Canto Ten - Chapter 37

Śrī Śuka said: Sent by Kaṃsa, Keśī came in the form of a gigantic horse. Racing with the speed of the mind, he tore up the earth with his hooves, scattered clouds and celestial aircraft with his tossing mane, and terrified everyone with his neighing.

The demon terrorized the Lord's own Gokula with his neighing and scattered the clouds with his whirling tail. Seeing him searching for an opponent in battle, Bhagavān, foremost of heroes, called him forward and roared like a lion.

Hearing the challenge, the furious Keśī turned toward Him and charged as if swallowing the sky with his mouth. Unapproachable, fiercely swift, and hard to withstand, he struck the lotus-eyed Lord with his hind legs.

Adhokṣaja evaded the blow and angrily seized the demon by both hind legs. Whirling him around, He contemptuously hurled him a hundred bow-lengths away, just as Garuḍa might cast away a serpent, and then stood ready.

Regaining consciousness, Keśī rose again in fury. With his mouth gaping, he rushed violently at Hari. Smiling, the Lord thrust His left arm into the demon's mouth as one might thrust a serpent into a hole.

When Keśī's teeth touched Bhagavān's arm, they fell out as though they had struck red-hot iron. Within the demon's body, the arm of the Supreme Lord then expanded like a neglected disease.

As Kṛṣṇa's arm continued to expand, the demon's breath was blocked. Kicking his legs, his body drenched in perspiration and his eyes rolling, he fell lifeless to the earth, releasing dung.

The mighty-armed Lord withdrew His arm from the dead demon's body, which had split open like a ripe cucumber. Unastonished at having slain His enemy without effort, He was praised by the gods as they poured showers of flowers upon Him.

O King, the divine sage Nārada, foremost among Bhagavān's devotees, then approached Kṛṣṇa, whose deeds are effortless, and spoke to Him privately.

'Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Immeasurable Self, master of yoga, Lord of the universe, Vāsudeva who dwells in all, foremost of the Sātvatas, almighty Lord!

'You are the one Self within all beings, hidden in the cave of the heart like fire within fuel. You are the witness, the Supreme Person, and the sovereign Lord.

'Self-sufficient and resting in Yourself alone, You first created the material qualities through Your Māyā. O Lord whose resolve is unfailing, through those qualities You create, consume, and sustain this universe.

'You have now descended to destroy the demons, Pramathas, and Rākṣasas who burden the earth and to protect the saintly.

'How fortunate that in mere play You have killed this horse-shaped demon, whose neighing so terrified the deathless gods that they abandoned heaven.

'O almighty Lord, the day after tomorrow I shall see You kill Cāṇūra, Muṣṭika, the other wrestlers, the elephant, and Kaṃsa.

'Afterward I shall witness the deaths of Śaṅkha, Yavana, Mura, and Naraka; Your taking of the pārijāta tree; and Indra's defeat.

'O Lord of the universe, in Dvārakā I shall see You win and marry heroic princesses by the required feats of strength and free King Nṛga from his curse.

'I shall see You obtain the Syamantaka jewel together with a bride and return a brāhmaṇa's dead sons from Your own supreme abode.

'Later I shall see You kill Pauṇḍraka, burn the city of Kāśī, kill Dantavakra, and slay the king of Cedi at the great sacrifice.

'While residing in Dvārakā, You will perform many other heroic deeds celebrated by poets throughout the earth, and I shall behold them all.

'Then I shall see You in the form of Time, acting as Arjuna's charioteer and annihilating the armies of many akṣauhiṇīs.

'We worship Bhagavān, the concentrated fullness of pure consciousness, complete in every purpose by His own nature and never frustrated in desire, who by His own effulgence eternally keeps the current of Māyā's qualities at a distance.

'I bow to You, the sovereign Lord who rests in Himself, through whose own Māyā the limitless varieties of creation are conceived. For the sake of divine play, You have now assumed a human form and become the foremost among the Yadus, Vṛṣṇis, and Sātvatas.'

Śrī Śuka said: Having thus bowed to Kṛṣṇa, Lord of the Yadus, the sage who was foremost among Bhagavān's devotees received His permission to leave. Filled with the festival of beholding Him, Nārada departed.

Bhagavān Govinda, having killed Keśī in battle, continued tending the animals with His delighted cowherd companions, bringing happiness to Vraja.

One day, while grazing the animals on the mountain slopes, the cowherd boys began playing a game of hide-and-seek in which some acted as thieves and others as shepherds.

O King, some played thieves, some played shepherds, and others took the role of sheep. Free from fear, they all enjoyed the game.

Vyoma, the greatly magical son of Maya, disguised himself as a cowherd boy. Taking the role of a thief, he carried away most of the boys who were playing sheep.

The great demon carried them away one by one, put them into a mountain cave, and sealed its entrance with a boulder, until only four or five remained.

Kṛṣṇa, who gives shelter to the saintly, recognized what the demon was doing. With the strength of a lion seizing a wolf, Hari caught him as he carried away the cowherd boys.

The powerful demon assumed his own form, immense as a king of mountains. Struggling to free himself, he could not escape Kṛṣṇa's painful grip.

Acyuta restrained him with both arms, threw him to the ground, and killed him as one slaughters a sacrificial animal, while the gods watched from heaven.

Breaking open the cave's seal, Kṛṣṇa rescued the cowherd boys from their confinement. Praised by the gods and cowherds, He then returned to His own Gokula.