Good Leads to Good

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

While remembering the glories of Lord Sri Krishna, Uddhava says to Viduraji in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.2.23:

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?
 
One thing we can notice in common between Lord Rama and Lord Krishna when They appeared in this world is that the first demon They killed was a she-demon. As Rama, He killed demoness Tataka and as Krishna He killed Putana. What is the reason behind this commonality? Women, in general, are very compassionate in nature and when they turn demoniac, Lord makes sure to fix them right in the beginning itself as otherwise, they will because of more and more unwanted demoniac living entities. Also of all the living entities, the child is the most innocent and should be handled with extreme love and care. Normally even the most demoniac person will have a natural feeling of love for any child, more so for a mother. So in Putana's case, it was exactly the contrary, a person who was supposed to be kind to others became extremely envious towards children who are simply innocent and who should be shown, motherly love. Hence Krishna could not tolerate that and decided to deliver her. But the glory of the Lord is that even when He punished Putana, still He observed one 'so-called' good quality in her and gave her the topmost position in the spiritual world. This is the inconceivable kindness of the Supreme Lord.

Putana was a huge ugly she-demon. She knew that if she went to the house of Nanda Maharaj in that form, she will not be able to gain entry or approach baby Krishna. So she constantly meditated on the movements of gopis, the way they speak, the way they dress, the way they walk and eventually she changed herself in the form of a beautiful gopi and then entered Vrindavan. Lord Krishna saw this spec of good quality in her and decided to grant her the best benediction. Our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says how simply by meditating on good, we will ultimately become good. In this regard, Maharaj used to give us an example of Ravana. When Ravana went to propose to Mother Sita in Ashoka Vana, she refused to marry him. So when Kumbhakarna advised him to use his mystic powers and go in the form of Lord Rama, Ravana said that it is not possible because to take the form of Lord Rama, he has to meditate on Lord Rama and His qualities. But, the moment he meditates on Lord Rama, Sita looked like his mother and so he could not approach her with evil intentions. Similarly, we find that Putana, simply by meditating on the gopis of Vrindavan, was able to get the form of a beautiful gopi. Usually, when people try to hurt us, we tend to retaliate and we don't have the heart to reciprocate to them in a kind manner. But here we find how the Supreme Lord is extremely merciful that even though Putana came with the intention to kill Him, He bestowed her with the position of mother. If the Lord's reciprocation for even a small attempt of Putana is this what to speak of His reciprocation to those who are genuinely good throughout their lives.

So the lessons we can learn from the above pastime are:

a) Whenever we are hurt by others, we should try to meditate on their good qualities. By doing so we can get rid of the hatred on them.
b) We should give up revengeful attitude and see Krishna's hands even when others hurt us, and reciprocate by doing good to them. If we cannot do good to them, at least keep quiet and wish good for them.
c) When bad thoughts and ideas try to capture our minds, we should re-direct it by taking shelter of good persons and good thoughts.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das and Sudarshana devi dasi.