Chapter Ten Pulindakopākhyāna The Story of the Pulindā Women

Living in the forests of the Vindhya Hills, many Pulinda highwaymen stole the kings wealth, although they never stole from the poor.

Very angry, the powerful king of Vindhyā-deśa took two akṣauhiṇī divisions of soldiers, and confronted all the Pulindas.

For how many days did they fight with swords, kunta and śūla spears, battle-axes, śaktis, ṛṣṭis, and bhuṣuṇḍīs?

To the Yadu-king Kaṁsa the Pulindas sent a letter begging for aid. Kaṁsa sent a powerful demon named Pralamba.

He was sixteen miles tall, dark as a cloud, decorated with helmet and earrings, and garlanded with a serpent.

With chains around his ankles, a club in his hand, a tongue moving to and fro, and a horribly ugly form, he looked like death personified. When he walked he flattened the hills and made the trees fall.

tyaktvā dudrāva sahasā siṁhaṁ vīkṣya gajo yathā pralambas tān samānīya mathurām āyayau punaḥ kampayantam—making tremble; bhuvam—the earth; vegāt—powerfully; pralambam—Pralamba; yuddha-durmadam—intoxicated with the idea of fighting; dṛṣṭvā—seeing; pradarśitaḥ—revealed; rājā—the king; sa-sainyaḥ—withj hisarmy; raṇa-maṇḍalam—the battlefield; tyaktvā—leaving; dudrāva—fled; sahasā—quickly; siṁham—a lion; vīkṣya—seeing; gajaḥ—an elephant; yathā—as; pralambaḥ—Pralamba; tān—them; samānīya—bringing; mathurām—to Mathurā; āyayau—came; punaḥ—again. Staring at Pralamba, who was drunk with the idea of a fight, and who made the earth shake, the king and his army fled the battlefield as an elephant flees when it sees a lion. Then Pralamba took the Pulindas to Mathurā.

tyaktvā dudrāva sahasā siṁhaṁ vīkṣya gajo yathā pralambas tān samānīya mathurām āyayau punaḥ kampayantam—making tremble; bhuvam—the earth; vegāt—powerfully; pralambam—Pralamba; yuddha-durmadam—intoxicated with the idea of fighting; dṛṣṭvā—seeing; pradarśitaḥ—revealed; rājā—the king; sa-sainyaḥ—withj hisarmy; raṇa-maṇḍalam—the battlefield; tyaktvā—leaving; dudrāva—fled; sahasā—quickly; siṁham—a lion; vīkṣya—seeing; gajaḥ—an elephant; yathā—as; pralambaḥ—Pralamba; tān—them; samānīya—bringing; mathurām—to Mathurā; āyayau—came; punaḥ—again. Staring at Pralamba, who was drunk with the idea of a fight, and who made the earth shake, the king and his army fled the battlefield as an elephant flees when it sees a lion. Then Pralamba took the Pulindas to Mathurā.

O king of kings, the Pulindas and their families all became Kaṁsa's servants. They lived at Kāmagiri.

By Lord Rāmacandra's blessing many Pulinda women took birth as their splendidly beautiful daughters. They were glorious and worshipable as the goddess of fortune herself.

Simply by seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa, they were overcome with passionate love for Him. They embraced the dust that had touched His feet. They thought of Him day and night.

During the rāsa dance they attained the association of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the perfect Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ruler of Goloka.

The great good fortune of these Pulindā girls is that they attained the dust of Srī Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, dust that even the great demigods cannot attain.

A person who does not desire the post of Brahmā, the post of Indra, a great royal kingdom, the kingdom of Pātālaloka, mystic powers, or even freedom from the world of birth and death, but desires only the dust of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's feet, is a true devotee of the Lord.

Aloof from material possessions and free from past karma, the sages and saintly devotees who love the dust of Lord Kṛṣṇa's feet say there is no real happiness in any other place.