Vyomasura Cave

Situated on the side of a mountain is the cave or guja of the demon Vyomasura. Also
nearby are Krishna’s lotus footprints, His lotus handprints, and the imprints of His flower
garland and Kaustuba necklace. On the opposite side of the road are the lotus footprints of Lord
Balarama. The Bhakti-ratnakara mentions that this is the site where Shri Krishna killed the great
flying demon Vyomasura. This particular part of the mountain is known as Chaursya-khela
Parvata because Krishna and the cowherd boys were playing the game (khela) of cops and
robbers (chaursya) .
The word ‘vyoma’ refers to a type of demon or asura that by dint of mystic powers can
fly in the sky at will. The demon Vyomasura, in his previous life, had been a king named
Bhimaratha who ruled the kingdom of Kashi. He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and was always
performing sacrifices. Eventually he left the kingdom to his son and retired to perform penance
on the Malaya Mountain. One day the great sage and son of Lord Brahma, Pulastya Muni, arrived
at Bhimaratha’s ashrama, but due to his false pride in being a great personality and performer
of severe penances, Bhimaratha failed to receive the great sage in the proper manner and also
neglected to either rise from his seat or offer any respects to such an exalted visitor. Infuriated
at the insulting behavior of Bhimaratha, the great sage Pulastya cursed him by saying. “0 great
rascal, immediately become a demon.” Within a short time, Bhimaratha left his body and in his
next life took birth as Vyomasura, the son of the demon named Maya Danava.
During the despotic rule of King Kamsa, all the envious demons were engaged in
helping him in consolidating his hold on power and expanding his dominance over other kings.
The demon Vyomasura was also one of Kamsa’s supporters and one day was asked by Kamsa to
go to Vrindavana and kill the cowherd boy named Krishna. The Bhagavatam says that on that
particular day, Krishna was at Govardhana Hill with His cowherd boyfriends playing a game of
‘cops and robbers’. In some Puranas it says Krishna was playing near Kamyavana, and this has
been confirmed in the Gopala-campu of Shrila ]iva Goswarni. Some boys played the part of police
constables and some played the part of thieves and others played the part of lambs. The game
involved the police trying to catch the thieves who were stealing the lambs. Arriving on the
scene, Vyomasura, by dint his mystic power, assumed the form of a cowherd boy and played the
part of a thief. One by one he began actually stealing the cowherd boys that were playing the part
of lambs, and after carrying them away, hid them in a cave and rolled a big rock in front of the
cave entrance to close it. Gradually the demon stole almost all of the cowherd boys playing with
Krishna.
Krishna was wondering where all the cowherd boys have gone, as only four or five boys
remained playing the game. Contemplating the situation, Krishna then noticed that a very
cunning demon was masquerading as one of the cowherd boys. Without any warning Krishna
suddenly caught hold of the demon in the same way that a lion snatches a lamb. Feeling the
strong grip of Krishna and fearing for his life, the demon Vyomasura began to expand his body
into a gigantic size and attempted to escape by flying high into the sky. Nevertheless, he could
not free himself from Krishna’s powerful grip. A fierce battle then ensued between the demon
Vyomasura and Krishna, sometimes they fought on the land and sometimes in the sky. The
whole earth began to shake as if an earthquake was about to strike and Balarama had to press
His foot down firmly on the ground to keep the earth steady. While the demon was flying in the
sky, all of a sudden Krishna lost His grip and fell to the earth on all fours, leaving behind the
imprints of His hands and feet, and also His broken flower garland and His Kaustuba necklace,
which both fell off due to the fall. In an angry mood, Krishna suddenly reached up into the sky
and catching the demon by the arm, pulled him downwards and slammed him into the ground
with such force, that the demon died on the spot. Krishna then released all the cowherd boys
from within the cave where they had been hidden.
Regarding the Bhagavatam saying that the cowherd boys were playing at Govardhana
Hill, all the mountains in Vraja Mandala belong to one mountain range only, presently known
as the Aravallis, and Govardhana Parvata is one of the peaks of this range. The Aravallis are
perhaps the world’s oldest mountains having manifested during the pre-Cambrian period more
than five hundred million years ago, and it is also a geological fact that the entire mountain range,
including Govardhana Parvata, is slowly sinking into the earth and will eventually disappear.
Therefore, it can be seen that modern science only confirms the statements found in the ancient
Vedic literatures that Govardhana Hill is slowly sinking into the earth due to the curse of
Pulastya Muni.

Nearby the slide, in the middle of the hill is the cave of Vyomäsura. Kåñëa killed Vyomäsura here. This cave is also referred to as Medhävé Muni’s cave because Medhävé Muni worshipped Kåñëa here. The footprint of Çré Baladeva Prabhu lies nearby, at the foot of the hill. When Çré Kåñëa was killing Vyomäsura, the earth began to tremble. Baladeva pressed down on the earth with His foot and thus stabilised it. His footprint can still be seen today. Once, Kåñëa came to this place while grazing His cows. The forest was filled with green grass, which the cows happily ate. Without any care, Çré Kåñëa and the sakhäs began to play a game of “cops and robbers”. Many of the sakhäs pretended to be sheep while others pretended to be their keepers. Still others took on the role of thieves and stole the sheep. Kåñëa played the judge. The owners of the sheep filed a lawsuit with the judge against the thieves. Çré Kåñëa called both parties before Him and proceeded to consider the case. All the cowherd boys were thus deeply absorbed in their play. Intending to kill Kåñëa, Vyomäsura, one of Kaàsa’s spies, entered the group disguised as a sakhä and became one of the thieves. He stole all the sakhäs who were playing the part of sheep and hid them in this cave. Çré Kåñëa looked around and wondered, “Where have all our sakhäs gone?” Recognising Vyomäsura as a demon in disguise, He understood that this was his work. He therefore caught him and killed him. Kåñëa and the sakhäs who were playing the sheep’s owners then released the other sakhäs from the cave in the hill. This pastime has been described in the Tenth Canto of Çrémad-Bhägavatam.