must be strange, to have a younger brother who is a god so powerful, the great Protector Vishnu himself made incarnate in human form.’
Balarama shrugged. ‘He is what he is. He is Krishna.’
Radha nodded at the wisdom of this simple statement. ‘He is Krishna.’
They fell silent then as a new rumbling filled their inner ears, sensed rather than heard. The ground trembled as something momentous approached, then, with an explosion of dust and trees and shattered trees, Aghasura breached the surface of the earth again, in a spot about two miles from the place where he had attacked the children. All the watching children exclaimed in horror as they viewed the sheer size and scale of the gargantuan clearly. The beast was enormous, towering hundreds of yards high as he exploded from the ground, shedding boulders and rocks and roots by the ton.
Aghasura’s body was blazing with blue light.
The light originated from a spot somewhere to the fore of the worm demon’s length, exuding outwards. It was blindingly intense, visible even in the bright sunlight, and shone out with an effulgence that seemed to emerge like swordpoints of blue flame from a hundred different points on the creature’s body. As if the light were tearing its way out of the worm’s body, bursting forth. It was clear that the blue light caused the worm considerable pain, for it thrashed and squirmed in the air, thudding to the ground with earth-shuddering impact again and again, in a futile attempt to squash the source of the light. Its body convulsed and quivered, undulating and twisting.
Yet all its struggles were of no avail. The blue light only seemed to glow stronger than before, bursting through from more and more places along the demon’s enormous length. Holes began to appear all along the beast’s hide, starting as small pinpricks through which the blue glow leaked at first, then expanding steadily to larger and larger wounds, until the creature was bleeding and oozing life from a hundred different places.
From the hilltop overlooking the woods, Nanda, Yashoda and the adult gopas and gopis watched, keeping their precious herds in check to avoid a panic stampede. From the pastures, the children of Vrindavan and their calf herds and mother cattle watched as well. All Vrindavan watched. Even the birds in the sky hovered and stared down, eyes round with amazement at the sight of a worm so enormous struggling and suffering for its life. A few of the larger ones opened their beaks and longed for a taste of such a worm, imagining how rich and dense its flesh must be, packed with nutrients. How early would a bird have to rise to catch such a worm? None dared attempt to find out!
Slowly, with great heart-rending sounds of agony, Aghasura began to die. In great torment, the worm beast thrashed and tossed for the last several times, finally shuddering to a collapse. It slapped down on the grass one last time, shattering more trees and sending splinters of fresh timber flying hundreds of yards away as its great length came to a final resting place near one of the many subterranean holes made by its own passage. Here it quivered and trembled in its death throes, life slipping away from its tortured flesh as the power of brahman exuded from a thousand places on its body, blue light bleeding forth to illuminate the dark woods, bright enough to be visible from yojanas away.
Balarama started running almost as soon as the worm subsided. Radha and the other children followed, eager to see for themselves that Krishna was safe and well. It was one thing to know that he was god incarnate and would always triumph, it was another thing to see for themselves that their childhood friend and playmate was unharmed and well.
The ground was torn up, swathes of earth layers ripped up and piled helter skelter, raw dark earth from a hundred yards down mixed with topsoil and flora and vegetation. Trees lay scattered like
Balarama shrugged. ‘He is what he is. He is Krishna.’
Radha nodded at the wisdom of this simple statement. ‘He is Krishna.’
They fell silent then as a new rumbling filled their inner ears, sensed rather than heard. The ground trembled as something momentous approached, then, with an explosion of dust and trees and shattered trees, Aghasura breached the surface of the earth again, in a spot about two miles from the place where he had attacked the children. All the watching children exclaimed in horror as they viewed the sheer size and scale of the gargantuan clearly. The beast was enormous, towering hundreds of yards high as he exploded from the ground, shedding boulders and rocks and roots by the ton.
Aghasura’s body was blazing with blue light.
The light originated from a spot somewhere to the fore of the worm demon’s length, exuding outwards. It was blindingly intense, visible even in the bright sunlight, and shone out with an effulgence that seemed to emerge like swordpoints of blue flame from a hundred different points on the creature’s body. As if the light were tearing its way out of the worm’s body, bursting forth. It was clear that the blue light caused the worm considerable pain, for it thrashed and squirmed in the air, thudding to the ground with earth-shuddering impact again and again, in a futile attempt to squash the source of the light. Its body convulsed and quivered, undulating and twisting.
Yet all its struggles were of no avail. The blue light only seemed to glow stronger than before, bursting through from more and more places along the demon’s enormous length. Holes began to appear all along the beast’s hide, starting as small pinpricks through which the blue glow leaked at first, then expanding steadily to larger and larger wounds, until the creature was bleeding and oozing life from a hundred different places.
From the hilltop overlooking the woods, Nanda, Yashoda and the adult gopas and gopis watched, keeping their precious herds in check to avoid a panic stampede. From the pastures, the children of Vrindavan and their calf herds and mother cattle watched as well. All Vrindavan watched. Even the birds in the sky hovered and stared down, eyes round with amazement at the sight of a worm so enormous struggling and suffering for its life. A few of the larger ones opened their beaks and longed for a taste of such a worm, imagining how rich and dense its flesh must be, packed with nutrients. How early would a bird have to rise to catch such a worm? None dared attempt to find out!
Slowly, with great heart-rending sounds of agony, Aghasura began to die. In great torment, the worm beast thrashed and tossed for the last several times, finally shuddering to a collapse. It slapped down on the grass one last time, shattering more trees and sending splinters of fresh timber flying hundreds of yards away as its great length came to a final resting place near one of the many subterranean holes made by its own passage. Here it quivered and trembled in its death throes, life slipping away from its tortured flesh as the power of brahman exuded from a thousand places on its body, blue light bleeding forth to illuminate the dark woods, bright enough to be visible from yojanas away.
Balarama started running almost as soon as the worm subsided. Radha and the other children followed, eager to see for themselves that Krishna was safe and well. It was one thing to know that he was god incarnate and would always triumph, it was another thing to see for themselves that their childhood friend and playmate was unharmed and well.
The ground was torn up, swathes of earth layers ripped up and piled helter skelter, raw dark earth from a hundred yards down mixed with topsoil and flora and vegetation. Trees lay scattered like
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