89- Kanhaiya and His Friends: The Childhood Pastimes of Vrindavan and the Deliverance of Aghasura

Shree Shukadevji tells Parikshit that one blessed morning, Nandanandan Shyamasundar awoke before sunrise. A soft joy fluttered in his heart. He wished to enjoy a little forest picnic with His beloved friends. Lifting His singi (horn) to His lips, He filled the dawn with its sweet, calling melody. Hearing that charming sound, the cowherd boys woke up at once, their hearts dancing, for Krishna’s invitation was itself a festival.

With the calves leading the way, the whole group stepped out of Braj.

Thousands of Krishna’s dear companions joined Him, each carrying a sling, a stick, a flute, or a horn. Their calves trotted ahead happily, bells tinkling, tails swaying.

Soon, everyone merged their calves with Krishna’s uncountable herds. Together they wandered through Vrindavan, lost in innocent, joyful play. Though the boys were already adorned with ornaments of glass, beads, gems, and gold, they still loved to decorate themselves with Vrindavan’s own treasures, its red, yellow, and green fruits, tender new shoots, flower clusters, peacock feathers, and streaks of bright, playful clay.

Sometimes one boy would secretly take another’s lunch basket, or someone would steal a friend’s stick or flute. When the owner discovered it, the mischievous thief would toss it to someone else, and then to another, and another until the whole group burst into laughter and finally returned the item with loving delight.

Whenever Shyamasundar walked a little ahead to admire the forest’s beauty, the boys would shout, “I will touch Him first! No, I will touch Him first!” and run toward Him with overflowing eagerness. The moment they reached Him, touched Him, or even brushed against Him, their hearts blossomed with bliss.

Some boys played the flute, some blew the horn, some hummed in harmony with the bees, and others imitated the cuckoo’s soft “koo-hoo.”
Some raced alongside the shadows of birds flying above. Some mimicked the graceful gait of swans. One boy sat near a heron, closing his eyes exactly as it did, while another saw a peacock dance and instantly began dancing like it.

Some tugged lovingly at monkeys’ tails; some climbed trees beside them. Some made funny monkey-faces, while others leapt from branch to branch with carefree joy. Many boys played by the riverbank, splashing water and hopping like frogs. Some laughed at the sight of their own reflection in the water, while others argued light-heartedly with the echo of their own voices.

For the realised saints, Shree Krishna is the very form of Brahmananda, the Bliss of the formless Brahman. For devotees who adore Him in the mood of humble service, He is their beloved, all-powerful, ever-merciful God. And for those still veiled by Maya, He appears as nothing more than a simple village child.

Yet with this very Krishna, the Supreme Reality hidden in the heart of a playful boy, these blessed cowherd boys played every day, in countless, enchanting ways.

The dust of Krishna’s lotus feet is unattainable even for great yogis who practice severe austerities for many lifetimes. But this same Shree Krishna lives freely among the cowherd boys of Braj, eating with them, laughing with them, teasing them, embracing them, and playing with them every single day.

Just then, a terrifying demon named Aghasura arrived there. Seeing Shree Krishna and the cowherd boys absorbed in joyful play, envy rose within him. He was so fearsome that even the gods, though immortal from drinking nectar, would tremble at his presence and pray for the moment of his death.

Aghasura was the younger brother of Putana and Bakasura, and he had been sent by Kans. Watching Shree Krishna, Shreedama, and the other boys, he thought, “These are the very ones who killed my brother and sister. Today, I will finish them all along with Krishna. And when these children die, the people of Braj will die of grief, for children are their very life.”

With this cruel intent, he assumed the form of an enormous python and lay stretched across the path. His body was a full yojana (8 miles) long like a fallen mountain, and he opened his mouth as wide as a gaping cave for the boys to enter.

His lower lip rested on the ground, and his upper lip touched the clouds. His jaws resembled mountain caverns, his teeth stood like towering peaks. Inside his mouth lay thick darkness; his tongue looked like a long red roadway, his breath roared like a storm, and his eyes blazed like wildfire.

The cowherd boys saw this frightening sight, yet in their innocence, they thought it must be another natural wonder of Vrindavan.

They joked, “This looks exactly like the mouth of a python!”

“See those red clouds look like its upper lip!”

“And the reddish earth below—its lower lip!”

“These cracks in the hills are like jaws!”

“And those high peaks—its teeth!”

“This wide open space is surely the tongue!”

Feeling the hot foul wind, some said, “Maybe a forest fire is burning somewhere. But strangely, this heat matches the python’s breath!”

One boy laughed, “If we go in, will it swallow us? Oh no! What can it do to us?”

“Our Kanhaiya will finish it just like He finished Bakasura!”

Laughing and playing, they ran straight into the python’s mouth.

Shree Krishna heard all this. He understood that the boys mistook real danger for play. Nothing is hidden from Him. He instantly recognised the demon. As He wondered how to stop the boys, they had already entered the python’s belly along with their calves.

Aghasura had not swallowed them yet; he was waiting for Krishna to enter so he could kill them all at once. Seeing His dear friends disappear, Shree Krishna’s heart filled with compassion. He thought, “How can I kill this demon and still save My beloved friends?”

Knowing exactly what He must do, He too entered Aghasura’s mouth.

In the heavens, the gods, hiding behind the clouds, cried, “Alas! What will happen now?”

While the demons aligned with Kans celebrated with wicked joy, Aghasura prepared to crush Krishna and the boys with his deadly teeth. But at that very moment, Krishna expanded His divine form. His body grew larger and larger until it completely blocked the python’s throat. Aghasura’s eyes rolled back, his breath stopped, and his life-force trembled. After a fierce struggle, his prana burst out through the crown of his head.

Krishna then revived the boys and the calves with His divine glance and led them safely out of the demon’s body.

From the python’s form, a brilliant radiance emerged. It hovered in the sky, waiting for Krishna. And the moment Krishna stepped out, that radiant soul entered Him before the eyes of all the gods, receiving liberation.

The gods showered flowers, apsaras danced, gandharvas sang, celestial instruments resounded, brahmanas offered praise, and divine attendants cried out “Jai! Jai!” in jubilation. For Krishna had destroyed Aghasura and blessed the worlds with this act.

Their rejoicing reached even Brahmaloka. Brahmaji rushed there at once, astonished by this wondrous divine feat.

Much later, when Aghasura’s python skin dried up, it remained like a huge cave, where the children of Braj happily played for many days.

Bhagwan Krishna saved His cowherd friends from the very mouth of death and granted liberation to Aghasura. He performed this divine act in His childhood, around the age of five. The cowherd boys had witnessed the event at that time, but out of great wonder, they narrated it in Braj only a year later, when Krishna was in His sixth year.

Aghasura was truly the embodiment of sin. By just a touch of Bhagwan Krishna, all his sins were destroyed, and he attained sārūpya-mukti, a liberation not available to ordinary sinners. There is no surprise in this, for the same Krishna who plays like a simple child is in fact the Supreme Person, the cause and controller of the entire universe.

If a seeker meditates even once with deep faith on the form of Krishna, on even one divine body part of His, the devotee can attain the exalted states of liberation such as sālokya and sāmīpya, which are granted to great devotees. Bhagwan Krishna is the eternal embodiment of bliss, untouched by Maya. Such a Lord personally entered the body of Aghasura, so how could the demon’s ultimate upliftment be doubted?

Sutaji tells Shaunakji and the assembled sages of Naimisharany, “Bhagwan Shree Krishna, the crown jewel of the Yadu dynasty, is the very One who gave life to King Parikshit. When Parikshit hears this astonishing and compassionate pastime of his protector and saviour, his heart becomes completely absorbed in the nectar of Krishna’s deeds. Therefore, he asks Shree Shukadevji another question related to this divine pastime.”

Parikshit asks, “O master! You said that Krishna performed this pastime in His fifth year, yet the cowherd boys spoke of it in Braj only in His sixth year. How can an event that happened at one time appear to occur in another time? There must be some hidden mystery here. I am eager to know it. Surely, this is the marvel of Krishna’s Maya, for such a thing cannot happen ordinarily. Though I have deviated from the duty of a Kshatriya and am so only in name, I am blessed that I can drink the sacred nectar of Krishna’s pastimes that flows continually from your mouth.”

Sutji continues, “Shaunakji, when Parikshit asks this question, Shree Shukadevji remembers that divine pastime. His mind and senses become completely absorbed in Krishna’s eternal leela. After some time, when he gradually returns to outward awareness, he begins to narrate Shree Krishna’s leela to King Parikshit.”

Summary: JKYog India Online Class- Shreemad Bhagavat Katha [Hindi]- 05.12.2025