Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.34 Summary

This chapter describes how Lord Śrī Krishna saved His father Nanda from the clutches of a serpent and delivered a Vidyādhara named Sudarśana from the curse of the Āńgirasa sages.

One day Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men placed their family members on their bullock carts and went to the Ambikāvana forest to worship Lord Śiva. After bathing in the Sarasvatī River and worshiping Lord Sadāśiva, a form of Lord Vishnu, they decided to spend the night in the forest. As they slept, a hungry serpent came and began to swallow Nanda Mahārāja. Terrified, Nanda cried out in distress, "O Krishna! O my son, please save this surrendered soul!" The cowherd men immediately awoke and began beating the serpent with wooden torches, but the serpent would not release Nanda. Then Lord Krishna came and touched the serpent with His lotus foot. The serpent was immediately freed from his reptilian body and appeared in his original form as a demigod. He told them about his previous identity and described how he had been cursed by a group of sages. Then he offered his homage at the lotus feet of Śrī Krishna and, on the Lord's order, returned to his own abode.

Later, during the Dola-pūrnimā festival, Śrī Krishna and Baladeva enjoyed pastimes in the forest with the young women of Vraja. The girlfriends of Baladeva and those of Krishna joined together and sang about Their transcendental qualities. When the two Lords became absorbed in singing to the point of apparent intoxication, a servant of Kuvera's named Śańkhacūda boldly came forward and began abducting the gopīs. The young girls called out, "Krishna, please save us!" and He and Rāma began to chase after Śańkhacūda. "Don't be afraid!" Krishna called out to the gopīs. In fear of the Lords, Śańkhacūda left the gopīs aside and ran for his life. Krishna chased after him, swiftly approached him and with a blow of His fist removed Śańkhacūda's jewel, together with his head. Then Krishna brought the jewel back and presented it to Lord Baladeva.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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