First written on May 04, 2007  Revised and Updated on August 22, 2009 Srimad Bhagavatham - Chapter 13 - Demigod Vidyadhara Liberated and Demon Sankhasura Killed When Lord Krishna was just a child and being brought up by his foster father King Nand, the cowherds went on a pilgrimage to a place called Ambikavan, a place in modern Gujarat. During one night, when King Nand was observing his fast and penance, a python from the nearby forest appeared and started to swallow him. Hearing the cries of all, Lord Krishna reached the scene and just touched the python with his foot. Immediately, the python was transformed into a dazzling demigod and he fell at the feet of the lord. He was a demigod called Vidyadhara and known for his beauty and handsome features. During his good times, he saw a great sage called Angira, who was very ugly and the demigod laughed and made fun of him. The sage cursed him to become a reptile snake. A reptile snake is the most despised, feared, ugly and reviled creature. He was liberated when the foot of the supreme lord touched him. The demigod prayed and worshipped the supreme lord and returned to his abode. As mentioned in the previous chapter, almost all demigods made some mistakes and suffered for their sins in some form. After that, Lord Krishna and his brother Lord Balarama started dancing with all gopika, as young cowherd girls are known. The singular form is gopi. The cowherd boy is known as gopal. One of the thousand names of Lord Krishna is Gopal.  At that time a demon called Sankhasura, a servant of Kuber, the treasurer of the demigods, appeared on the scene. This demon had a valuable jewel on his forehead in the form of a conch known as Shankh in Sanskrit. The demon kidnapped all the gopikas. Both Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama pursued him. Once the demon realized the supreme power of the brothers, he fled. Lord Krishna pursued him after entrusting the safety of the gopika to lord Balarama and killed the demon. He took the valuable conch and gave it to his bother Balarama, who blew it.  In the olden days, once the enemy was killed in a one to one combat, all the valuables worn by the vanquished on his person became the property of the victor. Sometimes when the enemy was not killed and spared, the practice was to shave the head as a punishment. There can be no greater insult to a warrior. Most would prefer to die rather than to be seen like that. As a result, in a one to one combat there was hardly any surrender. However, in a formal battle or war between troops, surrendering was not considered bad or a dishonor and conventions existed on how to treat them. As mentioned elsewhere, Vedas had a very good convention on warfare. Blowing the conch before commencement of a war or a battle or during an auspicious religious ceremony or after a victory or when the temple doors are opened is a Vedic custom from that time. Every warrior had a conch and they were all known by different names. Because the sound generated was different and distinctive from conch to conch, it also became the identification mark of the respective warriors from a distance, later. Arjuna's conch was known as Devadatt. Lord Krishna's conch was known as Panchajanya. According to legend, when Arjuna blew his conch Devadatt, the entire opposition army used to tremble in fear.  End of Chapter 13 Written by Madhavan T Gopalachary The views, opinions and interpretations are personal. Sponsorship does not mean that the sponsors endorse them. © Copyright, Aug-09 . MMG Communications. Without prejudice. All rights reserved