CHAPTER TWELVE

The Killing of the Demon Aghasura

This chapter describes in detail Krgna’s pastime of killing Aghasura.
One day Krsna wanted to enjoy a picnic lunch within the forest, and
therefore He went out early into the forest with the other cowherd boys,
accompanied by their respective groups of calves. While they were enjoy-
ing their picnic, Aghasura, the younger brother of Piitand and Bakasura,
appeared there, desiring to kill Krsna and His companions. The demon,
who had been sent by Karnsa, assumed the form of a python, expanding
himself to a length of eight miles and the height of a mountain, his
mouth seeming to extend from the surface of the earth to the heavenly
planets. Having assumed this feature, Aghdsura lay on the road. Krgna’s
friends, the cowherd boys, thought that the demon’s form was one of the
beautiful spots of Vrndavana. Thus they wanted to enter within the
mouth of this gigantic python. The gigantic figure of the python became
a subject for their sporting pleasure, and they began to laugh, confident
that even if this figure were dangerous, Krsna was there to protect them.
In this way, they proceeded toward the mouth of the gigantic figure.
Krsna knew everything about Aghdsura, and therefore He wanted to
forbid His friends to enter the demon’s mouth, but in the meantime all
the cowherd boys, along with their groups of calves, entered the mouth
of that gigantic figure. Krsna was waiting outside, and Aghdsura was
waiting for Krsna, thinking that as soon as Krgna entered he would close
his mouth so that everyone would die. While waiting for Krsna, he
refrained from swallowing the boys. In the meantime, Krsna was think-
ing of how to save the boys and kill Aghasura. Thus He entered the
mouth of the gigantic asura, and when He was within the demon’s mouth
along with His friends, He expanded His body to such an extent that the
asura suffocated and died. After this, Krsna, by casting His nectarean
glance upon His friends, brought them back to life, and with pleasure
they all came out unhurt. Thus Krsna encouraged all the demigods, and
they expressed their pleasure and happiness. For a crooked, sinful per-
son there is no scope for sdyujya-mukti, or becoming one with the

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