Tattva-viveka
killing of demons by krsna in gokula
Vivek - September 1, 2006 8:53 pm
Haribol,
It is said that killing of demons is not performed by Syamasundar Krsna but by Vasudeva Krsna so i was just wondering how is krsna killing demons in gokula in his form of Syamasundar.
Syamasundar Krsna never leaves Vrindavana so how does his Vasudeva feature in Dwarka feel seperation from residents of Vrindavana.
Kindly answer my questions.
Vivek
Madangopal - September 4, 2006 5:26 pm
Without knowledge of siddhanta or realization I can only make a guess. I would not recommend speaking without either jnana or vijnana, but since nobody answered, maybe correcting me will generate some discussion. 
Most of the answer to your question lies in the distinction between Gokula (the lila manifesting in this world) and Goloka (the ongoing lila in the spiritual realm). In Goloka, Krsna does not kill demons. Demons are a feature of the material world, thus Krsna manifests his pastimes here for the additional purpose of killing them, besides his primary purpose of enjoying with his devotees.
My guess is that in Gokula Krsna does kill demons through his Vasudeva feature. Since Krsna is the source of all the expansions, the Vasudeva feature is within him, so when killing demons he may not manifest a different form but more a different persona. I just heard a lecture the other day where Guru Maharaj explained that when killing Putana, Krsna accepted her breast in vatsalya bhakti, but the Vasudeva feature within him sucked out her life and killed her.
In Gokula, Krsna never leaves the hearts of his devotees, but he apparently does leave to go to Mathura and eventually Dvaraka. He feels separation there because the Vraja life with his devotees is his real enjoyment. He is doing his "duty" in Dvaraka maintaining a kingdom and killing demons.
So really, it seems that the mantra "Krsna never leaves Vrndavana" is meant for Goloka. In Gokula, Krsna never leaves the hearts of his devotees, which in a sense also means he never leaves! Krsna cannot be thought of as being "physically" not present although he left. So because Krsna is non-different from his name and also the remembrance of his devotees, it is really too difficult to say that he has left... 
Plus, Krsna shows the topmost glories of the Vrajavasis by his leaving them. Their feelings of separation attract him and we learn that love in separation is the highest form of love of God.
All of this is part of the reason why the lila in Gokula is a bit sweeter than in Goloka. The sadhaka who attains perfection takes birth in Gokula lila before going on to Goloka. That's what I call the real bhakta program!!
Bijaya Kumara Das - September 4, 2006 7:53 pm
The answer form Guru Maharaja is in the archives.
He gave and very good explaination of this a few years ago.