The Winning Smile

Once it happened that Krishna [a Hindu deity], [His brother] Balarama and [His cousin] Satyaki, who were little boys scarcely four or five years old at that time, strayed into a thick jungle all alone when darkness fell, and there was no way of reaching Gokul [their hometown]. Of course, as you must have guessed already, it was a stratagem of Krishna.

Even at that age, he would do nothing without a deep purpose behind it, and the purpose would invariably to teach someone a good lesson. The boys decided to spend the night just where they were. Then Krishna frightened them with his descriptions of ghosts, ghouls, and demons roaming in search of human prey. After that, He proposed that one of them should keep watch for three hours at a stretch while the other two slept.

It was Krishna’s duty to keep awake and be on the lookout from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Satyaki was to be vigilant from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Balarama was to start his part of the duty at 1 a.m. and keep on till 4 a.m. Satyaki sat up at 10 p.m., and Balarama and Krishna laid themselves on beds of dried leaves and slept soundly.

Meanwhile, a demon did actually present himself before little Satyaki. He fell upon the boy, who resisted heroically, dealing and receiving hammer strokes with fists, with a good amount of clawing and biting in between. The demon had to retreat at last, leaving Satyaki badly mauled but happy. The two brothers were sound asleep; they had not been disturbed in the least by noise of the encounter. Satyaki had met blow with blow and dealt injury for injury.

At 1 a.m., he awakened Balarama and stretched his body on the heap of leaves as if nothing had happened. The demon also invited Balarama for combat and again had to retreat humiliated because Balarama, too, was as fierce as he, and Balarama’s blows were even more terrible than Satyaki’s. At 4 a.m., Balarama curled himself into bed after waking up Krishna, who was to keep watch in the auspicious period when Gods are to be propitiated—that is, until dawn.

The demon came roaring like a wounded tiger and advanced ferociously at the little Divine boy. Krishna turned His sweet, charming face at him and rewarded him with a lovely smile. That smile disarmed the demon; the longer he came under its influence, the weaker became his vengeance and venom. At last, the demon became as docile as a lamb. When the other two awoke, they were surprised at the victory that Krishna had won with the weapon of love. You cannot destroy anger by anger, cruelty by cruelty, hatred by hatred. Anger can be subdued only by forbearance; cruelty can be overcome only by non-violence; hatred yields only to charity and compassion.

Source: Sanathana Sarathi, September 1987