From the Srimad Bhagavatam Puranam Amalam
Summary
SB 10.63.1: Sukadeva Gosvami said: O descendant of Bharata, the relatives of Aniruddha, not seeing Him return, continued to lament as the four rainy months passed.
SB 10.63.2: After hearing from Narada the news of Aniruddha's deeds and His capture, the Vrishnis, who worshiped Lord Krishna as their personal Deity, went to Sonitapura.
SB 10.63.3-4: With Lord Balarama and Lord Krishna in the lead, the chiefs of the Satvata clan -- Pradyumna, Satyaki, Gada, Samba, Sarana, Nanda, Upananda, Bhadra and others -- converged with an army of twelve divisions and laid siege to Banasura's capital, completely surrounding the city on all sides.
SB 10.63.5: Banasura became filled with anger upon seeing them destroy his city's suburban gardens, ramparts, watchtowers and gateways, and thus he went out to confront them with an army of equal size.
SB 10.63.6: Lord Rudra, accompanied by his son Kartikeya and the Pramathas, came riding on Nandi, his bull carrier, to fight Balarama and Krishna on Bana's behalf.
PURPORT
Srila Sridhara Svami states that the word bhagavan is used here to indicate that Lord Siva is by nature all-knowing and thus well aware of Lord Krishna's greatness. Still, although Siva knew Lord Krishna would defeat him, he joined the battle against Him to demonstrate the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura states that Lord Siva entered the battle for two reasons: first, to increase Lord Krishna's pleasure and enthusiasm; and second, to demonstrate that the Lord's incarnation as Krishna, although enacting humanlike pastimes, is superior to other avataras, such as Lord Ramacandra. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti further states in this regard that Yogamaya, Lord Krishna's internal potency, bewildered Lord Siva just as she had bewildered Brahma. In support of this statement, the acarya cites the phrase brahma-rudradi-mohanam from Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu. Of course, Yogamaya's job is to make fine arrangements for the Lord's pastimes, and thus Siva became enthusiastic to battle the Supreme Lord, Krishna.
SB 10.63.7: A most astonishing, tumultuous and hair-raising battle then commenced, with Lord Krishna matched against Lord Sankara, and Pradyumna against Kartikeya.
SB 10.63.8: Lord Balarama fought with Kumbhanda and Kupakarna, Samba with Bana's son, and Satyaki with Bana.
SB 10.63.9: Brahma and the other ruling demigods, along with Siddhas, Caranas and great sages, as well as Gandharvas, Apsaras and Yakshas, all came in their celestial airplanes to watch.
SB 10.63.10-11: With sharp-pointed arrows discharged from His bow Sarnga, Lord Krishna drove away the various followers of Lord Siva -- Bhutas, Pramathas, Guhyakas, Dakinis, Yatudhanas, Vetalas, Vinayakas, Pretas, Matas, Pisacas, Kushmandas and Brahma-rakshasas.
SB 10.63.12: Lord Siva, wielder of the trident, shot various weapons at Lord Krishna, wielder of Sarnga. But Lord Krishna was not in the least perplexed: He neutralized all these weapons with appropriate counterweapons.
SB 10.63.13: Lord Krishna counteracted a brahmastra with another brahmastra, a wind weapon with a mountain weapon, a fire weapon with a rain weapon, and Lord Siva's personal pasupatastra weapon with His own personal weapon, the narayanastra.
SB 10.63.14: After bewildering Lord Siva by making him yawn with a yawning weapon, Lord Krishna proceeded to strike down Banasura's army with His sword, club and arrows.
SB 10.63.15: Lord Kartikeya was distressed by the flood of Pradyumna's arrows raining down from all sides, and thus he fled the battlefield on his peacock as blood poured from his limbs.
SB 10.63.16: Kumbhanda and Kupakarna, tormented by Lord Balarama's club, fell down dead. When the soldiers of these two demons saw that their leaders had been killed, they scattered in all directions.
SB 10.63.17: Banasura was furious to see his entire military force being torn apart. Leaving his fight with Satyaki, he charged across the battlefield on his chariot and attacked Lord Krishna.
SB 10.63.18: Excited to a frenzy by the fighting, Bana simultaneously pulled taut all the strings of his five hundred bows and fixed two arrows on each string.
SB 10.63.19: Lord Sri Hari split every one of Banasura's bows simultaneously, and also struck down his chariot driver, chariot and horses. The Lord then sounded His conchshell.
SB 10.63.20: Just then Banasura's mother, Kotara, desiring to save her son's life, appeared before Lord Krishna naked and with her hair undone.
SB 10.63.21: Lord Gadagraja turned His face away to avoid seeing the naked woman, and Banasura -- deprived of his chariot, his bow shattered -- took the opportunity to flee into his city.
SB 10.63.22: After Lord Siva's followers had been driven away, the Siva-jvara, who had three heads and three feet, pressed forward to attack Lord Krishna. As the Siva-jvara approached, he seemed to burn everything in the ten directions.
PURPORT
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti quotes the following description of the Siva-jvara:
jvaras tri-padas tri-sirah / shad-bhujo nava-locanah
bhasma-praharano raudrah / kalantaka-yamopamah
"The terrible Siva-jvara had three legs, three heads, six arms and nine eyes. Showering ashes, he resembled Yamaraja at the time of universal annihilation."
SB 10.63.23: Seeing this personified weapon approach, Lord Narayana then released His own personified fever weapon, the Vishnu-jvara. The Siva-jvara and Vishnu-jvara thus battled each other.
SB 10.63.24: The Siva-jvara, overwhelmed by the strength of the Vishnu-jvara, cried out in pain. But finding no refuge, the frightened Siva-jvara approached Lord Krishna, the master of the senses, hoping to attain His shelter. Thus with joined palms he began to praise the Lord.
PURPORT
As pointed out by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, it is significant that the Siva-jvara had to leave the side of his master, Lord Siva, and directly take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.
SB 10.63.25: The Siva-jvara said: I bow down to You of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of all beings. You possess pure and complete consciousness and are the cause of cosmic creation, maintenance and dissolution. Perfectly peaceful, You are the Absolute Truth to whom the Vedas indirectly refer.
PURPORT
Previously the Siva-jvara felt himself to be unlimitedly powerful and thus attempted to burn Sri Krishna. But now he himself has been burned, and understanding that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord, he humbly approaches to bow down and offer praise to the Absolute Truth.
According to the acaryas, the word sarvatmanam indicates that Lord Sri Krishna is the Supersoul, the giver of consciousness to all living beings. Krishna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15): matah smritir jnanam apohanam ca. "From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.''
In his commentary Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti emphasizes that the Siva-jvara has realized in many ways Lord Krishna's supremacy over his own master, Lord Siva. Thus the Siva-jvara addresses Krishna as ananta-sakti, "possessor of unlimited potency"; paresa, "the supreme controller"; and sarvatma, "the Supersoul of all beings '' -- even of Lord Siva.
The words kevalam jnapti-matram indicate that Lord Krishna possesses pure omniscience. According to our limited understanding, we act in this world, but Lord Krishna, with His unlimited understanding, performs infinite works of creation, maintenance and annihilation. As Srila Jiva Gosvami points out, even the functions of the gross elements, such as air, depend on Him. The Taittiriya Upanishad (2.8.1) confirms this: bhishasmad vatah-pavate. "Out of fear of Him, the wind blows." Thus Lord Sri Krishna is the ultimate object of worship for all living beings.
SB 10.63.26: Time; fate; karma; the jiva and his propensities; the subtle material elements; the material body; the life air; false ego; the various senses; and the totality of these as reflected in the living being's subtle body -- all this constitutes your material illusory energy, maya, an endless cycle like that of seed and plant. I take shelter of You, the negation of this maya.
PURPORT
The word bija-roha-pravaha is explained as follows: The conditioned soul accepts a material body, with which he attempts to enjoy the material world. That body is the seed (bija) of future material existence because when a person acts with that body he creates further reactions (karma), which grow (roha) into the obligation to accept another material body. In other words, material life is a chain of actions and reactions. The simple decision to surrender to the Supreme Lord releases the conditioned soul from this futile repetition of material growth and reaction.
According to Srila Sridhara Svami, the words tan-nishedham prapadye indicate that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, is nishedhavadhi-bhutam, "the limit of negation." In other words, after all illusion is negated, the Absolute Truth remains.
The process of education may be succinctly described as a way of eradicating ignorance through the attainment of knowledge. Through inductive, deductive and intuitive means, we attempt to refute the specious, the illusory and the imperfect and elevate ourselves to a platform of full knowledge. Ultimately, when all illusion is negated, that which remains firmly in place is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the previous text, the Siva-jvara described the Supreme Lord as sarvatmanam kevalam jnapti-matram, "pure, concentrated spiritual consciousness." Now the Siva-jvara concludes his philosophical description of the Lord by saying in this text that the various aspects of material existence are also potencies of the Supreme Lord.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti mentions that the Supreme Lord's own body and senses, as implied here by the word tan-nishedham, are nondifferent from the Lord's pure spiritual existence. The Lord's body and senses are not external to Him, nor do they cover Him, but rather the Lord is identical with His spiritual form and senses. The full Absolute Truth, unlimited in fascinating diversity, is Lord Sri Krishna.
SB 10.63.27: With various intentions, You perform pastimes to maintain the demigods, the saintly persons and the codes of religion for this world. By these pastimes You also kill those who stray from the right path and live by violence. Indeed, your present incarnation is meant to relieve the earth's burden.
PURPORT
As Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (9.29),
samo 'ham sarva-bhuteshu
na me dveshyo 'sti na priyah
ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya
mayi te teshu capy aham
"I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend -- is in Me -- and I am also a friend to him."
The demigods and sages (devan sadhun) are dedicated to executing the will of the Supreme Lord. The demigods act as cosmic administrators, and the sages, by their teachings and their good example, illumine the path of self-realization and holiness. But those who transgress the natural law, the law of God, and live by committing violence against others are vanquished by the Supreme Lord in His various pastime incarnations. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.11), ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. He is impartial, but He responds appropriately to the actions of the living beings.
SB 10.63.28: I am tortured by the fierce power of Your terrible fever weapon, which is cold yet burning. All embodied souls must suffer as long as they remain bound to material ambitions and thus averse to serving Your feet.
PURPORT
In the previous verse, the Siva-jvara stated that those who live by violence will suffer similar violence at the hands of the Lord. But here he further states that those who do not surrender to the Supreme Lord are especially liable to punishment. Although the Siva-jvara himself had acted violently up till now, since he has surrendered to the Lord and rectified himself, he hopes to receive the Lord's mercy. In other words, he has now become the Lord's devotee.
SB 10.63.29: The Supreme Lord said: O three-headed one, I am pleased with you. May your fear of My fever weapon be dispelled, and may whoever remembers our conversation here have no reason to fear you.
PURPORT
Here the Lord accepts the Siva-jvara as His devotee and gives him his first order -- that he should never frighten, by hot fever, those who faithfully hear this pastime of the Lord's.
SB 10.63.30: Thus addressed, the Mahesvara-jvara bowed down to the infallible Lord and went away. But Banasura then appeared, riding forth on his chariot to fight Lord Krishna.
SB 10.63.31: Carrying numerous weapons in his thousand hands, O King, the terribly infuriated demon shot many arrows at Lord Krishna, the carrier of the disc weapon.
SB 10.63.32: As Bana continued hurling weapons at Him, the Supreme Lord began using His razor-sharp cakra to cut off Banasura's arms as if they were tree branches.
SB 10.63.33: Lord Siva felt compassion for his devotee Banasura, whose arms were being cut off, and thus he approached Lord Cakrayudha [Krishna] and spoke to Him as follows.
SB 10.63.34: Sri Rudra said: You alone are the Absolute Truth, the supreme light, the mystery hidden within the verbal manifestation of the Absolute. Those whose hearts are spotless can see You, for You are uncontaminated, like the sky.
PURPORT
The Absolute Truth is the source of all light and is therefore the supreme light, self-luminous. This Absolute Truth is explained confidentially in the Vedas and is therefore difficult for an ordinary reader to understand. The following statements quoted by Srila Jiva Gosvami from the Gopala-tapani Upanishad show how the Vedic sounds occasionally reveal the Absolute: Te hocur upasanam etasya paratmano govindasyakhiladharino bruhi (Purva-khanda 17): "They [the four Kumaras] said [to Brahma], 'Please tell us how to worship Govinda, the Supreme Soul and the foundation of all that exists.' " Cetanas cetananam (Purva-khanda 21): "He is the chief of all living beings." And tam ha devam atma-vritti-prakasam (Purva-khanda 23): "One realizes that Supreme Godhead by first realizing one's own self." The great acarya Jiva Gosvami also quotes a verse from the Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.10.48) -- gudham param brahma manushya-lingam -- which refers to "the Supreme Truth concealed in a humanlike form."
Since the Lord is pure, why do some people perceive Krishna's form and activities as impure? Acarya Jiva explains that those whose own hearts are impure cannot understand the pure Lord. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti further quotes the Lord's own instruction to Arjuna in Sri Hari-vamsa:
tat-param paramam brahma
sarvam vibhajate jagat
mamaiva tad ghanam tejo
jnatum arhasi bharata
"Superior to that [total material nature] is the Supreme Brahman, from which this entire creation expands. O descendant of Bharata, you should know that the Supreme Brahman consists of My concentrated effulgence."
Thus, to save his devotee, Siva now glorifies the Supreme Lord, Krishna, his eternal worshipable master. The Lord's bewildering potency induced Siva to fight with Lord Krishna, but now the fight is over, and to save his devotee Lord Siva offers these beautiful prayers.
SB 10.63.35-36: The sky is Your navel, fire Your face, water Your semen, and heaven Your head. The cardinal directions are Your sense of hearing, herbal plants the hairs on Your body, and water-bearing clouds the hair on Your head. The earth is Your foot, the moon Your mind, and the sun Your vision, while I am Your ego. The ocean is Your abdomen, Indra Your arm, Lord Brahma Your intelligence, the progenitor of mankind Your genitals, and religion Your heart. You are indeed the original purusha, creator of the worlds.
PURPORT
Srila Sridhara Svami explains that just as the tiny bugs living inside a fruit cannot comprehend the fruit, so we tiny living beings cannot understand the Supreme Absolute Truth, in whom we exist. It is difficult to understand the cosmic manifestation of the Lord, what to speak of His transcendental form as Sri Krishna. Therefore we should surrender in Krishna consciousness, and the Lord Himself will help us understand.
SB 10.63.37: Your current descent into the material realm, O Lord of unrestricted power, is meant for upholding the principles of justice and benefiting the entire universe. We demigods, each depending on Your grace and authority, develop the seven planetary systems.
PURPORT
As Lord Siva glorifies Lord Krishna doubt may arise, since, apparently, Lord Krishna is standing before Lord Siva as a historical personality with a humanlike body. However, it is out of the Lord's causeless mercy that He appears to us in a form visible to our mundane eyes. If we want to understand the Absolute Truth, Sri Krishna, we must hear from recognized authorities in Krishna consciousness, such as Lord Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita, or from Lord Siva, a recognized Vaishnava authority, who here glorifies the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
SB 10.63.38: You are the original person, one without a second, transcendental and self-manifesting. Uncaused, you are the cause of all, and You are the ultimate controller. You are nonetheless perceived in terms of the transformations of matter effected by Your illusory energy -- transformations You sanction so that the various material qualities can fully manifest.
PURPORT
The acaryas comment as follows on this verse: Srila Sridhara Svami explains that the term adyah purushah, "the original purusha," indicates that Lord Krishna expands Himself as Maha-Vishnu, the first of the three purushas who take charge of cosmic manifestation. The Lord is eka advitiyah, "one without a second," because there is no one equal to the Lord or different from Him. No one is completely equal to the Supreme Godhead, and yet because all the living beings are expansions of the potency of the Godhead, no one is qualitatively different from Him. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu nicely explains this inconceivable situation by stating that the Absolute Truth and the living beings are qualitatively one but quantitatively different. The Absolute possesses infinite spiritual consciousness, whereas the living beings possess infinitesimal consciousness, which is subject to being covered by illusion.
Srila Jiva Gosvami, commenting on the term adyah purushah, quotes from the Satvata-tantra: vishnos tu trini rupani. "There are three forms of Vishnu [for cosmic manifestation, etc.]." Srila Jiva Gosvami also quotes a statement of the Lord's from sruti: purvam evaham ihasam. "In the beginning I alone existed in this world." This statement describes the form of the Lord called the purusha-avatara, who exists before the cosmic manifestation. Srila Jiva Gosvami also quotes the following sruti-mantra: tat-purushasya purushatvam, which means "Such constitutes the Lord's status as purusha." Actually, Lord Krishna is the essence of the purusha incarnation because He is turiya, as described in the present verse. Jiva Gosvami explains the term turiya (literally "the fourth") by quoting Sridhara Svami's commentary to the Bhagavatam verse 11.15.16:
virat hiranyagarbhas ca
karanam cety upadhayah
isasya yat tribhir hinam
turiyam tad vidur budhah
"The Lord's universal form, His Hiranyagarbha form and the primeval causal manifestation of material nature are all relative conceptions, but because the Lord Himself is not covered by these three, intelligent authorities call Him 'the fourth.' "
According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, the word turiya indicates that the Lord is the fourth member of the quadruple expansion of Godhead called the Catur-vyuha. In other words, Lord Krishna is Vasudeva.
Lord Krishna is sva-drik -- that is, He alone can perceive Himself perfectly -- because He is infinite spiritual existence, infinitely pure. He is hetu, the cause of everything, and yet He is ahetu, without cause. Therefore He is isa, the supreme controller.
The last two lines of this verse are of special philosophical significance. Why is the Lord perceived differently by different persons, although He is one? A partial explanation is given here. By the agency of Maya, the Lord's external potency, material nature is in a constant state of transformation, vikara. In one sense, then, material nature is "unreal," asat. But because God is the supreme reality, and because He is present within all things and all things are His potency, material objects and energies possess a degree of reality. Therefore some people see one aspect of material energy and think, "This is reality," while other people see a different aspect of material energy and think, "No, that is reality." Being conditioned souls, we are covered by different configurations of material nature, and thus we describe the Supreme Truth or the Supreme Lord in terms of our corrupted vision. Yet even the covering qualities of material nature, such as our conditioned intelligence, mind and senses, are real (being the potency of the Supreme Lord), and therefore through all things we can perceive, in a more or less subjective way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is why the present verse states, pratiyase: "You are perceived." Furthermore, without the manifestation of material nature's covering qualities, the creation could not fulfill its purpose -- namely, to allow the conditioned souls to make their best attempt to enjoy without God so that they will finally understand the futility of such an illusory notion.
SB 10.63.39: O almighty one, just as the sun, though hidden by a cloud, illuminates the cloud and all other visible forms as well, so You, although hidden by the material qualities, remain self-luminous and thus reveal all those qualities, along with the living entities who possess them.
PURPORT
Here Lord Siva further clarifies the idea expressed in the final two lines of the previous verse. The analogy of the clouds and the sun is appropriate. With its energy the sun creates clouds, which cover our vision of the sun. Yet it is the sun that allows us to see the clouds and all other things as well. Similarly, the Lord expands His illusory potency and thus prevents us from directly seeing Him. Yet it is God alone who reveals to us His covering potency -- namely, the material world -- and thus the Lord is atma-pradipa, "self-luminous." It is the reality of His existence that makes all things visible.
SB 10.63.40: Their intelligence bewildered by Your maya, fully attached to children, wife, home and so on, persons immersed in the ocean of material misery sometimes rise to the surface and sometimes sink down.
PURPORT
Srila Sridhara Svami explains that "rising in the ocean of misery" indicates elevation to higher species, such as demigods, and that "being submerged" refers to degradation to lower species -- even to immobile forms of life such as trees. As stated in the Vayu Purana, viparyayas ca bhavati brahmatva-sthavaratvayoh: "The living being rotates between the position of Brahma and that of an unmoving creature."
Srila Jiva Gosvami points out that Siva, having glorified the Lord, now pursues his original intention of securing the Lord's grace for Banasura. Thus in this and the following four verses, Lord Siva instructs Bana on his actual position in relation to the Lord. Siva's appeal to the Lord for compassion toward Bana appears in Text 45.
SB 10.63.41: One who has attained this human form of life as a gift from God, yet who fails to control his senses and honor Your feet, is surely to be pitied, for he is only cheating himself.
PURPORT
Lord Siva here condemns those who refuse to engage in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord.
SB 10.63.42: That mortal who rejects You -- his true Self, dearmost friend, and Lord -- for the sake of sense objects, whose nature is just the opposite, refuses nectar and instead consumes poison.
PURPORT
The person described above is pitiable because he rejects that which is actually dear, the Lord, and accepts that which is not dear and is ungodly: temporary sense gratification, which leads to suffering and bewilderment.
SB 10.63.43: I, Lord Brahma, the other demigods and the pure-minded sages have all surrendered wholeheartedly unto You, our dearmost Self and Lord.
SB 10.63.44: Let us worship You, the Supreme Lord, to be freed from material life. You are the maintainer of the universe and the cause of its creation and demise. Equipoised and perfectly at peace, You are the true friend, Self and worshipable Lord. You are one without a second, the shelter of all the worlds and all souls.
PURPORT
Srila Sridhara Svami states that the Lord is a true friend because He sets one's proper intelligence into motion if one desires to know the truth about God and the soul. Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti both emphasize that the term bhavapavargaya indicates the highest liberation of pure love of Godhead, characterized by unalloyed devotional service unto the Lord.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also explains that the Supreme Lord is samam, "perfectly objective and balanced," whereas other living beings, having an incomplete grasp of reality, cannot be perfectly objective. Those who surrender unto the Lord also become fully objective by taking shelter of His supreme consciousness.
SB 10.63.45: This Banasura is my dear and faithful follower, and I have awarded him freedom from fear. Therefore, my Lord, please grant him Your mercy, just as You showed mercy to Prahlada, the lord of the demons.
PURPORT
Lord Siva feels inclined to help Banasura because the demon showed great devotion to Lord Siva when he provided musical accompaniment for Siva's tandava dance. Another reason Bana is an object of Lord Siva's favor is that he is a descendant of the great devotees Prahlada and Bali.
SB 10.63.46: The Supreme Lord said: My dear lord, for your pleasure We must certainly do what you have requested of Us. I fully agree with your conclusion.
PURPORT
We should not think it strange that the Supreme Lord, Krishna, here addresses Lord Siva as bhagavan, "lord." All living beings are part and parcel of the Lord, qualitatively one with Him, and Lord Siva is an especially powerful, pure entity who possesses many of the Supreme Lord's qualities. Just as a father is happy to share his riches with a beloved son, so the Supreme Lord happily invests pure living beings with some of His potency and opulence. And just as a father proudly and happily observes the good qualities of his children, the Lord is most happy to glorify the pure living beings who are powerful in Krishna consciousness. Thus the Supreme Lord is pleased to glorify Lord Siva by addressing him as bhagavan.
SB 10.63.47: I will not kill this demonic son of Vairocani, for I gave Prahlada Maharaja the benediction that I would not kill any of his descendants.
SB 10.63.48: It was to subdue Banasura's false pride that I severed his arms. And I slew his mighty army because it had become a burden upon the earth.
SB 10.63.49: This demon, who still has four arms, will be immune to old age and death, and he will serve as one of your principal attendants. Thus he will have nothing to fear on any account.
SB 10.63.50: Thus attaining freedom from fear, Banasura offered obeisances to Lord Krishna by touching his head to the ground. Bana then seated Aniruddha and His bride on their chariot and brought them before the Lord.
SB 10.63.51: At the front of the party Lord Krishna then placed Aniruddha and His bride, both beautifully adorned with fine clothes and ornaments, and surrounded them with a full military division. Thus Lord Krishna took His leave of Lord Siva and departed.
SB 10.63.52: The Lord then entered His capital. The city was lavishly decorated with flags and victory arches, and its avenues and crossways were all sprinkled with water. As conchshells, anakas and dundubhi drums resounded, the Lord's relatives, the brahmanas and the general populace all came forward to greet Him respectfully.
SB 10.63.53: Whoever rises early in the morning and remembers Lord Krishna's victory in His battle with Lord Siva will never experience defeat.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to the Tenth Canto, Sixty-third Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Lord Krishna Fights with Banasura."
Draupadi - her previous life.
It is stated that in an earlier birth as Nalayani (also named Indrasena), she was married to Maudgalya, an irascible sage afflicted with leprosy. She was so utterly devoted to her abusive husband that when a finger of his, dropped into their meal, she took it out and calmly ate the rice without revulsion. Pleased by this, Maudgalya offered her a boon, and she asked him to make love to her in five lovely forms. As she was insatiable, Maudgalya got fed up and became an ascetic. When she remonstrated and insisted that he continue their love-life, he cursed her to be reborn and have five husbands to satisfy her lust. Thereupon she practiced severe penance and pleased Lord Shiva with her prayers. He granted a boon to her. Nalayani said that she wanted a husband and to ensure that her request was heard, she repeated it five times in all. Shiva then said that in her next life she would have five husbands. She obtained the boon of regaining virginity after being with each husband. ][*] Thus, by asserting her womanhood and refusing to accept a life of blind subservience to her husband, Nalayani, the sati, was transformed into Yajnaseni, the kanya. Some sources have a slightly different narration. Draupadi made her request only once but she added a long list of qualities that she wanted in her husband. Lord Shiva said that it would be impossible to find one man with all these qualities. Hence she would have five husbands in her next life. All of them together would posses the qualities she had enumerated. [ According to Brahmavaivarta Purana, she is the reincarnation of the maya Sita (shadow Sita - wife of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and hero of Ramayana) who, in turn, was Vedavati, reborn after molestation at Ravana's hands, and would become the "Lakshmi of the Indras" ][*] (one of the forms of Goddess Lakshmi, eternal consort of Lord Vishnu) in heaven.
NItai
