Verse 2.1.338

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.1.338:

অঘ-বক-পূতনারে যে কৈলা মোচন ভজ ভজ সেই নন্দ-নন্দন-চরণ ॥ ৩৩৮ ॥

अघ-बक-पूतनारे ये कैला मोचन भज भज सेइ नन्द-नन्दन-चरण ॥ ३३८ ॥

agha-baka-pūtanāre ye kailā mocana bhaja bhaja sei nanda-nandana-caraṇa || 338 ||

agha-baka-putanare ye kaila mocana bhaja bhaja sei nanda-nandana-carana (338)

English translation:

(338) “Worship the lotus feet of Nanda-nandana, who delivered Aghāsura, Bakāsura, and Pūtanā.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The deliverance of Aghāsura is described by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.12.38-39) as follows: “Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. The causes and effects of the material world, both higher and lower, are all created by the Supreme Lord, the original controller. When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, He did so by His causeless mercy. Consequently, for Him to exhibit His unlimited opulence was not at all wonderful. Indeed, He showed such great mercy that even Aghāsura, the most sinful miscreant, was elevated to being one of His associates and achieving sārūpya-mukti, which is actually impossible for materially contaminated persons to attain. If even only once or even by force one brings the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead into one’s mind, one can attain the supreme salvation by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, as did Aghāsura. What then is to be said of those whose hearts the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters when He appears as an incarnation, or those who always think of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the source of transcendental bliss for all living entities and by whom all illusion is completely removed?”

The deliverance of Pūtanā, the sister of Bakāsura, is described by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.6.35, 38) as follows: “Pūtanā was always hankering for the blood of human children, and with that desire she came to kill Kṛṣṇa; but because she offered her breast to the Lord, she attained the greatest achievement. Because Kṛṣṇa embraced Pūtanās body with great pleasure and sucked her breast, although she was a great witch, she attained the position of a

mother in the transcendental world and thus achieved the highest perfection. What then is to be said of the cows whose nipples Kṛṣṇa sucked with great pleasure and who offered their milk very jubilantly with affection exactly like that of a mother?”

The first line of this verse refers to the Lord, who awarded the supreme destination to those who were killed by Him. This is confirmed in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.1.205) as follows:

parābhavaṃ phenila-vaktratāṃ ca bandhaṃ ca bhītiṃ ca mṛtiṃ ca kṛtvā

pavarga-dātāpi śikhaṇḍa-maule tvaṃśāstra-bāṇām apavarga do ‘si

“O Kṛṣṇa, whose head is decorated with a peacock feather, although You award the pavargas—the five situations of parājaya (defeat), phena- yukta ānana (foaming mouth), bandhana (bondage), bhaya (fearfulness), and mṛtyu (death)—to Your enemies, You ultimately award them apavarga, or liberation.”

For a description of Kṛṣṇa’s killing of Bakāsura and Aghāsura, one should see Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.11.47-53 and 10.12.13-35).