Srimad Bhagavatam – day 576
Sandstorms have the ability to blow away rooftops and carry entire homes with them. Gokula was hit by one such dreadful storm. After almost an hour, the storm began to gradually subside.
Maharishi Śuka continued, “Demon Tṛṇavarta carried the infant and took him high up in the skies. However as the infant’s weight consistently increased, Tṛṇāvarta’s speed kept reducing. Tṛṇāvarta, the gigantic demon who could easily carry any heavy object, failed to carry this child, who now was far heavier than him. The weight of the child caused his speed to almost come to a standstill.
All along, the child whom he was carrying was laughing merrily. No doubt, he was a lovely, charming boy, who was playing peacefully even when he was being carried away. His face did not show any trace of excitement, tension, fear or shock. Nevertheless, to Tṛṇavarta, who was exhausted beyond limits, the cute child appeared like a heavy rock.
In a swift movement, the infant caught the demon by his neck!”
Destruction of demons is not easy. This task can be accomplished only at appropriate time and situation. Have we not heard this when listening to Prahlada’s story? The Lord waited for the optimal time and then manifested in a very difficult form of half-man and half-lion in order to destroy the demon. Here, Krishna waited for the most suitable opportunity and suddenly squeezed the neck of the demon.
“The Lord’s grip was so firm that the demon, no matter how hard he tried, could not extricate himself. The child’s grip further tightened around the demon’s neck. How astonishing! The boy’s fist grew proportionately to match the size of the demon’s neck”.
A monkey’s grip is well-known. It will not release any object from its grip, no matter what the repercussions could be. The object could break, wither, tear or be destroyed, but the monkey will not release its grip. This is referred to as ‘kapi muṣṭi’ in colloquial language.
I remember a story narrated by my mother during my childhood. A monkey once spotted a pot full of peanuts in a store. It was overcome with many desires. The pot was covered with a tight lid, which had a narrow opening at the top. The monkey pushed its hand through that narrow opening and grabbed a fistful of peanuts. However it failed to pull its hand out. This was because the fist, which was filled with peanuts, could not pass through the narrow opening. To free itself, the monkey had to let go of the peanuts, which was not to its liking. It struggled hard to free itself but was unwilling to let go of the peanuts.
Meanwhile, the shop-owner noticed the monkey. He began to thrash it with a rod. The monkey bore the beating, but was unwilling to let go of the peanuts in its fist. Simultaneously it continued its efforts to free its hand from the pot. Accidently the shopkeeper’s rod struck the pot. The pot broke. The lid crashed. Peanuts were scattered everywhere. The monkey, which was thus freed, escaped along with the peanuts that were in its grip.
If this is the grip a monkey can have, how powerful could be the grip of wind? If wind has such a powerful grip, then what more can be said of the grip of the Supreme Lord, who has created wind? Here Tṛṇavarta was the forceful wind. The Supreme Lord caught Tṛṇavarta tightly by his neck.
“Demon Tṛṇavarta, who had the capacity to create such fierce winds, now began to choke. As the Lord caught him by his neck, he could do nothing to free himself. Neither could he move, nor breathe, nor could he use his limbs. His head reeled. His eyes popped out. He could not talk. In a short while the demon fell dead. Together with the child, his gigantic body, crashed in Gokula. It was as if two giant rocks had fallen in Gokula”.
Krishna!