Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 11 Chapter 30:29-41

Book 11: Chapter 30

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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 11: Chapter 30: Verses 29-41

It bore the mark of Srivatsa (a curl of white hair on the breast), was dark-brown (of hue) like a (rainy) cloud, was wrapped in a pair of silk pieces and (thereby) shone like burnished gold and was most auspicious (to look at). It had a lotus-like countenance with a lovely smile playing on it, was graced with dark hair, had a pair of delightful lotus-like eyes and was adorned with a shining pair of alligator-shaped ear-rings. It was decked with a girdle, the sacred thread, a diadem, a pair of bracelets and armlets as well as with a pearl necklace, a pair of anklets and rings and the Kaustubha gem. Its limbs were encircled by a garland of sylvan flowers; (nay,) It was waited upon by His own weapons (discus, mace and the Sarnga bow etc.), in a living form and was seated placing the left-foot, (with its sole) ruddy as a lotus, on the right thigh. [1] Jara, a hunter, who had forged (the head of) his arrow out of the iron piece that had been left after pulverizing the (steel) pestle (generated by the execration of Brahmanas), pierced (as it were) His (aforesaid) foot, that resembled in shape the mouth of a deer, suspecting Him to be an antelope. Discovering (his quarry to be an other than) a four-armed personage, the hunter, who was frightened on account of his having committed an offence (against the Lord), fell (prostrate) at the feet of Sri Krsna (a sworn enemy of the demons) touching them with his head. (He submitted:) "Be pleased, 0 Slayer of the demon Madhu, to forgive this transgression of mine, sinful as I am, 0 Sinless One, in that it has been perpetuated by this sinner unwittingly, 0 Lord of excellent renown ! Offence has been done by me to You, 0 Lord Visnu, whose remembrance, they say, is capable of dispersing the darkness of men's ignorance. Therefore, speedily kill me, a sinful hunter of (innocent) deer, 0 Lord of Vaikuntha, lest I should commit offence against noble souls any more as I have done (this time). How can we of impious birth make any observation directly about this gesture (in the shape of the wholesale destruction of Yadu's race) of Gours as Sri Krsna, the work of whose handmaid (Maya) even Brahma (the creator), his sons, Rudra and others, and the seers of Veda whose vision has been obscured by Your Maya, are unable to know. The glorious Lord said : Don't you be afraid, 0 Jara, get up; indeed this part (of making Me the target of your arrow) has been played by you as desired by Me. Ascend you as permitted by Me to heaven, the abode of the virtuous. Commanded thus by Lord Sri Krsna, who takes a form at will, the hunter thrice walked round Him clockwise (so as to keep Him ever to his right and thus ensure His benignity) and, bowing to Him, ascended to heaven in an aerial car (brought by His attendants to take him). Hunting up and tracking out the whereabouts of Sri Krsna by inhaling the breeze charged with the fragrance of Tulasi, Daruka (the Lord's own charioteer) sought His presence.

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References

  1. It will be remembered that when the steel pestle generated by the curse of Brahmanas had been crushed into powder and cast into the sea, the particles of the powder were borne by the waves to and deposited on the shore, where they grew into a grass named Eraka (vide verses 21 and 22 of Discourse 1 above).

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