Aghasura vadhana

Topics covered:

SB 10.12: The Killing of the Demon Aghāsura

  • Lord Krishna one day decided to go picnic with his cowherd friends near the forest
  • Everyone was well dressed up
  • Krishna was dressed up nicely by Yasoda
  • Everyone brought their thousands of calves
  • Krishna brought unlimited calves
  • None could count the number of calves!
  • Krishna is unlimited hence his calves and everything about Him is also unlimited !
  • Cowherd boys played many games with Krishna
  • Sometimes they will try to be the first to touch Krishna and also imitate the birds and other animals
  • Enjoyment is there in the spiritual world also - Janmady asya yatah, everything come from Krishna
  • Who can attain the Supreme ?
  • Arrival of Aghasura
  • Who is Aghasura?
  • Why does he want to kill Krishna?
  • Why did he attack Krishna during lunch ?
  • Aghasura in Action!
  • Aghasura assumed a snake form and waited for Krishna
  • His upper lip touched the sky and the whole mouth was like a cave
  • All the cowherd boys thought that it was a scenic spot and a big sculpture for entertainment
  • Cowherd boys were confident of going into the mouth without getting hurt. Why?
  • Krishna waited and waited….
  • Sri Krishna waited for the perfect time to enter Aghasura’s mouth
  • All the boys were in the mouth of Aghasura finally but the demon didn’t swallow
  • Krishna finally entered the mouth after deliberating for some time
  • Krishna kills Aghasura
  • Krishna immediately enlarged himself and thus suffocated Aghasura to death
  • The life air came out and the bright light merged onto Krishna’s body
  • He saved the cowherd boys and the demigods from imminent death and lamentation
  • Celebration starts!
  • The denizens of the heavenly planets and the the demigods were very jubilant!
  • Even Lord Brahma came down to see the wonderful ceremony and he got so astonished
  • The python dried up into a thick skin and became an attraction in Vraja
  • A sinful demon can attain liberation because of Krishna killing him.
  • What to speak of a devotee who is always surrendered to the Lord?
  • The Aghasura incident was only disclosed one year after it happened to the residents of Vraja
  • Maharaj Pariksit asked why it was like that to Sukadev goswami
  • Lessons to be learned:
  • Kṛṣṇa is unlimited, His potency is unlimited, His cows and calves are unlimited, and His space is unlimited.
  • Nothing is impossible for Krishna
  • In the spiritual world there the enjoyment is eternal, whereas here, on the material platform, it is temporary.
  • Kṛṣṇa comes down to teach us how we can enjoy with Him on the spiritual platform, in the spiritual world.
  • One should concentrate one’s full attention upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa
  •  Diverting even a little of one’s attention toward Kṛṣṇa and activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness immediately enables one to achieve the highest perfection of life.
  • We do not know what the next body will be.
  • If we can somehow or other remember Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, at the end of life, our life will be successful.
  • We can simply imagine the great fortune of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
  • Vrijavasis had full faith in Kṛṣṇa because they had experienced how Kṛṣṇa had saved them from the mouth of Bakāsura.
  • Kṛṣṇa is known as ananta-vīrya-sarvajña because everything is known to Him. 
  • It was not difficult for Him to find a means by which He could save us.
  • Kṛṣṇa is the full effulgence, and every living being is part and parcel of that effulgence.
  • Kṛṣṇa proved that anyone killed by Him attains liberation
  • The śāstra has concluded (nirūpitaḥ) that everyone should glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his own qualifications.
  • To understand how to glorify the Lord is actual research work.
  • Without bhagavad-bhakti, without glorification of the Supreme Lord, whatever we have is simply a decoration of the dead body.
  • In the material world there are birth, death, old age and disease, but in the spiritual world there are no such things because everything is eternal.
  • God is good for everyone.
  • Word māyinaḥ indicates that Kṛṣṇa, out of love, appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja and assumed the form of a human child (manujārbha).
  • Simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, one can attain Him very easily.
  • Without devotion, one cannot think of Kṛṣṇa; and, conversely, whenever one thinks of Kṛṣṇa, one undoubtedly has devotion.
  • A student and disciple has the right to ask the guru about any confidential service, and it is the duty of the guruto explain these confidential matters to his disciple.
  • The pious activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are very confidential. It is not ordinarily possible to hear such activities unless one is very, very fortunate. 
Esoteric meaning of lila:


Aghasura represents the mentality of cruelty to others, and violence and causing trouble to others out of envy. This attitude is an offense against the chanting of the holy names. It may also manifest in the form of an unwillingness to help other living beings by giving them Krishnaa consciousness.