The Liberation of Putana

Sent by Kansa, the demoness Putana tried to kill baby Krishna with poisoned milk, but the Lord drew out her very life and still granted her the position of a mother.

After hearing Yogamaya's words, Kansa consulted his ministers and ordered that every newborn child in the towns and villages around Mathura be killed. For this terrible task he sent Putana, a fearsome demoness who took the lives of small children.

Using her magic, Putana took the form of a beautiful woman and entered Gokul. Her sweet smile and fine clothes made the gopis feel as if Goddess Lakshmi herself had come to Nanda's home, so no one stopped her. She had smeared deadly poison on her breasts. Lifting baby Krishna from his cradle onto her lap, she began to nurse him.

The all-knowing Lord understood everything. Along with the milk, he began to draw out her very life breath. Putana screamed in agony, "Let go, let go!" but the little child would not release her. At last she fell to the ground in her true, gigantic demonic form, and many trees were crushed beneath her. Little Kanha played fearlessly on her enormous body.

Yashoda, Rohini and the gopis rushed to pick him up. To protect him they waved a cow's tail around him, applied the dust raised by cows and other sacred substances, and chanted the names of the Lord over every part of his body. When the cowherd men cut Putana's body and burned it, the smoke spread a heavenly fragrance like aguru incense, because the Lord's touch had destroyed all her sins.

The Bhagavatam explains that although Putana came to kill, she offered her milk to the Lord as a mother would, and so he granted her the exalted destination of a mother. If the Lord was so merciful to one who came as an enemy, how much greater must his grace be for those who serve him with love.

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, ch. 6

Place

Gokul

Lesson

The Lord is so merciful that even a small service offered to him, even by an enemy, brings the highest reward.