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.