Kesi (Lect., Conv., & Letters)

Expressions researched:
"Kesi demon" |"Kesi" |"Kesi's"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.30 -- London, July 23, 1973:

Pradyumna (leads chanting, etc.):

na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ

bhramatīva ca me manaḥ

nimittāni ca paśyāmi

viparītāni keśava

(BG 1.30)

Translation: "I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, my mind is reeling. I foresee only evil, O killer of the Keśi demon."

Prabhupāda: So viparītāni. Nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava. Viparītāni means "just the opposite." "I have come here to fight to regain my kingdom. That is the cause for which I have come here to fight, but actually I am seeing it is just the opposite. My fighting will be useless. I came here to fight for some useful purpose, but now I see that viparītāni, just opposite. It will be useless." Why useless? Because one tries to become rich man, opulent—this is material nature—just to show to his relatives, to his friends, to his family members, "Just see how I have become rich, opulent." This is the psychology. A man works very hard day and night to become rich just to make a show that "My dear friends, my dear relatives, you see that how I have become now rich." This is the only purpose. Nobody is working hard for serving Kṛṣṇa. This is māyā. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness means, the same hardship we shall take, but take for Kṛṣṇa. Just like our Mrs. Sharma. She was working in the family, but now she has come to work for Kṛṣṇa. And this is salvation. This is mukti. Not that we have to stop our working capacity. Simply we have to change the position. In the family life we work uselessly for so-called relatives, but the same labor, when we employ for the service of Kṛṣṇa, every inch of it is utilized.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Bombay, September 24, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa is addressed here as Keśava, "the killer of the Keśi asura." You know, in Vṛndāvana there is Keśi-ghāṭa. That Keśi-ghāṭa is famous because Kṛṣṇa killed one asura of the name Keśi. He appeared in Vṛndāvana as a ferocious horse and Kṛṣṇa killed him. Since then, his name is Keśava. Kṛṣṇa has got many names according to His activities. He killed the demon Madhu, therefore his name is Madhusūdana. He killed the demon Kaṁsa, therefore his name is Kaṁsahāni. There are many names. Some of the names are in relationship with His devotees, and some of the names are there in relationship with the demons.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.34 -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

Our real position is ānanda. Sac-cid-ānanda. Why we are meeting so many problems? This is due to this body. This is due to this body. Therefore the real culture is, real education is, how to stop this repetition of body. But they do not know. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt. We are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. He is fully joyful. You'll see always Kṛṣṇa joyful. When He's killing an animal, he's laughing. He's joyful. You have seen Kṛṣṇa's picture. It is not that it's a problem. You have seen. Kṛṣṇa is killing that Keśī demon, a horse, big horse, just like a child's play. Kṛṣṇa is, I mean to say, fighting with that bull.

Lecture on SB 1.3.23 -- Los Angeles, September 28, 1972:

The test is bhagavān aharad bharam. When Kṛṣṇa and Rāma appeared, Balarāma, He killed so many demons to make the world peaceful. The beginning of killing was their maternal uncle Kaṁsa. Not only that beginning. From the beginning of Kṛṣṇa's birth, Pūtanā, Aghāsura, Bakāsura, the Keśī, and so many asuras... Every day, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma used to go in the forest and some asura would come to disturb Them, to kill Them, and Kṛṣṇa will finish them. And the friends will come at home and narrate the story to their mothers, "Mother, Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful. Such a big demon came and He killed immediately in this way and that way." That is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.8.29 -- Mayapura, October 9, 1974:

So Kṛṣṇa, although He's playing the part of human being, His activities are transcendental. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛhā (BG 4.14). That is the distinction between Kṛṣṇa and ourself. He is killing. He has killed so many demons; from the very childhood His one side is killing-Pūtanā killing, Aghāsura, Bakāsura, this asura, that asura, then Keśī, and so many asuras He killed. But His killing and our killing is not the same. Na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti. And in the Īśopaniṣad is..., apāpa-viddham. That is Kṛṣṇa. If we imitate Kṛṣṇa... We cannot imitate.

Lecture on SB 1.10.2 -- Mayapura, June 17, 1973:

Kṛṣṇa was a boy also, little boy. Nobody taught Him how to kill this Aghāsura, Bakāsura. But He knows. Svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca. He expanded Himself within the throat, and the demon was choked up, and he died. Similarly, the Keśī demon came as a horse and Kṛṣṇa pushed His hand within the mouth of the horse. If you want to control horse, you have to control his mouth. Horse is controlled by the mouth. Therefore you have seen the harnesses are fit, fixed in the mouth, and the driver controls the mouth, and the horse goes. So Kṛṣṇa was a boy. How He knew it that "This demon has come in the shape of a horse. So if I have to control him, I will have to control his mouth." So He pushed His hand within the mouth of the horse, and the horse felt just like an iron bar and hot iron. So he died.

Lecture on SB 6.1.13-14 -- Los Angeles, June 26, 1975:

Aiśvaryasya samāgrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). God has got unlimited strength. You have seen in Kṛṣṇa picture: Kṛṣṇa is killing so many demons. That horse demon? Kesi, Kesi. Kṛṣṇa simply pushed His hand in the mouth of the horse. Because to control a horse means he control his mouth; then you can control the whole big animal. So immediately the horse came before Him, He pushed His hand within the mouth of the horse, and the horse began to feel it is red-hot iron. So this is God. Aiśvaryasya samāgrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ.

Lecture on SB 7.7.30-31 -- Mombassa, September 12, 1971:

The Supreme Lord is by nature full of bliss. You will see, therefore, Kṛṣṇa always blissful. Kṛṣṇa has no anxiety. Kṛṣṇa is killing a very big, big demon and He is taking pleasure and smiling. You have seen all these pictures in our Kṛṣṇa book, how He is killing the Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Dhenukāsura, Keśī, and so many asuras. Just like a child is playing with toys. And similarly, He is enjoying with His cowherd boyfriends, with girlfriends, gopīs, with His mother, everywhere Kṛṣṇa you will find ānandamayo. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12).

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Roger Maria leading writer of communist literature -- June 12, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: So when there is discussion, you should all be present. It is very interesting. Those who are our men, GBC men, they must know.

Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: They come in like Keśī demon, and they go out with prasādam in their mouth.

Prabhupāda: They are escaping. We are not escaping. We want to capture everyone. (laughter) He has no clear idea what is the aim of life.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Scientists, Svarupa Damodara, and Dr. Sharma -- March 31, 1977, Bombay:

Dr. Sharma: You sound like... You know when at the time of Yudhiṣṭhira rājasūya-yajña, there was Śiśupāla and the other people who objected. And then Sahadeva, who was to do agra-pūjā of Kṛṣṇa, he said,

keśavaṁ keśī-hantāraṁ

bhajireda purakramam

pūjyamānaṁ mayāyoga

kṛṣṇa na sahata vipra

sarveṣāṁ balinam modye

mayedaṁ niyataṁ padam

keśavaṁ keśī-hantāraṁ

bhajireda purakramam

pūjyamānaṁ mayāyoga

kṛṣṇa na sahata vipra

"You kings who does not tolerate Kṛṣṇa, who is killer of Keśī, and Keśava, if you don't honor, I am putting my foot over your head."

Prabhupāda: That's it. "I kick you on your face with my boot."

Dr. Sharma: So that's what ācārya is saying. "If you don't recognize on the scientists, my foot to you."