Aghasura, the Python Demon

The cowherd boys walked into the open mouth of the giant python Aghasura, thinking it was a cave; Krishna entered after them, expanded himself within and set them all free.

Early one morning Krishna set out to play in the forest with his friends and countless calves. The cowherd boys laughed, sang, played their flutes, imitated the calls of birds, and teased one another by snatching each other's lunch bags. Watching their joy, even the gods thought how fortunate these boys were.

Their happiness filled the demon Aghasura with envy. Sent by Kansa, he was the younger brother of Putana and Bakasura, and he wanted revenge for their deaths. He took the form of a gigantic python and lay across the path with his mouth wide open. His lower lip rested on the earth and his upper lip seemed to touch the clouds. His mouth looked like a mountain cave, his tongue like a broad road, and his breath like a hot wind.

The boys saw it and said to each other that it looked like a beautiful cave. One of them said that even if it were a python, it did not matter, because Kanhaiya would kill it just as he had killed Bakasura. Laughing and clapping, they walked into its mouth together with the calves.

Krishna knew everything. To save his friends, he entered the mouth himself. The demon tried to close his jaws, but Krishna expanded his body within the demon's throat until his breath was choked. Aghasura's life air burst out through the top of his head. Then, with his nectar-like glance, the Lord brought all his friends and calves back to life, and they came out safely. A divine light rose from the demon's body and merged into Krishna. By the Lord's touch, even that sinful being attained liberation.

This leela teaches that one who trusts the Lord completely is safe even in the very jaws of danger, because the Lord himself comes in with him.

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, ch. 12

Place

Forest of Vrindavan

Lesson

One who trusts the Lord completely is safe even in the jaws of danger.