Tom Chavez
A Deceptive Poisoning Attempt
Knowing that the person foretold to kill him was born elsewhere, King Kaášsa consulted with his ministers and made plans to find and kill the child. Kaášsa instructed a witch named PĹŤtanÄ, who knew the black art of killing small children, to kill all newborns wherever she found them.
PĹŤtanÄ made herself appear very beautiful, with broad hips, thin waist, full breasts, earrings, and flowers in her hair. Entering the village of VášndÄvan, she glanced about with a smiling face, and the residents and innocent cowherd women saw her as a goddess of fortune carrying a lotus flower in her hand.
Because of her exquisite beauty, she moved freely and entered the house of Nanda and YaĹodÄ. When PĹŤtanÄ found baby KášášŁáša lying on a small bed, he closed his eyes. Some say that he did not want to see the face of a child-killer. Others say that he closed them because he had to kill a woman, which was strictly forbidden in Vedic culture.
When baby KášášŁáša closed His eyes, PĹŤtanÄ took him on her lap. Although mother YaĹodÄ and RohiášÄŤ were present, because PĹŤtanÄ was nicely dressed and showed motherly affection toward KášášŁáša, they did not object. They could not understand that she was a sword in a decorated sheath.
PĹŤtanÄ had smeared poison on her breasts and, holding the baby, she pushed a nipple within his mouth. Baby KášášŁáša took the nipple in anger and sucked out the milk-poison along with her life air. As KášášŁáša sucked out her very breath, PĹŤtanÄ fell upon the ground, crying, “Oh, child, leave me, leave me!”
As she died screaming, PĹŤtanÄ assumed her real form as a demoness, flailing her arms and legs and scattering her long hair. All the cowherd men and women were struck with awe. The tumultuous sound of her death shocked their brains and ears and sent their hearts racing.
The gopÄŤ milkmaids quickly picked up little KášášŁáša. Mother YaĹodÄ and the elder gopÄŤs immediately performed auspicious rituals. KášášŁáša did not require protection, but the gopÄŤs, headed by Mother YaĹodÄ and RohiášÄŤ, chanted the names of Viᚣášu to give KášášŁáša full protection from all evil influences.
KášášŁáša is supremely pure, and any contact with him, in enmity or in love, is purifying. Although PĹŤtanÄ was evil, after death she attained elevation just like a mother of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. KášášŁáša can offer anyone anything, from spiritual liberation to any conceivable material opulence.
Mother YaĹodÄ with KášášŁáša in VášndÄvan
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