Srimad Bhagavatam – day 578
Hrishikeshaya namah
Maharishi Śuka continued, “Nanda, Yashoda as well as all Gopis and Gopikas greatly rejoiced that Krishna had returned safely from the demon’s clutches. They spoke of it in great astonishment.
‘Aha! The infant is so fortunate. The demon abstained from swallowing him. What wonder!’- They spoke at length expressing their happiness nevertheless, they could not fathom the real incident that had taken place in the skies.
‘This tiny infant narrowly escaped from becoming food to the giant demon.
Hiṁsraḥ sva-pāpena vihiṁsitaḥ khalaḥ sādhuḥ samatvena bhayād vimucyate
The wicked demon, who was sinful and violent, met death due to his sinful deeds’.
Tṛṇāvarta means ‘he who harms or injures (himsa)’. The demon’s activities were true to his name. Demons in general are indiscriminately wicked and cruel. They gobble living entities they come across as if they are candies.
Many Indians consider their lunch and dinner incomplete without pickles. They can’t live without pickles. They are ignorant of what happens to the stomach due to consuming spicy pickles. Likewise, the demon considers living entities to be like tasty pickles which he gobbles with great relish. As he walks, the streets will be emptied because he gobbles all the people who come in his path. He is like the alligator which keeps its mouth open for long hours in the waters. Swarms of fish enter its mouth. Suddenly it closes its mouth and gobbles the fish.
Here, the residents of Gokula concluded that the demon’s sinful deeds led to his death.
“The quality of equal-mindedness frees the noble saint from every form of fear”.
What is it that can cause fear to a noble saintly person? He sees goodness in everything around him. As such he is free from fear and obtains salvation.
“Hence this infant is undoubtedly noble and saintly”.
Even though Nanda and Yashoda were the parents of Krishna, all Gopis and Gopikas of Gokula loved him like a son. Parental feelings overflowed in them all. How fortunate they were! The Supreme Lord who is beyond the understanding of the mind and senses, who is beyond perception was visible to them in a human form.
“We would perhaps have performed many stringent austerities in the past which have ensured that our son, who is filled with noble saintly qualities, is amidst us here today. Perhaps this boy has performed intense austerities in his previous births due to which he remains alive. Yashoda would have undertaken stringent disciplines in her earlier birth. For this reason, the demon set free this boy who was caught in the clutches of death.
Could we perhaps have worshipped Lord Narayana, who is beyond the grasp of the mind and senses? Could we have performed meritorious deeds such as digging wells for the benefit of others in society? Would we have supplied drinking water to passers-by? Could we have laid roads, planted trees or performed any such meritorious activities as a result of which this boy has safely been returned to us? Aha! What to say of the Lord’s compassion! Perhaps we would have performed Yagnas and Yagas or perhaps we have participated in charitable activities in the past. Perhaps we would have shown compassion to other living entities. If not, how could this infant, who met death face to face, escape from it and return to give happiness to all his near and dear ones?” – they thought.
Narayana