CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Childhood Pastimes
of Krsna
This chapter describes how the inhabitants of Gokula left Gokula and
went to Vrndavana and how Krsna killed Vatsdsura and Bakdsura.

When the yamala-arjuna trees fell, they made a tremendous sound,
like that of falling thunderbolts. Being surprised, Krsna’s father, Nanda,
and the other elderly inhabitants of Gokula went to the spot, where they
saw the fallen trees and Krsna standing between them, bound to the
ulikhala, the wooden mortar. They could find no cause for the trees’
having fallen and Krsna’s being there. They thought this might be the
work of some other asura who had met Krsna on this spot, and they in-
quired from the playmates of Krsna about how the whole incident had
taken place. The children properly described how everything had hap-
pened, but the elderly persons could not believe the story. Some of them,
however, thought that it might be true, since they had already seen many
wonderful incidents in connection with Krsna. Anyway, Nanda Maharaja
immediately released Krsna from the ropes.

In this way, Krsna, at every day and every moment, displayed wonder-
ful incidents to increase the parental affection of Nanda Maharaja and
Yasoda, who thus felt both surprise and joy. The breaking of the yamala-
arjunas was one of these wonderful pastimes.

One day a fruit vendor approached Nanda Mahardja’s house, and
Krsna gathered some food grains with His little palms and went to the
vendor to exchange the grains for fruit. On the way, almost all the grains
fell from His palms, only one or two grains remaining, but the fruit ven-
dor, out of full affection, accepted these grains in exchange for as much
fruit as Krsna could take. As soon as she did this, her basket became
filled with gold and jewels.

Thereafter, all the elderly gopas decided to leave Gokula because they
saw that in Gokula there was always some disturbance. They decided to
go to Vrndavana, Vraja-dhama, and the next day they all departed. In
Vrndavana, both Krsna and Balarama, after finishing Their childhood
pastimes, began to take charge of the calves and send them to the pastur-
ing grounds (go-carana). During this time, a demon named Vatsasura

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