ce is great for, as a consequence, Krishna the prince acquires
as many female companions as he had enjoyed as a youth. The episode begins
with Earth again appearing in heaven. Having successfully engineered
Krishna's birth, she does special penance and again beseeches the supreme
Trinity to grant her a boon. This boon is a son who will never be equalled
and who will never die. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva agree to give her a son,
Naraka, but on the following conditions: he will conquer all the kings of
the earth, rout the gods in the sky, carry off the earrings of Aditi (the
mother of the gods), wear them himself, take the canopy of Indra and place
it over his own head and finally, collect together but not marry sixteen
thousand one hundred virgin daughters of different kings. Krishna will
then attack him and at Earth's own behest, will kill Naraka and take to
Dwarka all the imprisoned girls. Earth says, 'Why should I ever tell
anyone to kill my own son?' and is silent. None the less the boon is
granted, the conditions are in due course fulfilled and after a furious
encounter with Naraka at his city of Pragjyotisha,[38] Krishna is once
again victorious. During the battle, Muru or Mura, the arch demon, aided
by seven sons, strenuously defends the city. Krishna kills him by cutting
off his five heads but has then to resist whole armies of demons assembled
by the sons. When these also have been destroyed, Krishna meets Naraka and
after a vicious contest finally kills him, recovering in consequence the
earrings of Aditi and the canopy of Indra. Naraka's palace is then opened
and reveals the bevy of imprisoned girls. As they gaze on Krishna, their
reactions are reminiscent of the cowgirls'. They implore Krishna to take
them away and allow them to lavish on him their impassioned love. Krishna
agrees, chariots are sent for and the vast concourse of passion-stricken
girls is transported to Dwarka. Here Krishna marries them, showering
affection on each of the sixteen thousand and one hundred 'and displaying
unceasing love for his eight queens.'

Such an incident revives an aspect of Krishna's early character which up
to the present has been somewhat obscured by other events. Besides slaying
demons he has all along been sensitive to feminine needs, arousing in
women passionate adoration and at the same time fulfilling the most
intense of their physical desires. It is these qualities which
characterize his later career.

Having on one