Putana Moksham

 In Dwapara Yuga, one of the 10 avatars of Lord Narayana, Krishna, descended in Mathura. As you all know, a heavenly voice warned Kamsa “that the 8th son of Devaki will finish you” Certainly a vain person like him would fret.

FLASH FORWARD A FEW DAYS

Kamsa and his council of asuras sat around a table to plan how to ‘defeat’ Krishna.  They finally decided to send Putana. At the same time, Nanda Maharaja came to pay the taxes. He decided to visit his good old friend, Vasudev. As they embraced and chatted for a while, Vasudev saw Putana running to Gokulam. That was trouble! Vasudev said, “Leave, there is crisis in Gokulam waiting for you.” Usually we say “have a safe trip” or “We will miss you” but “Leave, there is a crisis where you live”?! NO WAY! Nanda Maharaja was shocked, but he left.

PUTANA’S ARRIVAL

PutanaKnowing she looked scary, Putana disguised herself as a beautiful, not-so-scary woman. As she progressed to the entrance of Gokulam two Gopis said, “Stop, we know who you are!” Putana was about to turn into her original form, when the Gopis did arathi and sung Bhaagyathaa Lakshmi Baramma and said, “You are Goddess Lakshmi, we will show you Krishna’s house!” When Putana came to Krishna’s house, Maa Yashoda handed Krishna to Putana, thinking Putana will bless Him. Krishna, knowing that Putana was going to feed Him poison, prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva had drunk poison before, so he surely would have some experience to share. Then, Krishna closed His eyes because if He looked at Putana, He would grace her. Then, He wouldn’t be able to defeat her, and she would continue her evilness. Closing His eyes, Krishna started drinking Putana’s poison along with her soul and gave her moksha.

MERCY OF KRISHNA

Even though Putana had wrong intentions, Krishna gave the highest state to her. Krishna’s bhaktas always relish this leela as it shows Bhagavan’s unconditional mercy. When Uddhava met Vidhura, he quoted this leela as “kam vA dayALum sharaNam vrajEma!” Their hearts melted with the love of Krishna. Sage Shuka told Parikshit that a demon disguised as a mother who had wrong intentions attained moksha just like a (real) mother with loving intentions. This embodies Bhagavan’s unconditional mercy.

Let us pray to Bhagavathas to bless us with prema and sathvika bhakthi.

Story & Illustration by
Haritha Ragouramane, 9 yrs
Dallas, TX.

 

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