Threatening (Books)

Expressions researched:
"threat" |"threaten" |"threatened" |"threatening" |"threateningly" |"threatens"

BG Preface and Introduction

BG Introduction:

hagavad-gītā is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of Kurukṣetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and consequently this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.8.31, Purport:

When Lord Kṛṣṇa was present in this material world to manifest His eternal pastimes of the transcendental realm of Goloka Vṛndāvana as an attraction for the people in general, He displayed a unique picture of subordination before His foster mother, Yaśodā. The Lord, in His naturally childish playful activities, used to spoil the stocked butter of mother Yaśodā by breaking the pots and distributing the contents to His friends and playmates, including the celebrated monkeys of Vṛndāvana, who took advantage of the Lord's munificence. Mother Yaśodā saw this, and out of her pure love she wanted to make a show of punishment for her transcendental child. She took a rope and threatened the Lord that she would tie Him up, as is generally done in the ordinary household. Seeing the rope in the hands of mother Yaśodā, the Lord bowed down His head and began to weep just like a child, and tears rolled down His cheeks, washing off the black ointment smeared about His beautiful eyes. This picture of the Lord is adored by Kuntīdevī because she is conscious of the Lord's supreme position. He is feared often by fear personified, yet He is afraid of His mother, who wanted to punish Him just in an ordinary manner. Kuntī was conscious of the exalted position of Kṛṣṇa, whereas Yaśodā was not. Therefore Yaśodā's position was more exalted than Kuntī's.

SB 1.11.3, Translation:

The citizens of Dvārakā, having heard that sound which threatens fear personified in the material world, began to run towards Him fast, just to have a long desired audience with the Lord, who is the protector of all devotees.

SB 1.11.3, Purport:

We are always fearful due to our ignorance of the next problem. The whole material existence is full of problems, and thus the fear problem is always prominent. This is due to our association with the illusory energy of the Lord, known as māyā or external energy, yet all fear is vanished as soon as there is the sound of the Lord, represented by His holy name, as it was sounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the following sixteen words:

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

We can take advantage of these sounds and be free from all threatening problems of material existence.

SB 1.12.16, Purport:

Such transcendental literatures, missionaries and representatives of the Lord are spotlessly white because the contamination of the material qualities cannot even touch them. They are always protected by the Lord when they are threatened with annihilation. Such foolish threats are made by the gross materialists. The brahmāstra, which was thrown by Aśvatthāmā at the child Parīkṣit, was certainly supernaturally powerful, and nothing of the material world could resist its force of penetration. But the all-powerful Lord, who is present everywhere, within and without, could counteract it by His all-powerful potency just to save a bona fide servant of the Lord and descendant of another devotee, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, who was always obliged by the Lord by His causeless mercy.

SB 1.14.40, Translation:

Has someone addressed you with unfriendly words or threatened you? Could you not give charity to one who asked, or could you not keep your promise to someone?

SB Canto 2

SB 2.7.32, Translation:

When the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, under instruction of Kṛṣṇa, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.5.38, Purport:

One is celestially sweet, and the other is hellishly bitter. The condemned bitterness of the nimba is due to its own past work, just as the sweetness of the mango is also due to its own karma. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (16.19):

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān

saṁsāreṣu narādhamān

kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān

āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu

"The envious, the mischievous, the lowest of mankind, these do I ever put back into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life." Demigods like Yamarāja and other controllers are there for the unwanted conditioned souls who always engage in threatening the tranquillity of the kingdom of God. Since all the demigods are confidential devotee-servitors of the Lord, they are never to be condemned.

SB 3.7.10, Purport:

A teacher in school once threatened his pupil that he would cut off the pupil's head and hang it on the wall so that the child could see how his head had been cut off. The child became frightened and stopped his mischief. Similarly, the miseries of the pure soul and the disruption of his self-identification are managed by the external energy of the Lord, which controls those mischievous living entities who want to go against the will of the Lord. Actually there is no bondage or misery for the living entity, nor does he ever lose his pure knowledge.

SB 3.13.24, Purport:

Brahmā and other enlightened brāhmaṇas who know the Supreme Personality of Godhead are enlivened by the appearance of the Lord in any of His multi-incarnations. The appearance of the wonderful and gigantic incarnation of Viṣṇu as the mountainlike boar did not fill them with any kind of fear, although the Lord's resounding voice was tumultuous and echoed horribly in all directions as an open threat to all demons who might challenge His omnipotency.

SB 3.21.52-54, Translation:

If you did not mount your victorious jeweled chariot, whose mere presence threatens culprits, if you did not produce fierce sounds by the twanging of your bow, and if you did not roam about the world like the brilliant sun, leading a huge army whose trampling feet cause the globe of the earth to tremble, then all the moral laws governing the varṇas and āśramas created by the Lord Himself would be broken by the rogues and rascals.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.5.16, Translation:

Some blocked the way of the fleeing sages, some threatened the women assembled there, and some arrested the demigods who were fleeing the pandal.

SB 4.10.9, Translation:

When the heroes of the Yakṣas saw that all their heads were being thus threatened by Dhruva Mahārāja, they could very easily understand their awkward position, and they concluded that they would certainly be defeated. But, as heroes, they lauded the action of Dhruva.

SB 4.10.30, Translation:

All the sages said: Dear Dhruva, O son of King Uttānapāda, may the Supreme Personality of Godhead known as Śārṅgadhanvā, who relieves the distresses of His devotees, kill all your threatening enemies. The holy name of the Lord is as powerful as the Lord Himself. Therefore, simply by chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord, many men can be fully protected from fierce death without difficulty. Thus a devotee is saved.

SB 4.17.23, Purport:

A cow eats green grasses in the pasture and fills her milk bag with sufficient milk so that the cowherdsmen can milk her. Yajñas (sacrifices) are performed to produce sufficient clouds that will pour water over the earth. The word payaḥ can refer both to milk and to water. As one of the demigods, the earthly planet was taking her share in the yajñas—that is, she was eating green grass—but in return she was not producing sufficient food grains—that is, she was not filling her milk bag. Pṛthu Mahārāja was therefore justified in threatening to punish her for her offense.

SB 4.26.16, Purport:

The woman is like fire, and man is like the butter. But if one gets a chaste wife, accepted through a religious marriage ritual, she can be of great help when one is threatened by the many dangerous situations of life. Actually such a wife can become the source of all good intelligence. With such a good wife, the family's engagement in the devotional service of the Lord actually makes a home a gṛhastha-āśrama, or household dedicated to spiritual cultivation.

SB 4.29.53, Translation:

My dear King, please search out that deer who is engaged in eating grass in a very nice flower garden along with his wife. That deer is very much attached to his business, and he is enjoying the sweet singing of the bumblebees in his garden. Just try to understand his position. He is unaware that before him is a tiger, which is accustomed to living at the cost of another's flesh. Behind the deer is a hunter, who is threatening to pierce him with sharp arrows. Thus the deer's death is imminent.

SB 4.29.53, Purport:

Here is an allegory in which the King is advised to find a deer that is always in a dangerous position. Although threatened from all sides, the deer simply eats grass in a nice flower garden, unaware of the danger all around him. All living entities, especially human beings, think themselves very happy in the midst of families. As if living in a flower garden and hearing the sweet humming of bumblebees, everyone is centered around his wife, who is the beauty of family life.

SB 4.29.54, Translation:

My dear King, woman, who is very attractive in the beginning but in the end very disturbing, is exactly like the flower, which is attractive in the beginning and detestable at the end. With woman, the living entity is entangled with lusty desires, and he enjoys sex, just as one enjoys the aroma of a flower. He thus enjoys a life of sense gratification—from his tongue to his genitals—and in this way the living entity considers himself very happy in family life. United with his wife, he always remains absorbed in such thoughts. He feels great pleasure in hearing the talks of his wife and children, which are like the sweet humming of bumblebees that collect honey from flower to flower. He forgets that before him is time, which is taking away his life-span with the passing of day and night. He does not see the gradual diminishing of his life, nor does he care about the superintendent of death, who is trying to kill him from behind. Just try to understand this. You are in a precarious position and are threatened from all sides.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.5.30, Translation:

Ṛṣabhadeva began to tour through cities, villages, mines, countrysides, valleys, gardens, military camps, cow pens, the homes of cowherd men, transient hotels, hills, forests and hermitages. Wherever He traveled, all bad elements surrounded Him, just as flies surround the body of an elephant coming from a forest. He was always being threatened, beaten, urinated upon and spat upon. Sometimes people threw stones, stool and dust at Him, and sometimes people passed foul air before Him. Thus people called Him many bad names and gave Him a great deal of trouble, but He did not care about this, for He understood that the body is simply meant for such an end.

SB 5.9.20, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī then said to Mahārāja Parīkṣit: O Viṣṇudatta, those who already know that the soul is separate from the body, who are liberated from the invincible knot in the heart, who are always engaged in welfare activities for all living entities and who never contemplate harming anyone are always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who carries His disc (the Sudarśana cakra) and acts as supreme time to kill the demons and protect His devotees. The devotees always take shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord. Therefore at all times, even if threatened by decapitation, they remain unagitated. For them, this is not at all wonderful.

SB 5.9.20, Purport:

These are some of the great qualities of a pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. First, a devotee is firmly convinced of his spiritual identity. He never identifies with the body; he is firmly convinced that the spirit soul is different from the body. Consequently he fears nothing. Even though his life may be threatened, he is not at all afraid. He does not even treat an enemy like an enemy. Such are the qualifications of devotees. Devotees are always fully dependent on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the Lord is always eager to give them all protection in all circumstances.

SB 5.10 Summary:

The King within the palanquin became very disturbed and chastised Jaḍa Bharata with filthy language, but Jaḍa Bharata, being completely freed from the bodily conception, did not protest; he proceeded carrying the palanquin. When he continued as before, the King threatened him with punishment, and being threatened by the King, Jaḍa Bharata began to talk. He protested against the filthy language used by the King when the King chastised him, and the King, hearing the instructions of Jaḍa Bharata, was awakened to his real knowledge.

SB 5.10.3, Translation:

When the palanquin carriers heard the threatening words of Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa, they became very afraid of his punishment and began to speak to him as follows.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.1.31, Purport:

Because Ajāmila had chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa, the Viṣṇudūtas not only immediately arrived on the spot but also at once ordered the Yamadūtas not to touch him. By speaking with resounding voices, the Viṣṇudūtas threatened to punish the Yamadūtas if they continued trying to snatch Ajāmila's soul from his heart. The order carriers of Yamarāja have jurisdiction over all sinful living entities, but the messengers of Lord Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇudūtas, are capable of punishing anyone, including Yamarāja, if he wrongs a Vaiṣṇava.

SB 6.1.56-57, Purport:

The symptoms of piety are explained in these verses. Śrīla Vīrarāghava Ācārya comments that dhṛta-vrata means dhṛtaṁ vrataṁ strī-saṅga-rāhityātmaka-brahmacarya-rūpam. In other words, Ajāmila followed the rules and regulations of celibacy as a perfect brahmacārī and was very softhearted, truthful, clean and pure. How he fell down in spite of all these qualities and thus came to be threatened with punishment by Yamarāja will be described in the following verses.

SB 6.9.52, Purport:

The Aśvinī-kumāras, who understood Indra's desires, returned and begged Dadhīci for brahma-vidyā. When the great saint Dadhīci informed them of Indra's threat, the Aśvinī-kumāras replied, "Let us first cut off your head and replace it with the head of a horse. You can instruct brahma-vidyā through the horse's head, and when Indra returns and cuts off that head, we shall reward you and restore your original head." Since Dadhīci had promised to impart brahma-vidyā to the Aśvinī-kumāras, he agreed to their proposal. Therefore, because Dadhīci imparted brahma-vidyā through the mouth of a horse, this brahma-vidyā is also known as Aśvaśira.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.5 Summary:

When Hiraṇyakaśipu heard from his son about devotional service, he decided that this small boy had been polluted by some friend in school. Thus he advised the teachers to take care of the boy so that he would not become a Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee. However, when the teachers inquired from Prahlāda Mahārāja why he was going against their teachings, Prahlāda Mahārāja taught the teachers that the mentality of ownership is false and that he was therefore trying to become an unalloyed devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. The teachers, being very angry at this answer, chastised and threatened the boy with many fearful conditions. They taught him to the best of their ability and then brought him before his father.

SB 7.5.8, Purport:

Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, the priests of the demons, were eager to know from Prahlāda Mahārāja who the Vaiṣṇavas were that came to instruct him in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Their purpose was to discover the names of these Vaiṣṇavas. In the beginning they did not threaten the boy because when threatened he might not identify the real culprits. Therefore they very mildly and peacefully inquired as follows.

SB 7.5.18, Translation:

Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, the teachers of Prahlāda Mahārāja, chastised and threatened their disciple in various ways and began teaching him about the paths of religion, economic development and sense gratification. This is the way they educated him.

SB 7.5.39-40, Translation:

The demons (Rākṣasas), the servants of Hiraṇyakaśipu, thus began striking the tender parts of Prahlāda Mahārāja's body with their tridents. The demons all had fearful faces, sharp teeth and reddish, coppery beards and hair, and they appeared extremely threatening. Making a tumultuous sound, shouting, "Chop him up! Pierce him!" they began striking Prahlāda Mahārāja, who sat silently, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 7.8.12, Purport:

A devotee who has developed a genuine love for Kṛṣṇa can always see Him everywhere, whereas a demon, not having a clear understanding of the Supreme Lord, cannot see Him. When Hiraṇyakaśipu was threatening to kill Prahlāda Mahārāja, Prahlāda certainly saw the column standing before him and his father, and he saw that the Lord was present in the pillar to encourage him not to fear his demoniac father's words. The Lord was present to protect him.

SB 7.8.17, Purport:

To substantiate Prahlāda's statement, the Lord proved that His devotee, as declared in Bhagavad-gītā, is never vanquished (kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (BG 9.31)). Prahlāda Mahārāja's demoniac father had repeatedly threatened to kill Prahlāda, but Prahlāda was confident that he could not be killed, since he was protected by the Supreme Lord.

SB 7.10.42, Purport:

The demon Hiraṇyakaśipu had so many ways to try to become God himself, but although Prahlāda Mahārāja was chastised and threatened in many ways, he rigidly refused to accept his powerful demoniac father as God. Following in the footsteps of Prahlāda Mahārāja, we should reject all the rascals who pretend to be God. We must accept Kṛṣṇa and His incarnations, and no one else.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.11.7, Purport:

Since everyone, without exception, is subject to the modes of material nature, whether one is victorious or defeated he is not independent, but is under the control of material nature. Bali Mahārāja, therefore, was very sensible. He knew that the fighting was arranged by eternal time and that under time's influence one must accept the results of one's own activities. Therefore even though Indra threatened that he would now kill Bali Mahārāja by releasing the thunderbolt, Bali Mahārāja was not at all afraid. This is the spirit of a kṣatriya: yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam (BG 18.43). A kṣatriya must be tolerant in all circumstances, especially on the battlefield. Thus Bali Mahārāja asserted that he was not at all afraid of death, although he was threatened by such a great personality as the King of heaven.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.49-50, Translation:

Vasudeva considered: By delivering all my sons to Kaṁsa, who is death personified, I shall save the life of Devakī. Perhaps Kaṁsa will die before my sons take birth, or, since he is already destined to die at the hands of my son, one of my sons may kill him. For the time being, let me promise to hand over my sons so that Kaṁsa will give up this immediate threat, and if in due course of time Kaṁsa dies, I shall have nothing to fear.

SB 10.8.25, Translation:

When mother Yaśodā and Rohiṇī were unable to protect the babies from calamities threatened by horned cows, by fire, by animals with claws and teeth such as monkeys, dogs and cats, and by thorns, swords and other weapons on the ground, they were always in anxiety, and their household engagements were disturbed. At that time, they were fully equipoised in the transcendental ecstasy known as the distress of material affection, for this was aroused within their minds.

SB 10.9 Summary:

As soon as Kṛṣṇa saw that His mother had come, He immediately began to run away, and mother Yaśodā began to follow Him. After going some distance, mother Yaśodā was able to catch Kṛṣṇa, who because of His offense was crying. Mother Yaśodā, of course, threatened to punish Kṛṣṇa if He acted that way again, and she decided to bind Him with rope. Unfortunately, when the time came to knot the rope, the rope with which she wanted to bind Him was short by a distance equal to the width of two fingers. When she made the rope longer by adding another rope, she again saw that it was short by two fingers.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.17.22, Translation:

Then the residents of Vṛndāvana woke up, extremely disturbed by the great fire threatening to burn them. Thus they took shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, who by His spiritual potency appeared like an ordinary human being.

SB 10.19.7, Translation:

Suddenly a great forest fire appeared on all sides, threatening to destroy all the forest creatures. Like a chariot driver, the wind swept the fire onward, and terrible sparks shot in all directions. Indeed, the great fire extended its tongues of flame toward all moving and nonmoving creatures.

SB 10.43.5, Translation:

Thus threatened, the elephant-keeper became angry. He goaded his furious elephant, who appeared equal to time, death and Yamarāja, into attacking Lord Kṛṣṇa.

SB 10.50.45, Translation:

When Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa saw Kālayavana, Kṛṣṇa thought about the situation and said, "Ah, a great danger now threatens the Yadus from two sides.

SB 10.77.9, Translation:

(Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:) After He arrived at Dvārakā and saw how His people were threatened with destruction, and also saw Śālva and his Saubha airship, Lord Keśava arranged for the city's defense and then addressed Dāruka as follows.

SB 10.83.4, Translation:

The radiance of Your personal form dispels the threefold effects of material consciousness, and by Your grace we become immersed in total happiness. Your knowledge is indivisible and unrestricted. By Your Yogamāyā potency You have assumed this human form for protecting the Vedas, which had been threatened by time. We bow down to You, the final destination of perfect saints.

SB 11.6.29, Translation:

That very Yādava dynasty in which I appeared became greatly magnified in opulence, especially in their physical strength and courage, to the extent that they threatened to devour the whole world. Therefore I have stopped them, just as the shore holds back the great ocean.

SB 12.9.17-18, Translation:

At times he was engulfed by the great whirlpools, sometimes he was beaten by the mighty waves, and at other times the aquatic monsters threatened to devour him as they attacked one another. Sometimes he felt lamentation, bewilderment, misery, happiness or fear, and at other times he experienced such terrible illness and pain that he felt himself dying.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 17.89, Purport:

The Madhya-khaṇḍa of Śrīla Locana dāsa Ṭhākura's Caitanya-maṅgala also relates that once at the end of the day, when evening clouds assembled overhead and thundered threateningly, all the Vaiṣṇavas were very much afraid. But the Lord took His karatālas in His hands and personally began chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, looking up toward the sky as if to direct the demigods in the higher planets. Thus all the assembled clouds dispersed, and as the sky became clear, with the moon rising, the Lord began dancing very happily with His jubilant and satisfied devotees.

CC Adi 17.128, Purport:

Emperor Aurangzeb also inaugurated a tax that Hindus had to pay because of their being Hindus. Thus all the poor Hindus of the lower class voluntarily became Muslims to avoid the tax. In this way the Muslim population in India increased. Chand Kazi threatened to convert the people into Muslims by the simple process of sprinkling water on their bodies.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 4.148, Translation:

Mādhavendra Purī wanted to leave Jagannātha Purī because the people were honoring him as a great devotee; however, this threatened to hinder his collecting sandalwood for the Gopāla Deity.

CC Madhya 6.5, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fell down, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya happened to see Him. When the watchman threatened to beat the Lord, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya immediately forbade him.

CC Madhya 12.20, Purport:

In India there is still a class of professional mendicants who are very much like the gypsies of Western countries. They know some magical art and mystical processes, and their business is to beg from door to door, sometimes pleading and sometimes threatening. Such mendicants are sometimes called yogīs and sometimes kāṇaphāṭā yogīs. The word kāṇaphāṭā refers to one who has put a hole in his ear to wear an earring made of ivory.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 6.23, Purport:

Raghunātha dāsa belonged to a very aristocratic family of the kāyastha community. He had substantial influence with the local people, and therefore the caudhurī, or minister, was afraid to beat him. Superficially he would chastise Raghunātha dāsa with threatening vibrations, but he did not beat him. The members of the kāyastha community in India are generally very intelligent and expert in business management. Formerly they were mostly government officers.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 33:

When Ṛkṣarāja was in front of Kṛṣṇa fighting and suddenly realized that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa addressed him thus: "My dear Ṛkṣarāja, why is your face so dry? Please do not feel threatened by Me. There is no need for your heart to tremble like this. Please calm yourself down. I have no anger toward you. You may, however, become as angry as you like with Me—to expand your service in fighting with Me and to increase My sporting attitude." In this dreadful situation in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Himself is the object of dread.

Nectar of Devotion 41:

One of the elderly friends said, "My dear Maṇḍalībhadra, why are you wielding a shining sword as though you were running toward Ariṣṭāsura to kill him? My dear Baladeva, why are You unnecessarily bearing that heavy plow? My dear Vijaya, don't be unnecessarily agitated. My dear Bhadravardhana, there is no need to make these threatening motions. If you will all look more closely you will see that it is only a thundercloud upon Govardhana Hill; it is not the Ariṣṭāsura in the shape of a bull, as you have imagined." These older, well-wishing friends of Kṛṣṇa had imagined a large cloud to be the Ariṣṭāsura, appearing in the shape of a huge bull.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 11:

As soon as Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma heard that Nanda Mahārāja was waiting for Them and could not take his food in Their absence, They started to return. Their playmates complained, "Kṛṣṇa is leaving us just at the point when our playing is at the summit. Next time we shall not allow Him to leave." His playmates then threatened not to allow Him to play with them again. Kṛṣṇa became afraid, and instead of going back home, He went back again to play with the boys. At that time, mother Yaśodā scolded the children and told Kṛṣṇa, “My dear Kṛṣṇa, do You think that You are a street boy? You have no home? Please come back to Your home! I see that Your body has become very dirty from playing since early morning.

Krsna Book 50:

When Mathurā was thus besieged, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa began to consider, in consultation with Baladeva, how much the Yadu dynasty was in distress, being threatened by the attacks of two formidable enemies, Jarāsandha and Kālayavana. Time was growing short. Kālayavana was already besieging Mathurā from all sides, and it was expected that the day after next, Jarāsandha would also come, equipped with the same number of divisions of soldiers as in his previous seventeen attempts. Kṛṣṇa was certain that Jarāsandha would take advantage of the opportunity to capture Mathurā when it was also being besieged by Kālayavana.

Krsna Book 57:

Akrūra and Kṛtavarmā were prominent members in the conspiracy to kill Satrājit, having incited Śatadhanvā to kill him. So when they heard of the death of Śatadhanvā at Kṛṣṇa's hand, and when they also heard that Kṛṣṇa had returned to Dvārakā, they both immediately left the city. The citizens of Dvārakā felt themselves threatened with pestilence and natural disturbances due to the absence of Akrūra from the city. This was a kind of superstition, because while Lord Kṛṣṇa was present there could not be any pestilence, famine or natural disturbances. But in the absence of Akrūra there were apparently some disturbances in Dvārakā.

Krsna Book 65:

Lord Balarāma has two weapons, a plow and a club, from which He takes service when they are required. This time He wanted to bring the Yamunā by force, and He took the help of His plow. He wanted to punish the Yamunā because she did not come in obedience to His order. He addressed the Yamunā, "You wretched river! You did not care for My order. Now I shall teach you a lesson! You did not come to Me voluntarily. Now with the help of My plow I shall force you to come. I shall divide you into hundreds of scattered streams!" When the Yamunā was threatened like this, she became greatly afraid of the power of Balarāma and immediately came in person, falling at His lotus feet and praying thus: “My dear Balarāma, You are the most powerful personality, and You are pleasing to everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot Your glorious, exalted position, but now I have come to my senses, and I remember that You hold all the planetary systems on Your head merely by Your partial expansion Śeṣa."

Krsna Book 68:

From authorities like Jīva Gosvāmī it is confirmed that the Ganges and Yamunā are the same river flowing in different courses. The part of the Ganges which flows through Hastināpura to the area of Vṛndāvana is called the Yamunā because it is sanctified by the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The part of Hastināpura which slopes toward the Yamunā becomes inundated during the rainy season and reminds everyone of Lord Balarāma's threatening to cast the city into the Ganges.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 3, Purport:

When we approach a polished animal in the form of a modern civilized man and ask him to take interest in self-realization, he will say that he simply wants to work to satisfy his stomach and that there is no need of self-realization for a hungry man. The laws of nature are so cruel, however, that despite his denunciation of the need for self-realization and his eagerness to work hard to fill his stomach, he is always threatened by unemployment.