Once, a demon named Vatsa was encouraged by evil Kansa to attack Lord Krishna. “Who can withstand my power? If I kill Lord Krishna, the demon world will sing my praises,” thundered Vatsasura. Thus, he went to Vrindavan and observed Lord Krishna’s activities carefully.
‘I can easily trick this boy and His brother by turning myself into a calf and slipping into their flock. They will not notice me and I will be able to attack them with ease,’ he plotted. While their cattle grazed, Lord Krishna and Balarama played on the banks of River Yamuna. Demon Vatsa quickly changed from his monstrous form into a small innocent-looking calf. Then, he mingled with the other calves so that he might escape being caught by the two brothers.
However, Lord Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He sensed something was wrong, at once. He stopped playing with Balarama and motioned His elder brother to follow Him behind a tree.
“Brother, don’t you see that there is an evil demon (in our herd) who has changed himself into a calf. But we can catch him if we are clever,” Lord Krishna said to Balarama. Both of them planned a simple course of action to catch the cunning demon.
The two brothers sneaked up on the calf, who was Vatsasura in disguise. Soon, they both surrounded him so quietly that the demon was unaware of them. Even as Balarama watched, Lord Krishna quickly caught hold of the demon calf’s legs and tail and started whipping him around forcefully. Then, He threw him up in the air.
The demon calf fell from the impact onto the ground and died. Vatsasura’s clever ruse to disguise himself as a calf and trick Lord Krishna had failed. He was no match for Lord Krishna. Balarama and all the other cowherds cheered happily to see the death of the evil demon.
