Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 77
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Next, Seventy-seventh Chapter. Subject matter: "Deliverance of Śālva."
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After talking with his charioteer, the son of Dāruka, Pradyumna could understand the real position. Therefore, he again refreshed himself by washing his mouth and hands, and thus properly he armored himself with bows and arrows and asked his charioteer to take him near the place where the commander-in-chief of Śālva was standing. During the short absence of Pradyumna from the battlefield, the commander-in-chief of Śālva, namely Dyumān, frustrated the position of the soldiers of Yadu dynasty. Immediately on his appearance in the battlefield, Pradyumna stopped him in doing so, and smilingly, immediately struck him with eight arrows. By four arrows he immediately killed his four horses, by one arrow he killed his chariot driver, by another arrow he cut into two his bow, by another he cut into pieces his flag, and by another he cut his head separated from his body.
On the other fronts, heroes like Gada, Sātyaki, Sāmba were engaged in killing the soldiers of Śālva. The soldiers who were staying with Śālva on the aeroplane, they were also killed while fighting, and after thus being killed they would fall down on the ocean. In this way, each party began to strike the opposite party very severely, and the battle was fierceful and dangerous and continued for twenty-seven days without any stop.
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While the fight was going on in the city of Dvārakā, at that time Kṛṣṇa was staying in Indraprastha along with the Pāṇḍavas and King Yudhiṣṭhira. This fighting with Śālva took place after the Rājasūya yajṣa performed by the king Yudhiṣṭhira was over and after Śiśupāla was killed. When Lord Kṛṣṇa understood that there was great danger in the city of Dvārakā, He took permission from the elderly members of the Pāṇḍava family, especially from His aunt Kuntīdevī, and after taking their permission He immediately began to start for Dvārakā City.
Lord Kṛṣṇa began to think within Himself that while He kept in Hastināpura along with Balarāma, and after the killing of Śiśupāla, his party men must have attacked Dvārakā. Just then after reaching Dvārakā City, Lord Kṛṣṇa saw that the whole city was in great dangerous position. He immediately placed Balarāmajī for the protection of the city, and He Himself asked His charioteer, Dāruka, to prepare for starting. He said, (within quotation) "Dāruka, please immediately take Me in chariot where Śālva is staying. You may know also that this Śālva is very powerful, mysterious man. Don't be afraid of him even very slightly." (quotation close) Dāruka, as soon as he got the order of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he got Him seated on the chariot and drove very quickly toward the direction where Śālva was staying.
The chariot of Lord Kṛṣṇa was marked with the flag bearing the insignia of Garuḍa. The soldiers and warriors of Yadu dynasty, as soon as they saw the flag, immediately they could understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa was on the battlefield. By this time, almost all the soldiers of Śālva were killed, but Śālva, when he saw that Kṛṣṇa had come in the battlefield, he released a great, powerful weapon, and it was flying on the sky with roaring sound as if a great meteor. It was so much shining that every direction became brightened on account of its presence. But as soon as Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared there, He tore the great weapon into hundreds and thousands pieces by releasing His own arrow.
After this, He released sixteen arrows upon the body of Śālva. Lord Kṛṣṇa attacked the aeroplane of Śālva by throwing thousands of arrows upon it. The brilliance of the arrow…
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Tape LA nineteen. Dated Year 1970, Day 3, Month 3, March 3, 1970. Kṛṣṇa, Chapter Seventy-seven continued.
After this, Lord Kṛṣṇa struck Śālva with sixteen arrows, and He overpowered the aeroplane with showers of arrows exactly like when the sun is there in the clear sky he overpowers the whole sky by unlimited number of molecules of sunshine. Śālva also played his tactics, and he tried to injure the left side of Kṛṣṇa, on which Lord Kṛṣṇa was carrying His bow known as Śārṅga. The strike was certainly very severe, and as a result of which the Śārṅga bow of Lord Kṛṣṇa became displaced from His hand. This kind of displacement of Kṛṣṇa's bow from His hand is also wonderful. Great personalities and demigods who were observing the fighting between Śālva and Kṛṣṇa became too much perturbed by this action of Śālva upon the body of Kṛṣṇa, and they began to exclaim, "Alas! Alas!"
Upon this, Śālva thought that he has become victorious, and with a roaring sound began to address Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows: (within quotation) "You rascal, Kṛṣṇa! You kidnapped Rukmiṇī forcibly, even in the presence of us, and You baffled my friend Śiśupāla to marry her. And again, in a great assembly of King Yudhiṣṭhira's Rājasūya yajṣa, while my friend Śiśupāla was a little absent-minded, You took the chance and killed him. In this way, everyone thinks that You are a great fighter and nobody can conquer You. So just now You will have to prove Your strength. But I think if You stand before me a little more, then with my sharpened arrows I shall send You to such a place wherefrom You will never come back." (quotation close)
Upon this, Lord Kṛṣṇa replied, "You foolish Śālva, unnecessarily you are talking nonsense, and you do not know that your last moment of death is already up on your head. Actually, those who are heroes, they do not talk much. They practically prove their prowess by practical exhibition of chivalrous activities." (quotation close)
After saying this, Lord Kṛṣṇa, in great anger, struck Śālva with His club so severely on the collarbone that he immediately vomit blood from inside and began to tremble as if he was going to collapse in severe cold. By the time the club of Kṛṣṇa returned to Him, Śālva, immediately taking the opportunity, became invisible by his mystic...
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...moment, a mysterious, unknown man came before Lord Kṛṣṇa and bowed down on His lotus feet and began to submit before the Lord, crying loudly and saying as follows: (within quotation) "I have been sent by your mother Devakī to inform You about an unfortunate news. Your mother Devakī has sent news for You that You are the most beloved son of Your father, Vasudeva, who has now been arrested by Śālva and taken away by force, exactly in the same way as a butcher takes away the animal mercilessly." (quotation close)
When Lord Kṛṣṇa heard this unfortunate news from the unknown man, for the time being He became very much perturbed, exactly like a human being. There were signs on His face by which it appeared that He became too much aggrieved, and exactly like an ordinary human being He began to say as follows in a piteous tone: "Oh, I am surprised how it could happen because My brother Lord Balarāma is there, and it is impossible for anyone to conquer over Balarāmajī. He is in charge of Dvārakā City, and I know He is always alert on this point. How it could be possible that Śālva could enter the city and arrest My father in that way? Whatever he may be, Śālva's power is limited, so how it could be possible that he has conquered over the strength of Balarāmajī? And how he has taken away My father, arresting him as described by this man? Alas! The destiny is, after all, very powerful."
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa was thinking like that, immediately at that time Śālva brought before Him a man arrested exactly resembling Vasudeva, His father. These were all creation by Śālva by his mystic power. Śālva began to address Kṛṣṇa, (within quotation) "You rascal, Kṛṣṇa! See! This is Your father, who has begotten You and by whose mercy You are still living. Now just look over how I kill Your father, and if You have any strength, just try to save him." (quotation close)
The mystic juggler Śālva, speaking in this way, immediately cut off the head of false Vasudeva before Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then without waiting a moment he took away the body of the so-called Vasudeva dead, went up and sat down on his aeroplane. Lord Kṛṣṇa is self-sufficient, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; still, because He was playing the role of a human being, for a moment He became very much depressed, as if He had actually lost His father, and thus became too much aggrieved. But in the very next moment He could understand that all these were demonstration of the jugglery mystic power of Śālva, which he learned from the demon Maya. Immediately after this He came to His self-consciousness and could see that there was no messenger and no head of His father, but Śālva had left that place and gone up to his aeroplane, which was flying on the sky. Now He began to think of slaying Śālva, who was expert in creating mystic phenomenal disturbances.
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The sudden overwhelming of Kṛṣṇa because of His father being killed, although it was not a fact, is a controversial point among the great authorities and saintly persons. How Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all power and knowledge, could be bewildered in such a way? Lamentation, aggrievement, bewilderment—these things are possible on the person of a conditioned soul. Then how such things could act on the person of the Supreme, who is full of knowledge, power and all opulences? Therefore, Lord Kṛṣṇa's being misled by the mystic jugglery power of Śālva is not at all possible, but what was displayed by Him, it was because of His pastimes, playing the role of a human being.
Great saintly persons and sages who are engaged in the devotional service of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus have achieved the greatest perfection of self-realization, by such self-realization they have had already finished the bewilderment of bodily concept of life. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life for such saintly persons. How then Kṛṣṇa can be bewildered by the jugglery mystic power of Śālva? Therefore, the conclusion is that Lord Kṛṣṇa's bewilderment was another opulence of His supreme personality.
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When Śālva think that Kṛṣṇa was bewildered by his mystic representations, he became very much enthused, and with greater strength and energy he began to attack the Lord by showering volumes of arrows upon Him. But such enthusiasm of Śālva can be compared like the speedy march of the flies into the fire. Lord Kṛṣṇa, by His unfathomable strength, very soon injured Śālva fatally by His arrows. His armor, his bow, the jewel on his helmet, all of them became scattered into pieces. Simultaneously, by the crashing of His club, Śālva's wonderful aeroplane crashed into pieces. The wonderful aeroplane thus fell down on the sea after being torn into pieces.
Śālva was very careful, and instead of being crashed along with the aeroplane, he managed to jump over the land, and with great care he again rushed toward Lord Kṛṣṇa. When Śālva was coming to attack Kṛṣṇa with great force along with his club, Lord Kṛṣṇa cut off his hand along with the club, then at last deciding to kill him, took up His wonderful disc, which was shining like the brilliant sun at the time of dissolution of the material creation. When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa stood up with His disc to kill Śālva, it appeared just like the red sun rising upon a mountain. Lord Kṛṣṇa then cut off his head, along with his earring and helmet, and Śālva's head fell down on the ground. Śālva was killed exactly in the manner as Indra the king of heaven killed Vṛtrāsura.
When Śālva was thus killed, all his soldiers and followers began to cry, "Alas! Alas!" When the soldiers and men of Śālva were crying on account of Śālva's death, the demigods from heavenly planets began to shower flowers on Kṛṣṇa, and they trumpeted the victory by beating on drums and bugles. Just at this very moment, other friends of Śiśupāla, as Dantavakra, appeared on the scene to fight with Kṛṣṇa in order to revenge the death of Śiśupāla and others. When Dantavakra appeared before Lord Kṛṣṇa, he was very, very angry.
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Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport Kṛṣṇa Seventy-seventh Chapter describing "Liberation of Śālva."