Of the many devils and demons that lord Krishna faced, the first one attacked him when he was a newborn, only six days old. Putana, a demoness was sent by Krishna’s maternal uncle Kansa to Gokul in order to finish the eighth child of Devki and Vasudev, who according to a divine prophecy was supposed to be the end of Kansa.
Here in bronze, the artists from Swamimalai have presented Krishna’s victory over Putana. According to texts and legends, Putana took the form of an enchanting young lady, approached Krishna to feed him with her poisoned milk. But Krishna, the Sarveshwara, one who resides in every particle of this Universe could not be deceived. He bit Putana’s breasts, sucking her life out of her body along with her poisonous milk. As a result, the demoness was forced to take her true form, that of a horrifying and deformed female. Even after her attempt to murder Sri Krishna, Putana is a member of the Sapt-Matrikas, a group of seven mother goddesses revered for their qualities of motherhood. This is because though her intent was evil, Putana did feed and nourish the baby Krishna, thus making her equivalent of his other foster mother Yashoda worthy of being given the exalted status of a mother.
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