In this month [Kartika], Krishna killed the demon Sankasura and cut the jewel from his forehead. He then entered the company of all the gopis, who were all wondering to whom He would give that jewel. Krishna was thinking, “If I give the jewel to one, the others will be upset.” Therefore, to avoid an argument among the gopis, Krishna gave the jewel to Baladeva Prabhu, who gave it to Madhumangala, who gave it to Srimati Radhika.
In this month Krishna killed Aristasura, and as a result of that killing Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda were manifest. That pastime took place today, (Oct 28) and this holy day is called Bahulastami.
In this month, Krishna killed the demons Kesi and Vyomasura, and in this month Akrura came to Vraja and took Krishna and Balarama to Mathura. Krishna also killed Kamsa in this month.
In this month Krishna and Balarama performed the upanaya sanskara (sacred thread ceremony). Because they had been brought up in Vraja, they have the mood that, “I am a cowherd boy and Mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba are My parents.” However, Vasudeva and Devaki think, “We are the real parents of Krishna. It is part of the Vedic tradition that parents arrange for the upanaya sanskara, of their child, so if we arrange this function for Krishna, the impression will come in his heart that, “Vasudeva and Devaki are My parents.” They tried to do this, but they failed. Krishna had already received the Radha mantra from Bhaguri Rsi. He received this mantra when He was in Vraja, but at that time He had no upanaya sanskara. His upanaya sanskara was performed in Mathura according to the duties of ksatryas.
Gargacarya gave Krishna the brahma-gayatri mantra, and when Krishna heard this mantra He fainted. Why? Radhika is the predominating deity of gayatri. Then, after His fire yajna, Krishna was looking for his mother and called out, “O Mother, where are you?” Devaki was standing near Him, but Krishna did not approach her; He was looking for Mother Yasoda. In this way, although the Mathuravasis made the plan to give Krishna the sanskara that He is the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, it failed. This pastime took place in this month.
Sri Narada Rsi received the benediction from Krishna that those who will hear His sweet lila-katha in the places of His pastimes, especially during this Kartika month, will surely attain Krishna-prema very soon. We should therefore have confidence; we need never become hopeless. We should know that by performing all these simple activities – offering a ghee lamp every day, attending mangal-arati, performing kirtana, singing Sri Damodarastakam, doing parikrama, offering maha-prasada, observing Annukuta Mahotsava, hearing hari-katha in all the lila-sthalis (pastime places), there is no doubt about success. It is only a question of time, and that time will not be very long. We will attain Krishna-prema and thus serve Radha-Krishna Yugala.
This is a section of the book “Vrindavana Lila”.
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