CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
After being instructed by Kaášsa, the demon KeĹÄŤ assumed the form of a terrible horse. He entered the area of VášndÄvana with the speed of the mind, his great mane flying and his hooves digging up the earth. He began to whinny and terrify the whole forest. KášášŁáša saw that the demon was terrifying all the residents of VášndÄvana with his whinnying and his tail wheeling in the sky like a big cloud. KášášŁáša could understand that the horse was challenging Him to fight. The Lord accepted his challenge and stood before the KeĹÄŤ demon, calling him to fight. The horse then ran toward KášášŁáša, making a horrible sound like a roaring lion, his jaws spread wide open as if to swallow the whole sky. KeĹÄŤ rushed toward the Lord with great speed and tried to trample Him with his legs, which were strong, forceful and as hard as stone. KášášŁáša, however, immediately caught hold of his legs and thus baffled him. KášášŁáša was somewhat angry, and thus He began to whirl the horse around. After a few rounds, He contemptuously threw him a hundred yards away, just as Garuá¸a throws a big snake. Thrown by KášášŁáša, the horse immediately passed out, but after a little while he regained consciousness and with great anger and force again rushed toward KášášŁáša with his mouth open. As soon as KeĹÄŤ reached Him, KášášŁáša pushed His left arm within the horseâs mouth, and it looked as though a big snake had entered a hole in the field. The horse felt great pain because KášášŁášaâs arm felt to him like a hot iron rod. Immediately his teeth fell out. KášášŁášaâs arm within the mouth of the horse at once began to expand, and KeĹÄŤâs throat choked up. As the great horse suffocated, perspiration appeared on his body, and he threw his legs hither and thither. As his last breath came, his eyeballs bulged in their sockets and he passed stool and urine simultaneously. Thus the vital force of his life expired. When the horse was dead, his mouth became loose, and KášášŁáša could extract His arm without difficulty. He did not feel any surprise that the KeĹÄŤ demon was killed so easily, but the demigods in the sky were amazed, and out of their great appreciation they offered KášášŁáša greetings by showering flowers.
After this incident, NÄrada Muni, the greatest of all devotees, came to see KášášŁáša in a solitary place and began to talk with Him. âMy dear Lord KášášŁáša,â he said, âYou are the unlimited Supersoul, the supreme controller of all mystic powers, the Lord of the whole universe, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead. You are the resting place of the cosmic manifestation, the master of all the devotees and the Lord of everyone. My dear Lord, as the Supersoul of all living entities, You remain concealed within their hearts exactly as fire remains concealed in every piece of fuel. You are the witness of all the activities of the living entities, and You are the supreme controller within their hearts. You are self-sufficient; before the creation, You existed, and by Your energy You have created all the material elements. According to Your perfect plan, this material world is created by the interaction of the modes of nature, and by You it is maintained and annihilated. Although You are unaffected by all these activities, You are the supreme controller eternally. My dear Lord, You have advented Yourself on the surface of this earth just to kill all the so-called kings who are actually demons. These hobgoblins are cheating people in the dress of the princely order. You have advented Yourself to fulfill Your own statement that You come within this material world just to protect the principles of religion and annihilate unwanted miscreants. My dear Lord, I am therefore sure that the day after tomorrow I shall see demons like CÄášĹŤra, Muᚣášika and the other wrestlers and elephants, as well as Kaášsa himself, killed by You. I shall see this with my own eyes. After this I shall be able to see the killing of other demons, like Ĺaáš kha, Yavana, Mura and NarakÄsura. I shall also see how You take away the pÄrijÄta flower from the kingdom of heaven and how You defeat the King of heaven himself.
âMy dear Lord,â NÄrada Muni continued, âI shall then be able to see how You marry princesses, the daughters of chivalrous kings, by paying the price of kᚣatriya strength.â (Whenever a kᚣatriya wants to marry a very beautiful and qualified daughter of a great king, he must fight his competitors and emerge victorious. Then he is given the hand of the princess in charity.)
âI shall also see how You save King Nášga from a hellish condition,â said NÄrada Muni. âThis You shall enact in DvÄrakÄ. I shall also be able to see how You get Your wife and the Syamantaka jewel and how You save the son of a brÄhmaáša from death after he has already been transferred to another planet. After this, I will be able to see You kill the Pauášá¸raka demon and burn to ashes the kingdom of KÄĹÄŤ. I will see how You kill the King of Cedi and Dantavakra during the great sacrifice of MahÄrÄja Yudhiᚣášhira. Besides all this, it will be possible for me to see many other chivalrous activities while You remain in DvÄrakÄ. And all these activities performed by Your Grace will be sung by great poets throughout the world. And at the Battle of Kurukᚣetra You will take part as the chariot driver of Your friend Arjuna, and as the invincible death incarnation, eternal time, You will vanquish all belligerents assembled there. I shall see a large number of military forces killed on that battlefield. My Lord, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet. You are situated completely in the transcendental position, in perfect knowledge and bliss. You are complete in fulfilling all Your desires. By exhibiting Your internal potency, You have set up the influence of mÄyÄ. Your unlimited potency cannot even be measured by anyone. My dear Lord, You are the supreme controller. You are under Your own internal potency, and it is simply vain to think that You are dependent on any of Your creations.
âYou have taken birth in the Yadu dynasty, or the VášášŁáši dynasty. Your advent on the surface of the earth in Your original form of eternal blissful knowledge is Your own pastime. You are not dependent on anything but Yourself; therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.â After offering his respectful obeisances to Lord KášášŁáša, NÄrada Muni took permission and left.
NÄrada Muni wanted to impress upon people in general that KášášŁáša is fully independent. His activities, such as His appearance in the family of Yadu or His friendship with Arjuna, do not necessarily oblige Him to act to enjoy their results. They are all pastimes, and for Him they are all play. But for us they are actual, tangible facts.
After He had killed the KeĹÄŤ demon, KášášŁáša returned to tending the cows with His friends in the forest as though nothing had happened. Thus KášášŁáša is eternally engaged in His transcendental activities in VášndÄvana with His friends, the cowherd boys and gopÄŤs, but sometimes He exhibits the extraordinary prowess of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by killing different types of demons.
Later that morning, KášášŁáša went to play with His cowherd boyfriends on the top of the Govardhana Hill. They were imitating the play of thieves and police. Some of the boys became police constables, and some became thieves, and some took the role of lambs. While they were thus enjoying their childhood pastimes, a demon known by the name of VyomÄsura, âthe demon who flies in the sky,â appeared on the scene. He was the son of another great demon, named Maya. These demons can perform wonderful magic. VyomÄsura took the part of a cowherd boy playing as a thief and stole many boys who were playing the parts of lambs. One after another he took away almost all the boys and put them in the caves of the mountain and sealed the mouths of the caves with stones. KášášŁáša could understand the trick the demon was playing; therefore He caught hold of him exactly as a lion catches hold of a lamb. The demon tried to expand himself like a hill to escape arrest, but KášášŁáša did not allow him to get out of His clutches. He was immediately thrown to the ground with great force and killed, just as an animal is killed in the slaughterhouse. After killing the Vyoma demon, Lord KášášŁáša released all His friends from the caves of the mountain. He was then praised by His friends and by the demigods for these wonderful acts. He again returned to VášndÄvana with His cows and friends.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-seventh Chapter of KášášŁáša, âKilling the KeĹÄŤ Demon and VyomÄsura.â