Killing of Putana

 by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada

"The conduct of Shri Krishna is two fold i.e., eternal and occasional. In Goloka, eternal

conduct and astakaliya leela eists at all ti!es. In Bhau!a rnda#ana that astakaliya leela

is !ied up with occasional leela. Going fro! ra$a and co!ing back and killing %suras

are occasional leela. Such work is ine#itable on the part of the aspirant while he li#es in

this !aterial world. &ccasional leela is in eistence at Goloka in a negati#e way. &nly in

this world has that been practically ehibited. 'or the aspirants, occasional leela which are

ad#erse to the eternal leela ha#e been reflected for the instruction of the de#otees,

aspirants will hope that those leelas will destroy their own e#il.

&ccasional leelas are(

)*+ Killing of Putana Putana is a deceitful Guru, teaching en$oy!ent and sal#ation. So

crafty sadhus who are fond of these represent Putanatatt#a. 'or showing !ercy to -is

 pure de#otees, child Krishna kills Putana to safeguard -is new born feeling in their hearts.

)Sri aitanya Shiksha!rita! p. /0/.+

Putana

The following essay was printed in the 1anuary l23/ edition of The -ar!onist, or Sree

Sa$$anatoshani

The first act of 4ewborn Infant Krishna recorded by the Bhagabata! is the slaying of the

de!oness Putana.

The de!oness Putana was deputed by King Kansa to kill all the newborn babies of the

real! of Brag where the 5i#ine sage 4ard that his wouldbe slayer had been recently born

infor!ed hi!. 6eanwhile Sherrie Krishna had been born in Kansa7s prison and had been

con#eyed by -is father ersed to the house of -is foster parents 4ana and 8asoda in

Bra$a during the night of -is ad#ent. The guards of the prison had failed to detect the

!o#e!ents of asudeb who had returned to his prison with the newborn daughter of

8osoda with who! he had echanged -is own Boy without the knowledge of 8adosa

herself. asudeb had carried Krishna in his ar!s across the flooded 8a!aha lashed into

fury by the te!pestuous water of that !oonless night. -e had waded on foot the deep

waters which had been turned into yawning whirlpools by the fury of the te!pest. The iron

chains, bolts and locks of the barred gates of the prison had opened of their own accord on

the approach of asudeb carrying Krishna to the ho!e of -is foster parents. The daughter

of 8asoda was thereupon duly reported to King Kansa as the newborndreaded eighth

issue of 5e#aki. The King rushed into the prisoncell on receipt of the tidings for which he

had been waiting through long years of sleepless nights.

 

-e was at first willing to spare the life of the baby as the prophecy was to the effect that he

would be killed by a !ale child, eighth issue of asude# and 5e#aki But he thought of

 being relie#ed of all possible doubts on the point by putting to death the newborn girl. %s,

howe#er, King Kansa was on the point of dashing the baby on the block she escaped fro!

the grip of the King and disclosing herself as the 5eluding 9nergy of Godhead as she

re!ained #isible for a short ti!e in !idsky, assured the King of the certainty of the birth

of his future slayer but dissuading hi! for! the fruitless atte!pt of a#oiding his fate by

the cruel !urder of innocent infants. Saying this 6aha!aya disappeared fro! the #iew of

the astounded King. Kansa was subse:uently infor!ed by the sage 4arada that his future

slayer !ust ha#e been born a!ong the deni;ens of Brag and that he was !indful of his

safety he should lose no ti!e in taking drastic !easures for nipping the danger in the bud.

This ad#ice was relished by the bloodthirsty coward and he has accordingly deputed the

de!oness Putana to kill by an unsuspected process all the newborn infants of the

surrounding country.

The de!oness Putana accordingly !ade her appearance in Bra$a and presented herself in

the ho!e of 8asoda during the absence of 4anda who was then in 6athura to pay the

tribute due fro! hi! to King Kansa. The de!oness has assu!ed the for! of a !ost

 beautiful !atron with a !ost benignant aspect as she approached the couch where Infant

Krishna had been put to sleep by 8asoda. 8asoda noticed the unknown fe!ale as she

entered the house, but did not suspect any foul play. She accordingly watched the new

co!er without any aniety as she !ade her way to the couch of the Baby, took -i! up in

her ar!s and offered her breast to the Infant to gi#e -i! to suck. But the nipples of

Putana7s breast has been tipped with the deadliest poison.

The infant Krishna was aware of the intention of the de!oness and took hold of the breast

of the !onster with -is supple %r!s. The grip of the Infant was so terribly se#ere that it

was enough to dri#e the de!oness to despair of her life as she was con#ulsed by the

!ortal agony of the pressure of Krishna7s little -ands. The Infant then applied -is lips to

the breast of Putana and sucked away her life in an instant. The terrible !onster bellowing

with pain was co!pelled to disclose her own huge, loathso!e de!oniac for! as she fell

lifeless on the ground co#ering with her hideous carcass a long distance with Infant

Krishna still clinging to her poisoned nipples.

%ccordingly the first act of the !ilk!aids, who with 8asoda rushed to the spot, was to

snatch the Infant Krishna fro! the breast of the terrible de!oness. Then they all !ar#eled

how the Baby could escape unhurt fro! the clutches of the de!oness. They attributed the

safety of the Infant to the !ercy of the gods who are especially kind to the helpless. The

affrighted !ilk!aids in#oked the help of all the gods and goddesses for their continued

 protection of the Infant.

6eanwhile, Putana was sa#ed by her ser#ice to Krishna for ha#ing offered -i! the suck

of her poisoned breast. The author of the Bhagabata! is careful to !ention that the good

fortune of the de!oness e:ualed that of 8asoda in as !uch as her breast had been sucked

 by Krishna. Putana, therefore, attained to the eternal status of the foster!others of the

Supre!e <ord in the =eal! of the %bsolute.

 

The abo#e narrati#e of the Bhagabata! e!bodies a !ost i!portant !oral for the seekers

of the %bsolute. Butbefore offering the interpretations of the tets fa#ored by the for!er

%charyas I would like to draw the attention of the reader to certain possible

!isconceptions regarding the nature of the interpretations about to be offered.

The transcendental !eaning of the words cannot be con#eyed to the senses of the

conditioned soul so long as he does not agree to follow the !ethod of sub!issi#e listening

to the transcendental sound appearing on the lips of the pure de#otee. There is a definite

line of succession of the bonafide teachers of the truth. The bonafide teacher should be

a#ailable sooner or later to the real seeker of the Truth. The bonafide %carya is not

recogni;able by the hypocrites and atheists who do not really want to ser#e Godhead. So

long therefore, as the bonafide teacher does not !anifest his appearance to the pure

cogniti#e essence of the seeker of the %bsolute Truth it is necessary for the candidate for

spiritual enlighten!ent to concentrate on selfea!ination to be able to a#oid harboring

any lurking traces of insincerity. The words of the sadhu are also a#ailable, by his

causeless !ercy, for bearing the efforts of such candidates, for finding out their own

insincerity.

It is by o#erlooking or deliberately neglecting to undergo this preli!inary training for

obtaining access to the transcendental !eaning of all words that the literal

interpretationists who follow the ordinary leicographical !eaning of the words of the

scriptures fail to understand the necessity of ne#er de#iating fro! the interpretations

offered by the selfreali;ed souls to who! the transcendental !eaning of the words is

a#ailable. Those e!piricists who, while following the leicographical and syntactical

!ethod of the literal interpretationists, do not scruple to read their own !eanings into the

tets under the i!pression that the scriptures and the products of the hu!an brain liable to

e#ery for! of error and, therefore, fit to be corrected by the e:ually erring caprices of

other hypothetical thinkers on the ground of allegations of error that cannot be pro#ed, are

disposed to think that the interpretations offered by the %charyas are not scrupulously

faithful to the tets and offer allegorical eplanations for supporting their own sectarian

#iews.

These possible !isunderstandings are stated to in#ite the attention of the reader to their

 bearing on the following interpretation of the narrati#e of Putana based on the eposition

of the for!er %caryas heard fro! the lips of the bonafide teacher of the %bsolute. The

interpretation is not offered as a literal leicographical eplanation nor as an allegory

concocted in the light of e!piric knowledge of the past history of the race and !ay

accordingly be accepted as such. Shree Krishna !anifests -is 9ternal birth in the pure

cogniti#e essence of the ser#ing soul who is located abo#e all !undane li!itations. King

Kansa is the typical aggressi#e e!piricist. -e is e#er on the lookout for the %ppearance

of the Truth for the purpose of suppressing -i! before -e has ti!e to grow up. This is no

eaggeration of the real connotation of the consistent e!piric position. The !aterialist has

a natural repugnance for the transcendental. -e is disposed to think that faith in the

inco!prehensible is the parent of dog!atis! and hypocrisy under the guise of religion. -e

is also e:ually under the delusion that there is and can be no really di#iding line between

the !aterial and the spiritual. -e is strengthened in his delusion by the interpretation of the

scriptures by persons whoa re like!inded with hi!self. This included all the

 

leicographical interpreters. The leicographical interpretation is upheld by Kansa as the

real scientific eplanation of the Scriptures and one that is perfectly in keeping with his

dread of an a#ersion of the transcendental. These leicographical interpreters are

e!ployed by Kansa in purring down the first suspected appearance of any genuine faith in

the transcendental. King Kansa knows #ery well that if the faith in the transcendental is

once allowed to grow it is sure to upset all his e!piric prospects. There is historical

ground for such !isgi#ings.

%ccordingly if the e!piric do!ination is to be preser#ed intact it would be necessary not

to lose a !o!ent to put down the transcendental heresy the instant it threatens to !ake its

appearance in right earnest. King Kansa acting on this transitional fear is ne#er slow to

take the scientific precaution of debuting e!piric teachers of the scriptures backed by the

resources of 5ictionary and Gra!!ar and all e!piric subtleties to put down, by the show

of spacious argu!ents based on hypothetical principles, the true interpretation of the

eternal religion re#ealed by the scriptures. Kansa is strongly persuaded that the faith in the

transcendental can be effecti#ely put down by e!piricis! if pro!pt and decisi#e !easures

are adopted at the #ery outset. -e attributes the failures of atheis! in the past to the

neglect of the adoption of such !easures before the theistic fallacy has ti!e to spread

a!ong the fanatical !asses.

But Kansa is found to count without his host. >hen Krishna is born -e is found to be able

to upset all sinister designs against those who are apprised by -i!self of -is %d#ent. The

apparently causeless faith displayed by persons irrespecti#e of age, se and condition !ay

confound all rabid e!piricists who are on principle a#erse to the %bsolute Truth >hose

%ppearance is utterly inco!patible with the do!ination of e!piricis!. But no ad#erse

efforts of the e!piricists, whose rule see!s till then to be perfectly wellestablished o#er

the !inds of the deluded souls of this world, can dissuade any person fro! eclusi#ely

following the Truth when -e actually !anifests -is birth in the pure cogniti#e essence of

-is soul.

Putana is the layer of all infants. The baby, when he or she co!es out of the !other7s

wo!b, falls at once into the clutches of the pseudoteachers of religion. These teacher are

successful in forestalling the atte!pts of the good preceptor whose help is ne#er sought by

the atheists of this world at the baptis!s of their children. This is ensured by the

arrange!ents of all the established churches of the world. They ha#e been successful only

in supplying watchful Putanas for effecting the spiritual destruction of persons fro! the

!o!ent of their birth with the cooperation of their worldly parents. 4o hu!an

contri#ance can pre#ent these Putanas fro! obtaining possession of the pulpits. This is due

to the general pre#alence of atheistic disposition in the people of this world. The church

that has the best chance of sur#i#al in this da!ned world is that of atheis! under the

con#enient guise of theis!. The churches ha#e always pro#ed the staunchest upholders of

the grossest for!s of worldliness fro! which e#en the worst of nonecclesiastical

cri!inals are bound to recoil.

It is not fro! any deliberate opposition to the ordained clergy that these obser#ations are

!ade. The original purpose of the established churches of the world !ay not be always

ob$ectionable. But no stable religious arrange!ent for instructing the !asses has yet been

 

successful. The supre!e <ord Shree Krishna haitanya in pursuance of the teaching of the

scriptures en$oins all absence of con#entionalis! for the teachers of the eternal religion. It

does not follow that the !echanical adoption of the uncon#entional life by any person will

!ake hi! a fit teacher of religion. =egulation is necessary for controlling the inherent

worldliness of conditioned souls. But no !echanical regulation has any #alue e#en for

such a purpose. The bonafide teacher of the religion is neither any product nor the fa#orer

of any !echanical syste!. In his hands no syste! has likewise the chance of degenerating

is not a lifeless arrange!ent. The !ere pursuit of fied doctrines and fied liturgies cannot

hold a person to the true spirit of doctrine or liturgy.

The idea of an organi;ed church in an intelligible for!, indeed, !arks the close of the

li#ing spiritual !o#e!ent. The great ecclesiastical establish!ents are the dykes and the

da!s to retain the current that cannot be held by any such contri#ances. They, indeed,

indicate a desire on the part of the !asses to eploit a spiritual !o#e!ent for their own

 purpose. They also un!istakably indicate the end of the absolute and uncon#entional

guidance of the bonafide spiritual teacher. The people of this world understand pre#enti#e

syste!s, they can ha#e no idea of the unpre#ented positi#e eternal life. 4either can there

 be any earthly contri#ance for the per!anent preser#ation of the life eternal on this

!undane plane on the popular scale.

Those are, therefore, greatly !istaken who are disposed to look forward to the

a!elioration of the worldly state in any worldly sense fro! the worldly success of any

really spiritual !o#e!ent. It is these worldly epectants who beco!e the patrons of the

!ischie#ous race of the pseudoteachers of religion. the Putanas, whose congenial

function is to stifle the theistic disposition at the #ery !o!ent of its suspected appearance.

But the real theistic disposition can ne#er be stifled e#en by the efforts of those Putanas.

The Putanas ha#e power only o#er the atheists. It is a thankless but salutary task which

they perfor! for the benefit of their willing #icti!s.

But as soon as the theistic disposition proper !akes its appearance in the pure cogniti#e

essence of the awakened soul the Putanas are decisi#ely silences at the #ery earliest stage

of their encounter with newborn Krishna. The wouldbe slayer is herself slain. This is the

reward of the negati#e ser#ices that the Putanas unwittingly render to the cause of theis!

 by strangling all hypocritical de!onstrations against their own hypocrisy But Putana does

not at all like to recei#e her reward in the only for! which in#ol#es the total destruction of

her wrong personality. King Kansa also does not like to lose the ser#ice of the !ost trusted

of his agents. The effecti#e silencing of the whole race of the pseudoteachers of religion

is the #ery first clear indication of the %ppearance of the %bsolute on the !undane plane.

The bonafide teacher of the %bsolute heralds the %d#ent of Krishna by his

unco!pro!ising ca!paign against the pseudoteachers of religion.

)end of part *+