Krishna's Victory Over Putana: The Divine Infant Triumphs

The Deception of Putana

The birth of Yashoda's child, Krishna, was celebrated in the town of Gokul. Kams ordered the demoness Putana to kill all newborn babies in the town one by one. She disguised herself as a beautiful woman and went to meet Yashoda. She told Yashoda that she wanted to breastfeed the latter’s child as she had the blessings of an ascetic. But Putana's breasts were full of poisoned milk. 

The Demoness' Unintended Salvation

When she began breastfeeding the baby Krishna, the latter sucked her life out of her breasts along with her milk. She screamed, transformed into her natural form—that of an ugly demoness—and fell upon the earth dead. Hearing the noise, Rohini and Yashoda came running only to see the baby Krishna boldly playing on Putana's breasts. Feeding milk to the Lord washed away all of the demoness’s sins. Despite her bad intentions, she became holy when she touched Krishna. People now regard her as one of Krishna's foster mothers.