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Bhagavat Purana - Series Three
 
Plate 9 - The Trnavarta Demon  

 

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As the brahmanas chanted the Vedic hymns and performed the ritualistic ceremonies for the second time, Nanda Maharaja again gave huge quantities of grains and many cows to them. All the cows which were given in charity were covered with nice gold-embroidered garments, and their horns were bedecked with golden rings; their hooves were covered with silver plate, and they wore garlands of flowers. He gave so many cows just for the welfare of his wonderful child, and the brahmanas in return bestowed their heartfelt blessings. And the blessings offered by the able brahmanas were never to be baffled.

One day, shortly after the ceremony, when mother Yasoda was patting her baby on her lap, the baby felt too heavy, and being unable to carry Him, she unwillingly placed Him on the ground. After a while, she became engaged in household affairs. At that time, a servant of Kamsa’s known as Trnavarta, as instructed by Kamsa, appeared there in the shape of a whirlwind. He picked the child up on his shoulders and raised a great dust storm all over Vrndavana, covering everyone’s eyes. Within a few moments the whole area of Vrndavana became so densely dark that no one could see himself or anyone else. During this great catastrophe, mother Yasoda could not see her baby, who was taken away by the whirlwind, and she began to cry very piteously. She fell down on the ground exactly like a cow who has just lost her calf. When mother Yasoda was so piteously crying, all the cowherd women immediately came and began to look for the baby, but they were disappointed and could not find Him.

The Trnavarta demon went high into the sky with baby Krsna on his shoulder, but the baby assumed such a weight that suddenly he could not go any further, and he had to stop his whirlwind activities. Baby Krsna made Himself heavy and began to weigh down the demon, catching hold of his neck. Trnavarta felt the baby to be as heavy as a big mountain, and he tried to get out of His clutches, but he was unable to do so, and his eyes popped out from their sockets. Crying very fiercely, he fell down to the ground of Vrndavana and died. The demon fell exactly like Tripurasura, who was pierced by the arrow of Lord siva. Trnavarta hit a stone slab, and his limbs were smashed. His body became visible to all the inhabitants of Vrndavana.