CHAPTER-4
Kamsa having heard about the birth of Krishna became
overwhelmed with fear and anger and decided to send evil forces to
kill him. Poothana, who has power of maya, was sent by him to gokula
and she entered while everyone was asleep, taking the form of
Yasodha, and started breastfeeding Krishna who sucked her life along
with milk In Bhagavatha we find detailed description of the Poothana
episode which mentions her killing newborn babies everywhere and
assuming the form of a high born woman which impressed everyone in
gokula including Rohini and she is said to have offered her poisonous
breast to Krishna. But in the work of Desika the devotional element
reigns supreme rather than the narrative details.
Hearing the shouts of Poothana and the crying of Krishna
Yasodha came running and grasped Krishna, 'sasambhramaavegamupethya
bheethaathamagrheeth durgraham aagammaanaam.' He is durgraha not
easily graspable even by aagamaas, ie.vedas and Yasodha grasped Him
so easily.
Nanda also came there and was relieved to see that no harm
was done to the child. Poothana fell down dead assuming her real
form and the the gopas cut her large body into pieces and threw them
at the outskirts of the city to be eaten by carnivorous animals. Then
they put on Krishna, the goptha,the protector of all, an ornament, to
ward off the evil effects of the planets, consisting of the
miniatures of Panchaayudha of Narayana, namely sudarsana, the disc,
paanchajanya, the conch, saarnga, the bow,koumodhaki, the mace and
nandhaki, the sword, which in tamil is called aimpadaithaali
Desika while describimg the Poothana episode says, 'Sthanyena
krishnah saha poothanaayaah praanaan papau lupthapunarbhvaayaah.'
Krishna drank her life along with milk as a result of which she
attained the state of immortality, lupthapunarbhava. It itself is a
wonder, that to one who gave poison, the Lord repaid with the
purushaarthapradhaana, that is moksha, which is attainable only
through bhakthi.
Yet there is another wonder mentioned by Desika,'yadhadbutham
bhaavayathaam janaanaam sthanandhayathvam na punarbabhoova.' Those
who contemplate on Krishna sucking the breast of Poothana never again
lapse back into the state of shanadhyaithva, suckling infant. That is
they are not born again. Appayya dikshitha commenting on this says
that it is against thatkrathunyaya, the principle called thatkrathu ,
mentioned in the aaranyaka portion of the vedas that by thinking of
something one becomes that. This is further elaborated in a later
chapter which we shall see when we come to it.
One more leela of Krishna as an infant is described by
Desika. Once Yasodha placed him near a cart and he started crying
and His feet hit the cart and the moutaunous cart fell into pieces
with a great sound. The sakatasura who came to kill Krishna was
destroyed. Bhagavatha does not mention sakatasura but simply desribes
the cart overladen with food toppling over when Krishna kicked at it
and Yasodha and others hazened there hearing the great sound and didi
not believe the words of the children that Krishna did it. But in
Yadhvaabhyudhaya and Narayaneeyam we find Sakatasura mentioned and in
Narayaneeyam the poet describes how even the dust of the sakatasura
in the form of cartwheel was not to be found and ascribes it to the
effect of the sarirasambandha of tha Lord. Desika says that Yasodha
touched the lotus like foot of Krishna to see whether it was
hurt.'Yadhrcchayothkshipthapadhe kumaare sailopalakshye
sakatenirasthe sarojagarbhopamasoukumaaryam pasparsa
thathpaadhathalam yasodha.'
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/iDk17A/hOaOAA/i1hLAA/XUWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |