Hare Krsna,
I would like to share Putana’s past life so that we have a context why she behaved the way she did. Brahma-vaivarta Purana mentions that in her last life Putana was Ratnamala, the younger sister of Bali Maharaja. However, Garga Samhita mentions that she was the daughter of Bali Maharaja. At the time when Bali Maharaja was visited by Lord Vamanadeva she also witnessed His arrival. As soon as Ratnamala had set her eyes on the Lord, she desired that He might become her son wishing to suckle Him out of maternal affection. The Supreme Lord, feeling obliged to Bali Maharaja, His pure devotee, and understanding her heart, addressed Ratnamala, promising that whatever desire she was cherishing at that moment would be fulfilled. However, when Ratnamala saw how Lord Vamanadeva tricked her father/brother and tied him up like a vagabond, she became angry and bitter. Looking at the Lord she thought maliciously: “If you become my son then not only will I feed you, but I will also kill you!” According to the original benediction that Lord Vamanadeva had offered, Ratnamala would have the opportunity to suckle Him as her child. However, because her sentiments had now swung so violently to the opposite extreme, by exercise of His unlimited intelligence, Lord Vamanadeva ingeniously supplied the solution by smoothly incorporating the suitable reactions to both diverse desires in a single pastime. Thus at the end of Dvapara-yuga she became known as Putana and fulfilled her desires. Then, by Lord Krishna’s touch, she attained liberation too.
Another interesting point that our acaryas comment upon is why Krsna closed His eyes.
SB 10.6.8: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the all-pervading Supersoul, lying on the bed, understood that Pūtanā, a witch who was expert in killing small children, had come to kill Him. Therefore, as if afraid of her, Kṛṣṇa closed His eyes. Thus Pūtanā took upon her lap Him who was to be her own annihilation, just as an unintelligent person places a sleeping snake on his lap, thinking the snake to be a rope.
Srila Visvanatha Chakravarty Thakura comments that Krsna closed His eyes – (a) to show His fearfulness as a small child; (b) to avoid seeing such an inauspicious person; (c) to avoid making the violence auspicious by the touch of His auspicious glance; (d) to avoid the shame of killing a woman posing as a mother, and (e) to avoid seeing the inauspiciousness of Pütanä’s death.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura compared Putana to false guru or pseudo guru. Putana appeared as a loving mother externally, but she was a dangerous demon internally. Thus, Putana represents a pseudo guru, or a so called teacher who seems to be genuine, but actually unauthentic and deviant. A pseudo guru may appear in multiple forms. A fake guru is one who teaches one’s students sense gratification or liberation or both.
Being greedy, foolish people desire excessive material wealth and undue enjoyment, and seek so-called gurus who suggest them shortcuts that appear religious. These fake gurus often seek wealth and enjoyment for themselves from and through the ignorant masses who approach them for the same. These materialistic gurus misdirect such people with some mantras or rituals to attain material wealth, fame, influence and so on. However, ultimately all material prosperity is temporary and is lost at any moment.
There are other people who are frustrated with sense gratification and thus develop some spiritual inclinations. Unfortunately, they sometimes approach gurus who direct them towards impersonal liberation. These gurus teach detachment from material enjoyment, and emphasize that liberation (moksha), i.e., merging in the effulgence of God (Brahman) as all in all. However, detachment from material enjoyment has to be accompanied by attachment to spiritual enjoyment. And the ultimate spiritual enjoyment of the soul is in the eternal activity of loving and serving (bhakti) Krsna, and not just merge in His effulgence to be inactive. Thus, the gurus who direct people towards liberation are cheating and depriving people of their real fortune of loving company of God in His eternal abode.
Sometimes one’s materially contaminated mind also acts like a pseudo guru. The mind carries millions of material impressions from past lives and is the storehouse of unlimited material desires for selfish enjoyment. Such mind inwardly presents mundane reasoning and manifests as a so-called spiritual guide. Trusting the deviant and distracted mind, a spiritual seeker gives into its desires and obsessions. The right course of action recommended for a devotee, however, is to sharpen one’s intelligence with spiritual knowledge presented in the scriptures. With deliberate spiritual intelligence one must control the fickle mind and make it focus on one’s spiritual practices and come closer to Krsna.
Therefore, a sincere spiritual seeker has to diligently protect oneself from falling into the clutches of pseudo gurus who manifest outwardly (fake gurus) and inwardly (fickle mind). And one must seek shelter of the real gurus who appear inwardly as the Supersoul and outwardly as a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada. If we are sincere in seeking shelter of Krsna, He will divert us from fake gurus and direct us towards authentic gurus of bhakti. Under the guidance of such gurus, we can easily attain the lotus feet of Krsna in His eternal abode.
Putana pastime is so deep and enriching!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and acaryas for bringing out the sublime nectar and teachings from the Putana lila!
Krsna Katha 