23 / The Killing of Dantavakra,

Vidiratha and Romaharsana

After the demise of Sigupala, Salva and Paundra, another foolish de-
moniac king of the name Dantavakra wanted to kill Krsna in order to
avenge the death of his friend Salva. He became so agitated that he
personally appeared on the battlefield without the proper arms and
ammunition and without even a chariot. His only weapon was his great
anger, which was red-hot. He carried only a club in his hand, but he was
so powerful that when he moved, everyone felt the earth tremble. When
Lord Krsna saw him approaching in a very heroic mood, He imme-
diately got down from His chariot, for it was a rule of military etiquette
that fighting should take place only between equals. Knowing that
Dantavakra was alone and armed with only a club, Lord Krsna responded
similarly and prepared Himself by taking His club in His hand. When
Krsna appeared before him, Dantavakra’s heroic march was immediately
stopped just as the great, furious waves of the ocean are stopped by the
beach.

At that time, Dantavakra, who was the King of Kariisa, stood up firmly
with his club and spoke to Lord Krsna as follows: “It is a great pleasure
and fortunate opportunity, Krsna, that we are facing each other eye to
eye. My dear Krsna, after all, You are my eternal cousin, and I should not
kill You in this way, but unfortunately You have commited a great mistake
by killing my friend Salva. Moreover, You are not satisfied by killing my
friend, but I know that You want to kill me also. Because of Your deter-
mination, I must kill You by tearing You into pieces with my club. Krsna,
although You are my relative, You are foolish. You are our greatest
enemy, so I must kill You today just as a person removes a boil on his
body by a surgical operation. I am always very much obliged to my friends,
and I therefore consider myself indebted to my dear friend Salva. I can
only liquidate my indebtedness to him by killing You.”

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