Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Killing of the Demons Kesi and Vyoma
1-2. Sukadeva Gosvami said: The demon Kesi, sent by Kamsa, appeared in Vraja as a great horse. Running with the speed of the mind, he tore up the earth with his hooves. The hairs of his mane scattered the clouds and the demigods’ airplanes throughout the sky, and he terrified everyone present with his loud neighing. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead saw how the demon was frightening His village of Gokula by neighing terribly and shaking the clouds with his tail, the Lord came forward to meet him. Kesi was searching for Krishna to fight, so when the Lord stood before him and challenged him to approach, the horse responded by roaring like a lion.
3. Seeing the Lord standing before him, Kesi ran toward Him in extreme rage, his mouth gaping as if to swallow up the sky. Rushing with furious speed, the unconquerable and unapproachable horse demon tried to strike the lotus-eyed Lord with his two front legs.
4. But the transcendental Lord dodged Kesi’s blow and then with His arms angrily seized the demon by the legs, whirled him around in the air and contemptuously threw him the distance of one hundred bow-lengths, just as Garuda might throw a snake. Lord Krishna then stood there.
5. Upon regaining consciousness Kesi angrily got up, opened his mouth wide and again rushed to attack Lord Krishna. But the Lord just smiled and thrust His left arm into the horse’s mouth as easily as one would make a snake enter a hole in the ground.
6. Kesi’s teeth immediately fell out when they touched the Supreme Lord’s arm, which to the demon felt as hot as molten iron. Within Kesi’s body the Supreme Personality’s arm then expanded greatly, like a diseased stomach swelling because of neglect.
7. As Lord Krishna’s expanding arm completely blocked Kesi’s breathing, his legs kicked convulsively, his body became covered with sweat, and his eyes rolled around. The demon then passed stool and fell on the ground, dead.
8. The mighty-armed Krishna withdrew His arm from Kesi’s body, which now appeared like a long karkatika fruit. Without the least display of pride at having so effortlessly killed His enemy, the Lord accepted the demigods’ worship in the form of flowers rained down from above.
9. My dear King, thereafter Lord Krishna was approached in a solitary place by the great sage among the demigods, Narada Muni. That most exalted devotee spoke as follows to the Lord, who effortlessly performs His pastimes.
10-11. [Narada Muni said:] O Krishna, Krishna, unlimited Lord, source of all mystic power, Lord of the universe! O Vasudeva, shelter of all beings and best of the Yadus! O master, You are the Supreme Soul of all created beings, sitting unseen within the cave of the heart like the fire dormant within kindling wood. You are the witness within everyone, the Supreme Personality and the ultimate controlling Deity.
12. You are the shelter of all souls, and being the supreme controller, You fulfill Your desires simply by Your will. By Your personal creative potency You manifested in the beginning the primal modes of material nature, and through their agency You create, maintain and then destroy this universe.
13. You, that very same creator, have now descended on the earth to annihilate the Daitya, Pramatha and Raksasa demons who are posing as kings, and also to protect the godly.
14. The horse demon was so terrifying that his neighing frightened the demigods into leaving their heavenly kingdom. But by our good fortune You have enjoyed the sport of killing him.
15-20. In just two days, O almighty Lord, I will see the deaths of Canura, Mustika and other wrestlers, along with those of the elephant Kuvalayapida and King Kamsa—all by Your hand. Then I will see You kill Kalayavana, Mura, Naraka and the conch demon, and I will also see You steal the parijata flower and defeat Indra. I will then see You marry many daughters of heroic kings after paying for them with Your valor. Then, O Lord of the universe, in Dvaraka You will deliver King Nrga from a curse and take for Yourself the Syamantaka jewel, together with another wife. You will bring back a brahmana’s dead son from the abode of Your servant Yamaraja, and thereafter You will kill Paundraka, burn down the city of Kasi and annihilate Dantavakra and the King of Cedi during the great Rajasuya sacrifice. I shall see all these heroic pastimes, along with many others You will perform during Your residence in Dvaraka. These pastimes are glorified on this earth in the songs of transcendental poets.
21. Subsequently I will see You appear as time personified, serving as Arjuna’s chariot driver and destroying entire armies of soldiers to rid the earth of her burden.
22. Let us approach You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for shelter. You are full of perfectly pure spiritual awareness and are always situated in Your original identity. Since Your will is never thwarted, You have already achieved all possible desirable things, and by the power of Your spiritual energy You remain eternally aloof from the flow of the qualities of illusion.
23. I bow down to You, the supreme controller, who are dependent only on Yourself. By Your potency You have constructed the unlimited particular arrangements of this universe. Now you have appeared as the greatest hero among the Yadus, Vrsnis and Satvatas and have chosen to participate in human warfare.
24. Sukadeva Gosvami said: Having thus addressed Lord Krishna, the chief of the Yadu dynasty, Narada bowed down and offered Him obeisances. Then that great sage and most eminent devotee took his leave from the Lord and went away, feeling great joy at having directly seen Him.
25. After killing the demon Kesi in battle, the Supreme Personality of Godhead continued to tend the cows and other animals in the company of His joyful cowherd boyfriends. Thus He brought happiness to all the residents of Vrndavana.
26. One day the cowherd boys, while grazing their animals on the mountain slopes, played the game of stealing and hiding, acting out the roles of rival thieves and herders.
27. In that game, O King, some acted as thieves, others as shepherds and others as sheep. They played their game happily, without fear of danger.
28. A powerful magician named Vyoma, son of the demon Maya, then appeared on the scene in the guise of a cowherd boy. Pretending to join the game as a thief, he proceeded to steal most of the cowherd boys who were acting as sheep.
29. Gradually the great demon abducted more and more of the cowherd boys and cast them into a mountain cave, which he sealed shut with a boulder. Finally only four or five boys acting as sheep remained in the game.
30. Lord Krishna, who shelters all saintly devotees, understood perfectly well what Vyomasura was doing. Just as a lion grabs a wolf, Krishna forcefully seized the demon as he was taking away more cowherd boys.
31. The demon changed into his original form, as big and powerful as a great mountain. But try as he might to free himself, he could not do so, having lost his strength from being held in the Lord’s tight grip.
32. Lord Acyuta clutched Vyomasura between His arms and threw him to the ground. Then, while the demigods in heaven looked on, Krishna killed him in the same way that one kills a sacrificial animal.
33. Krishna then smashed the boulder blocking the cave’s entrance and led the trapped cowherd boys to safety. Thereafter, as the demigods and cowherd boys sang His glories, He returned to His cowherd village, Gokula.
