Stories From The Bhagawatham - Krishna Avatar - Putanamoksham

 

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Every day in Gokul became a celebration after the arrival of Krishna and Balaram. Yashoda and Rohini had their hands full, looking after their children and enjoying their childhood antics.

Chief Nanda had to make a yearly visit to Mathura to pay his tributes to the city’s treasury. When Vasudeva came to know that Nanda had come to the city, he rushed to meet him.

“I am very happy to know that a son has been born to you.” Vasudeva said to Nanda. “You are very dear to me but I do not get to see you as often as I wish. I am fortunate to share your happiness at being a father. You and I are like one soul in two different bodies. Your son feels like my son. I hope he is well.”

Nanda’s eyes welled up as he knew about the fate of Vasudeva’s children. “Fortune has not been kind to you. But I hope times will change now. The wise do not get swayed by fortune and misfortune and stay firmly rooted in the ultimate knowledge of the self.”

“Nanda, I came to tell you that you must hurry to Gokul.” Vasudeva said suddenly. “I feel Gokul will see some troubling times. Please hurry back to your wife and child.”

Nanda swiftly took leave of Mathura, his thoughts centered on Vasudeva’s warning.

The warning wasn’t ill-advised, for the tyrant Kamsa had started plotting to find the eighth child of Devaki and kill him. He decided to take the help of the Asura clan.

The first one he sought was a dreadful Asuri named Putana. She understood her task and set out to Gokul. Once she reached the village, she changed her form into that of a beautiful woman and started walking on the streets, searching for the sign of a newly born infant. She saw many people entering and exiting from a big house and realized that there must be an infant here.

She walked into the house and saw that people were busy carrying out tasks. She went to the courtyard where there was a cradle.

The moment she set foot in the courtyard, the infant Narayana closed his eyes. Perhaps if He had seen Putana, she would be blessed with his grace and it would have been difficult to get rid of her. For all her past crimes, she needed to be destroyed.

Putana peeked into the cradle and saw a child. She looked around and saw that there wasn’t anyone to pay attention to her. She took the baby from the cradle and sat down in the courtyard.

Putana tried to feed her poisoned milk to the baby and smiled gleefully. Only, her smile slowly died as the baby didn’t just take her milk but started draining her very life-force. She felt unbearable pain and started screaming.

Soon her pain made her forget everything and she changed into her original dreadful form, still screaming as the baby didn’t let go of her. She rose to the skies, trying to get rid of Krishna but he didn’t leave her. With a final cry of pain, Putana’s life-force left her body and she fell down on the earth with a sound that resonated in the entire village.

People rushed to the spot where they had heard the sound and they saw a terrifying sight. The dead body of a dreadful Asuri and little Krishna blissfully sitting on it with a smile. Some people rushed and took the baby away from the body.

Nanda arrived in the village to the news. His anxiety grew as he thought about Vasudeva’s warning.

It took a long time for the people to move Putana’s body. When they set fire to the body, an amazing thing happened. A soft fragrance of sandalwood arose from the pyre. No one could understand how an Asuri’s body could send off such a wonderful scent.

Putana had been purified by Krishna’s touch and had now become Punita (meaning purified). The fragrance of sandalwood lingered in the village for a long time thereafter.

Rishi Shuka who narrated this story to king Parikshit said, “Anyone who listens to the story of Putana, by the name Putanamoksham, will be blessed with sincere devotion to Krishna.”

But the king’s curiosity about Krishna had only increased after listening to his leela. He requested the sage to share more leelas about Krishna.

The sage dutifully obliged and narrated the tale of Shakatasur and Trinavart. I will be sharing this tale in my next blog.

Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaaya!