uvÄha kṛṣṇo bhagavÄn
Å›rÄ«dÄmÄnaá¹ parÄjitaḥ
vṛṣabhaṠbhadrasenas tu
pralambo rohiṇī-sutam

 uvÄha - carried; kṛṣṇaḥ - Lord Kṛṣṇa; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; Å›rÄ«dÄmÄnam - ÅšrÄ«dÄmÄ; parÄjitaḥ - being defeated; vṛṣabham - Vṛṣabha; bhadrasenaḥ - Bhadrasena; tu - and; pralambaḥ - Pralamba; rohiṇī-sutam - BalarÄma.


Text

“ ‘When Kṛṣṇa was defeated by ÅšrÄ«dÄmÄ, He had to carry him on His shoulders. Similarly, Bhadrasena carried Vṛṣabha, and Pralamba carried BalarÄma, the son of Rohiṇī.’

Purport

This verse is from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.18.24). When all the cowherd boys were playing in the forest of Vá¹›ndÄvana, the demon PralambÄsura appeared in order to kidnap Kṛṣṇa and BalarÄma. The asura appeared disguised in the form of a cowherd boy, but Kṛṣṇa could understand his trick. Kṛṣṇa therefore divided all the cowherd boys into two parties. One party belonged to BalarÄma, and the other party belonged to Kṛṣṇa Himself. Ultimately Kṛṣṇa was defeated in this play, and according to the wager, the defeated party had to carry the victorious party on their shoulders. Kṛṣṇa had to carry ÅšrÄ«dÄmÄ on His shoulders, and Bhadrasena had to carry Vṛṣabha. The demon PralambÄsura had to carry BalarÄma, and when BalarÄma mounted his shoulders, the demon ran far away. Finally the demon began to expand his body to a gigantic size, and BalarÄma understood that he intended to kill Him. BalarÄma immediately struck the demon’s head with His strong fist, and the demon fell down dead as if he were a snake whose head had been smashed.