Krishnanandalahari-Yadhavbhyudhaya of Desika-chapter4-Infant Krishna

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CHAPTER-4 Infant Krishna

Kamsa having heard about the birth of Krishna becameoverwhelmed with fear and anger and decided to send evil forces tokill him. Poothana, who has power of maya, was sent by him to gokula and she entered while everyone was asleep, taking the form ofYasodha, and started breastfeeding Krishna who sucked her life alongwith milk In Bhagavatha we find detailed description of the Poothanaepisode which mentions her killing newborn babies everywhere andassuming 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 KrishnaYasodha came running and grasped Krishna, 'sasambhramaavegamupethya bheethaathamagrheeth durgraham aagammaanaam.' He is durgraha noteasily 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 theminiatures 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 aimpadaithaaliDesika while describimg the Poothana episode says, 'Sthanyenakrishnah 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 thepurushaarthapradhaana, that is moksha, which is attainable onlythrough bhakthi.

Yet there is another wonder mentioned by Desika,'yadhadbuthambhaavayathaam janaanaam sthanandhayathvam na punarbabhoova.' Those who contemplate on Krishna sucking the breast of Poothana never againlapse back into the state of shanadhyaithva, suckling infant. That isthey are not born again. Appayya dikshitha commenting on this saysthat it is against thatkrathunyaya, the principle called thatkrathu ,mentioned in the aaranyaka portion of the vedas that by thinking ofsomething one becomes that. This is further elaborated in a laterchapter which we shall see when we come to it.

One more leela of Krishna as an infant is described byDesika. Once Yasodha placed him near a cart and he started cryingand His feet hit the cart and the mountainous cart fell into pieceswith a great sound. The sakatasura who came to kill Krishna wasdestroyed. 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 did 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 the Lord. Desika says that Yasodha touched the lotus like foot of Krishna to see whether it was hurt.