Deliverance of Paundraka and the King of Kasi 83

Vasudeva. He was dressed in yellow colored silken garments, and the flag
on his chariot carried the symbol of Garuda, exactly imitating Krsna’s. He
had a very valuable helmet on his head, and his earrings, like swordfish,
glittered brilliantly. On the whole, however, his dress and makeup were
clearly imitation. Anyone could understand that he was just like someone
onstage playing the part of Vasudeva in false dress. When Lord Sri Krsna
saw Paundraka imitating His posture and dress, He could not check His
laughter, and thus He laughed with great satisfaction.

The soldiers on the side of King Paundraka began to shower their weap-
ons upon Krsna. The weapons, including various kinds of tridents, clubs,
poles, lances, swords, daggers and arrows, came flying in waves, and Krsna
counteracted them. He smashed not only the weapons but also the soldiers
and assistants of Paundraka, just as during the dissolution of this universe
the fire of devastation burns everything to ashes. The elephants, chariots,
horses, and infantry belonging to the opposite party were scattered by the
weapons of Krsna. The whole battlefield became scattered with the bodies
of animals and chariots. There were fallen horses, elephants, men, asses
and camels. Although the devastated battlefield appeared like the dancing
place of Lord Siva at the time of the dissolution of the world, the warriors
who were on the side of Krsna were very much encouraged by seeing this,
and they fought with greater strength.

At this time, Lord Krsna told Paundraka, ‘“‘Paundraka, you requested Me
to give up the symbols of Lord Visnu, specifically My disc. Now I will give
it up to you. Be careful! You falsely declare yourself to be Vasudeva,
imitating Myself. Therefore no one is a greater fool than you.” From this
statement of Krsna’s it is clear that any rascal who advertises himself as
God is the greatest fool in human society. Krsna continued: “‘Now, Paun-
draka, I shall force you to give up this false representation. You wanted Me
to surrender unto you. Now this is your opportunity. We shall now fight,
and if I am defeated and you become victorious, I shall certainly surrender
unto you.” In this way, after chastising Paundraka very severely, He
smashed his chariot to pieces by shooting an arrow. With the help of His
disc He separated the head of Paundraka from his body, just as Indra
shaves off the peaks of mountains by striking them with his thunderbolt.
Similarly, He also killed the King of Kas with His arrows. Lord Krsna
specifically arranged to throw the head of the King of Kasi into the city of
Ka& itself so that his relatives and family members could see it. This was
done by Krsna just as a hurricane carries a lotus petal here and there. Lord
Krsna killed Paundraka and his friend Kaéiraja on the battlefield, and then
He returned to His capital city, Dvaraka.
