Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 10 Chapter 34:1-14

Book 10: Thirty-four Chapter (First Half)

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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 10: Chapter 34: Verses 1-14
The Lord makes short work of Sankhacuda

Sri Suka began again : Their interest having been aroused in (undertaking) a pilgrimage for the worship of a god on a certain occasion, the cowherds (of Vraja) rode in their carts drawn by bullocks to (a forest known as) Ambika Vana (which was sacred to Goddess Parvati, the Mother of the universe). Having bathed in the Saraswati river there, they worshipped the almighty Lord Siva as well as Goddess Ambika (His Consort) with devotion through (various) articles of worship, 0 protector of men ! Full of reverence they all gifted to the Brahmans cows, gold, clothes, sweets and rice boiled with honey praying "May the Lord be propitious to us !" Having undertaken sacred vows and subsisting on water (alone for the whole day); the highly blessed ones, Nanda, Sunanda (his younger brother) and others, spent that night on the bank of the Saraswati. Sore pinched with hunger a huge snake arrived in that forest by the will of Providence and crawling, (imperceptibly), proceeded to swallow Nanda, who was lying down (there). Seized by the python, he cried, "Krsna, 0 enchanter of all, this huge serpent is devouring me, 0 darling ! (Pray,) deliver me, who have sought you as my refuge.
" Hearing his cry as well as his wailing, the cowherds sprang on their feet at once and, bewildered to see him caught (in the coils of a boa constrictor), struck the serpent with fire-brands. Though being scorched with pieces of burning wood, the reptile did not leave Nanda. Approaching the serpent (in the meantime), Lord Sri Krsna (the Protector of the Yadus) touched the animal with His foot. (All) his evil Karma having been wiped out by the touch of the Lord's glorious foot, the animal cast off the body of a serpent and attained a (shining) form honoured by the Vidyadharas. Sri Krsna (the Ruler of the senses) questioned (as follows) the superhuman being, who stood beside Him adorned with a gold necklace and bowing low with a resplendent body:-- "Who are you that are shining with great splendour, endowed as you are with a weird form ? And how were you helplessly cast into this disgusting species (of a serpent) ?" The (erstwhile) serpent replied : "I am a Vidyadhara known by the name of Sudarsana. Endowed with (extraordinary) splendour and wealth of beauty I used to fly in an aerial car in all directions. Proud of my comeliness I laughed at some deformed sages born in the line of the sage Angira. I was cast into this form (of a python) through my own sin by them, derided as they were by me. (I now feel that) the curse was pronounced by those kind-hearted souls just in order to show their grace to me in that I have been-touched with Your foot by You, the Father of the universe, with the result that all my sins have been wiped out.

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