During the days that we had been staying in Malaysia, our host Bala Singam prabhu had produced a very melodious recording of Krsna dasa brahmacari's beautiful singing, accompanied by various musical instruments. However, this evening before he gave his class, Srila Gurudeva reminded us that the purpose of these bhajanas was not for our enjoyment, but rather to give us a stimulus for our spiritual lives, by being sung in a mood of separation.

"We should sing the words 'karunam kuru mayi, O Srimati Radharani You are so merciful, I am covered in maya, please save me' from our heart, then tears will come. But if we sing this prayer by raga and ragini, with mrdanga, dolaka and tabla, with the conception 'I should make this perfect so that everyone will be happy' thinking only of the tune, then the mood will not be there. It will be covered. So try to use instruments in such a way that the mood is not covered. If there are no instruments but we are singing in so much separation: 'O Srimati Radharani be merciful to me. I'm so wretched and fallen,' then it is very good. The mood, the life and soul of kirtana, vaisnava kirtana, should not be covered. There is so much difference between this and music, between bhajana and sangeet. Try to realize the mood, the life and soul of kirtana. If it is covered, then it is useless. But if our attention is on the mood, then our heart will melt and tears will come. In this mood one will be very humble 'trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtanaiyah sada harih.' Otherwise, if one sings just for performance, one will become proud. Try to learn everyday something I'm telling, otherwise no benefit."

Srila Gurudeva now started his class, by talking about the appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna in Mathura and the simultaneous birth of Brajendra-nandana in Gokula from Yasoda. "When Yasoda-nandana Krsna had taken birth in Gokula, Nanda Maharaja arranged a very big festival for the nabhi chedan, the cutting of Krsna's umbilical cord. This was witnessed by all the ladies of Gokula, so this is the proof. 'A very beautiful baby has been born.' But there were no Mathuravasis present to witness the appearance of Devaki-nandana Krsna, so why should we believe them? Instead we should believe the Vrajabasis.

(When Visnu, or Krsna, took birth from Devaki, He must have simultaneously taken birth from Yasoda also. Otherwise how could Yogamaya have been anuja, the Lord's younger sister? Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada's purport SB 10.4.9)

"But it is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that Krsna took birth in Mathura. So why is this? The reason is that Sukadeva Gosvami wanted to please Pariksit Maharaja. Who was he? By family Pariksit Maharaja was connected with Mathuresa Krsna. Krsna's sister Subhadra was married to the grandfather of Pariksit Maharaja, Arjuna, and their son Abhimanyu was the father of Pariksit Maharaja. So in this way Pariksit Maharaja became happy to hear Sukadeva Gosvami talking about the Krsna who was in his dynasty. But really, if the Vrajabasis had been there, then Sukadeva Gosvami would have told differently. Even though they were not, still by chance Sukadeva Gosvami has said: nandas tv atmaja utpanne jatahlado maha-manah" Nanda became so happy when a son came to him from the womb of Yasoda." (SB 10.5.1). Brahma also prays: laksma sriye mrdu pade pasu pangajaya "O Krsna, You've come from the womb of Yasoda." (SB 10.14.1). And at the end of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam this sloka is given: jayati jananivaso devaki janma vado, which is the essence of all. Some people claim that Krsna is the son of Devaki, but it is untrue. He is the son of Yasoda. Ignorant people who don't know tattva will say this. But sometimes to taunt Him, when the gopis are angry, they may also say this: na khalu gopika nandano bhavan "You are so cruel, how can you be the son of Yasoda? It is not possible. So you must be the son of Devaki!" (SB 10.31.4).

Srila Gurudeva then surprised us with the question: "Those who want to be a Mathuravasi, raise your hand." "Dhira Krsna prabhu is a Mathuravasi!" Govinda bhakata prabhu then called out. (Dhira Krsna prabhu is from Mathura.) As all eyes turned on him expectantly, he replied hesitantly "I was... but I don't 'want' to be..."

After this little interlude, Srila Gurudeva continued with his class:

"When Kamsa realized that Krsna had somehow avoided his clutches, and was living somewhere unknown, he called all of his demonic allies together, and urged them to find Krsna and kill him. In particular he wanted to take help from Putana. While conquering the world, he had not been able to defeat her, so instead he had made a compromise with her: 'You are like my sister, and I am like your brother, so let us help each other.' So now she was very willing to help Kamsa by killing Krsna, knowing so many tricks and magic. She then transformed herself to a very beautiful young mother, took vina and, going to every village, she murdered all the baby boys. At last she came to Gokula.

"So many siddha-yogis who cannot give up the influence of maya are unable to go there. What to speak of them, even those who have become free from maya like Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara are also unable to enter Vraja. If one performs bhajana under the guidance of a resident of Vraja, then by this means only can one go there, otherwise not.

"So it is quite impossible for Putana to go there, but she was allowed to enter by the influence of Yogamaya. Yogamaya wanted to make a situation so that the love and affection of the Vrajabasis could be renewed. If there is no current, then that love becomes stagnant, frozen. It becomes feeble, and cannot therefore please Krsna. After some time Krsna felt that Yasoda was not as attentive to Him as she was when He born and that her mood was now somewhat far away.

"When Vamanadeva went to see Bali He was very beautiful, although very short. When Bali's daughter Ratnamala saw him, she thought: 'I wish that Vamanadeva could be my son.' But when she saw Him cover all the universe in three steps, and then put His foot on Bali's head, and bind him, she thought: 'If He becomes my son then I'll give him poison.'

"So in her next life Ratnamala became Putana. She came to kill Krsna as a mother, with strong poison. She had no milk to give Him, so when she held Krsna she squeezed her breast to make him take poison. Krsna made that poison into nectar, and took out her life. She cried: 'Leave me! Leave me!' but even with the power of 10,000 elephants she could not do anything. She thought that she would get help from Kamsa, and started to try and fly in the direction of Mathura. But Krsna thought: 'You've come to me as mother so I'll not let you go.' When she fell down her body covered twelve miles, also smashing Kamsa's garden. All of the villages in the place where her body fell were named after her different body parts. The place where her arm fell was called Hatarasa, and the place where her head lay was called Mudsan. But through the ages, these names have become gradually changed.

"The next demon whom Kamsa sent to kill Krsna was Sakatasura. Sakatasura was like a ghost, he could enter into anything. He was given this name because he entered a bullock cart(sakata). Kamsa advised him to enter Vraja in a hidden way, because Putana had been destroyed by going there in a gross form.

"When Krsna was thirty days old Yasoda saw that He was now able to turn over by Himself. In celebration she wanted to hold a festival. So she started to make a big feast, and gave so much charity to brahmanas. While she was working hard to prepare it, Krsna had been left underneath the bullock cart which Sakatasura had entered. Sakatasura wanted to crush Krsna. He made the cart become so heavy that the wheels were being driven into the earth, making the cart sink closer and closer to baby Krsna. Krsna was happily kicking His legs when His lotus foot by chance touched the cart. Immediately the cart violently collapsed, and all the wheels were broken. The many pots of yogurt and utensils which were previously on the cart were scattered here and there. When all of the adults came running,the young boys tried to explain to Nanda Baba how Krsna had made the cart collapse "O B-b-baba, K-K-K-Krsna t-t-touched it with his foot and it f-f-fell down." Of course, nobody took them seriously. When the Vrajabasis saw the body of the demon they consulted the brahmanas about what to do. The brahmanas then performed a ceremony in which the dung and urine of a black cow should be mixed into a paste, and applied like tilaka on the twelve different places on Krsna's body with the cow's tail by the mantra:

lalate kesavam dhyayen
narayanam athodare
vaksah-sthale madhavam tu
govindam kantha-kupake etc.

"In this way the brahmanas blessed Krsna and assured Yasodamaiya and Nanda Baba that Krsna was now safe.

"After the death of Sataka, Kamsa asked Trnavarta to go and kill Krsna. Trnavarta vowed to Kamsa that he would not return until he had accomplished this, and Kamsa embraced him. Krsna was now 90 days old. After singing Him to sleep and giving Him some toys to play with, Yasoda would go to churn yogurt, but Krsna would still cry for her. So Yogamaya had arranged for another demon to come so that Yasoda's love for Krsna and the love of the inhabitants of Vraja would become rejuvenated. There was also one other reason why Trnavarta came to Vraja. Krsna had seen birds flying around, and he wanted to be able to fly like them. So Yogamaya arranged for Trnavarta to come so that Krsna would be able to have a ride in the sky.

"Trnavarta came in the form of a whirlwind. The sky became black. No one could see anything because of the dust storm. Many trees were uprooted and scattered. Because Trnavarta was coming, Krsna had to some how separate Himself from Yasoda so that she would not come in harm's way. Krsna became very heavy and she was forced to put him down. When Trnavarta came Yasoda being unable to see Krsna because of the dust storm, began to cry piteously. Trnavarta seized Krsna and took him high into the sky at a great speed. As any small child would naturally do when picked up by someone, Krsna held tightly onto the neck of Trnavarta. After flying around for some time, when Krsna's desire had been fulfilled then Trnavarta felt Krsna to be heavier than a mountain. His eyes began to bulge out of their sockets.

Krsna thought: 'Oh, I wanted to play with you, but now your eyes have popped out like rasagullas! What can I do?'

"The demon Trnavarta represents those persons who use the Vedas to try to show that God and the jiva are nirvisesa, nirakara, and nirguna. As Trnavarta caused everyone to become blind by making a dust storm covering Vrndavana, the adherents of impersonalism try to make everyone blind by covering the personal features of God and the jiva by misinterpreting the Vedic scriptures.

"When Yasoda and Nanda found Krsna on top of this gigantic demon whose body had been smashed to pieces on a stone, they were astonished. 'How miraculous it is that Krsna is completely unharmed.' Gargacarya informed them that Krsna had been protected by the grace of Bhagavan Sri Narayana. So they called that black cow again, and the brahmanas performed the same ceremony for Krsna's protection and gave Him their blessings."

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