forts guarding the four directions
of the city, and it was well-protected on all sides by formidable military
strength. The next boundary was a water canal all around the city, and in
addition the whole city was surrounded with electric wires. The next
fortification was of anila, a gaseous substance. After this, there was a net-
work of barbed wiring constructed by a demon of the name Mura. It
appeared that the city was well-protected even in terms of today’s scientific
advancements.

When Krsna arrived, He broke all the forts to pieces by the strokes of
His club, and the military strength scattered here and there by the constant
onslaught of the arrows of Krsna. With His celebrated Sudargana-cakra
He counteracted the electrified boundary; the channels of water and the

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