PLATE FOURTEEN

One day all the boys, including Krsna and Balarama, brought their re-
spective groups of calves to a reservoir of water to drink. First the
animals drank, and then the boys drank also. Right by the reservoir the
boys saw a gigantic body resembling a mountain peak broken and struck
down by a thunderbolt. The boys were afraid even to see such a huge liv-
ing being. The great creature was actually a demon in the form of a duck
with a very sharp beak. His name was Bakasura, and having come to the
reservoir, he immediately swallowed Krsna. When Balarama and the
other boys saw that Krsna had been devoured by the gigantic duck, they
became almost unconscious, like senses without life. (pp. 254-56)
