84 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

When Lord Krsna returned to the city of Dvarak4, all the Siddhas from
the heavenly planets were singing the glories of the Lord. As far as
Paundraka was concerned, somehow or other he was always thinking of
Lord Vasudeva by falsely dressing himself in that way, and therefore
Paundraka achieved sdruipya, one of the five kinds of liberation, and was
thus promoted to the Vaikuntha planets, where the devotees have the
same bodily features as Visnu, with four hands holding the four symbols.
Factually, his meditation was concentrated on the Visnu form, but because
he thought himself to be Lord Visnu, it was offensive. After being killed
by Krsna, however, that offense was also mitigated. Thus he was given
sdripya liberation, and he attained the same form as the Lord.

When the head of the King of Ka&i was thrown through the city gate,
people gathered and were astonished to see that wonderful thing. When
they found out that there were earrings on it, they could understand that
it was someone’s head. They conjectured as to whose head it might be.
Some thought it was Krsna’s head because Krsna was the enemy of
Kagiraja, and they calculated that the King of Ka&i might have thrown
Krsna’s head into the city so that the people might take pleasure that the
enemy was killed. But it was finally detected that the head was not Krsna’s,
but that of Kasiraja himself. When it was so ascertained, the queens of the
King of Kasi immediately approached and began to lament the death of
their husband. “My dear lord,” they cried, “upon your death, we have
become just like dead bodies.”

The King of Kasi had one son whose name was Sudaksina. After
observing the ritualistic funeral ceremonies, he took a vow that since Krsna
was the enemy of his father, he would kill Krsna and in this way liquidate
his debts to his father. Therefore, accompanied by a learned priest
qualified to help him, he began to worship Mahadeva, Lord Siva. The
lord of the kingdom of Kasi is Vigvanatha (Lord Siva). The temple of Lord
Vigvanatha is still existing in Varanasi, and many thousands of pilgrims
still gather daily in that temple. By the worship of Sudaksina, Lord Siva
was very much pleased, and he wanted to give a benediction to his devotee.
Sudaksina’s purpose was to kill Krsna, and therefore he prayed for a
specific power by which he could kill Him. Lord Siva advised that
Sudaksina, assisted by the brahmanas, execute the ritualistic ceremony for
killing one’s enemy. This ceremony is also mentioned in some of the
Tantras. Lord Siva informed Sudaksina that if such a black ritualistic
ceremony were performed properly then the evil spirit named Daksinagni
would appear to carry out any order given to him. He would have to be
employed, however, to kill someone other than a qualified brahmana. In
