Having passed these orders Kansa went to his palace and liberated Vasudeva and Devaki from their captivity. He said to them.—"In vain have I killed all your children, for he, who is destined to kill me, has escaped. It is useless to regret the the past. The children, who shall be born to you after this, may enjoy life till its natural close; no one shall cut it short". Having thus consoled them, Kansa, greatly terrified for himself, went into the inner apartments of his palace.
SECTION V.
When Vasudeva was freed, he went to the wagon of Nanda and found him greatly delighted that a son was born to him. He then kindly said to him "It is a blessing that you have got a son in your old age. Have you given your annual tribute to the king? If you have finished your work, you should not wait here for you are men of property. Why do you wait here since the work that has brought you, is finished? Go therefore, speedily, O Nanda, to your Gokula. I have also got a son there, born of Rohini, and he should be brought up by you as this your own son".
Parāçara said:—Thus having paid their dues to the king and placed their goods in their wagons, Nanda and other cow-herds went to their village. And while they were thus living in Gokula, Putanā the child-killer, taking up Krishna, asleep in night, gave him her breast to suck. And whatever child is suckled by Putanā in night, dies instantly having its limbs wearied and exhausted. But laying hold of the breast with two hands, Krishna sucked it with such violence that he drained it of the life and the terrible Putanā, roaring aloud and giving way in every point, fell on the ground dead. Hearing those cries, the inhabitants of Vraja, terrified, got up and saw Putanā lying on the earth with Krishna in her arms. Snatching up Krishna, Yasoda waved over him a cow-tail-brush to guard him from harm, whilst Nanda placed dried cow-dung powdered upon his head; he gave him also an amulet, saying at the same time—"May Hari the lord of creation, he, from the lotus of whose navel the world was produced and on the tip of whose tusks the globe was upraised from waters, protect thee. May that Kesava, who assumed the form of a boar, protect thee. May that Kesava, who, as the man-lion, rent with his sharp nails, the bosom of his foe, save thee. May that Kesava, who appearing first as the dwarf, traversed with all his power with three paces, the three regions of the universe, constantly protect thee. May Govinda guard thy belly, Janarddana thy legs and feet, the eternal and irresistible Nārāyana thy face, thine arms, thy mind and thy faculties of sense. May all ghosts, goblins and malignant spirits, that shall be engaged in thy mischief, be destroyed by the bow, the discus, the mace, the sword of Vishnu and the by echo of his conch shell. May Vaikuntha guard thee in thy cardinal points and Madhusudana in the intermediate ones. May Hrishikesha defend thee in the sky and Mahidhara upon earth". Having recited these prayers to avert all evil, Nanda caused the child to sleep in his bed underneath the wagon. Seeing the huge carcass of Putanā the cow-herds were filled with surprise and fear.
SECTION VI.
Parāçara said Once on a time while the slayer of Madhu was asleep underneath the wagon, he cried for the breast and kicking up his feet he overturned the vehicle and all the pots and pans were upset and broken. Hearing the noise the wives of the cow-herds came exclaiming—"Ah! Ah!" and there they found the child sleeping on his back. "Who could have overturned the wagon?" exclaimed the cow-herds. "That child" said some of the boys who saw the circumstance. "We saw him," said the boys, "crying and kicking the wagon and so the wagon was upset; no one else had anything to do with it".
The cow-herds were therefore greatly surprised and not knowing what to do Nanda at once took up the boy and Yasoda offered worship to the broken pieces of pots and to the wagon, with curds, flowers, fruits and unbruised grain.
Being commissioned by Vasudeva, Garga performed the initiatory rites of the two boys secretly in Vraja. The eldest was named Rāma and the other Krishna by the wise Garga, the foremost of the intelligent. In a short time they began to crawl about the ground, supporting themselves on their hands and knees and creeping everywhere, often amidst ashes and filth. Neither Rohini nor Yasoda was able to prevent them from getting into the cow-pens or amongst the calves, where they amused themselves by pulling their tails. When Yasoda could not prevent the two boys, who always rambled together, from playing naughtily, she became angry and taking up a stick remonstrated with Krishna having eyes like lotus-petals. Fastening a cord round his waist she tied him to the wooden mortar and being angry, she said to him "Now you wicked boy, get away from here, if you can". Having said this, she went about her domestic affairs. As soon as she had gone, the lotus-eyed Krishna, trying to extricate himself, pulled the mortar after him to the space between the two Arjuna trees that grew near together. Being dragged there the mortar became wedged between the two trees, and Krishna having pulled it, the two huge trees covered with many leaves, were uprooted. Hearing the cracking noise the inhabitants of Vraja came to see what was the matter and there they beheld the two huge trees with broken branches and stems lying on the ground with the child fixed between them, with a rope round his belly, laughing and shewing his white teeth, just budded. It is from this that Krishna is called Dāmodara from the binding of dama (rope) round his udara (belly). The elders among the cow-herds, with Nanda at their head, looked upon these circumstances with alarm, considering them as inauspicious signs. They said—"We cannot remain in this place—let us go to some other part of the forest Here many evil omens threaten us with destruction—the death of Putanā, the upsetting of the wagon and the fall of the trees without their being uprooted by the wind. Let us go away from here without any delay and go to Vrindavana, where evil omens may no longer disturb us".
Having thus made up their minds, the inhabitants of Vraja communicated their intention to their families and desired them to go without delay. Accordingly they started with their wagons and their cattle, driving before them their bulls and cows and calves; they threw away the fragments of their household stores and in no time Vraja was overspread with flights of crows. Vrindavana was selected by Krishna, who was above the influence of actions, for the sake of providing for the nourishment of the kine, for there in the hottest season the new grass springs up as profusely as the rains. Having gone to Vrindavana from Vraja, the inhabitants of the latter up their wagons in the form of a crescent.
As the two boys Rāma and Damodara grew up, they lived always together in the same place and engaged in the same boyish sports. They made themselves crests of the peacocks' plumes and garlands of forest flowers and musical instruments of reeds and leaves or played upon the pipes used by cowherds; their hair was arranged like the wings of the crow, and they looked like two young princes and portions of the god of war. They were robust, and walked about always laughing and playing sometimes with each other, sometimes with other boys; driving, along with other young cowherds, the calves to the pasture. Thus the two protectors of the universe were keepers of cattle until they became seven years old in the cow-pens of Vrindavana.