Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Once, Kaṁsa sent a demon named Tṛṇāvarta to Gokula to kill Kṛṣṇa. Kaṁsa had advised Tṛṇāvarta to assume the form of a whirlwind and thus he entered Gokula. The demon seized Kṛṣṇa, who was sitting beside Mother Yaśodā, and flew into the sky. Baby Kṛṣṇa caught his neck as any baby might, but His doing so choked the demon. Tṛṇāvarta’s eyes popped out from their sockets, and he fell to the earth and died.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This is the place where the whirlwind demon named Trinavarta was killed by baby Krishna. Trinavarta was a servant and friend of King Kamsa and arrived in Gokula in the mystical form of a powerful whirlwind. His intention was to carry baby Krishna high into the sky and then throw Him down on the ground in order to kill him. Mother Yashoda was holding Krishna on her lap when He suddenly became much too heavy to hold and therefore Yashoda placed Him on the ground. As she was attending to her chores, all of a sudden the whirlwind demon arrived and created a huge dust storm which obliterated everyone’s view. With his strong gusts of wind, the demon scooped Krishna up from the ground where He was sitting and carried Him high into the sky. Yashoda Mayi and the other ladies of the house came running when they realized that baby Krishna had been carried away by the whirlwind. Meanwhile, Krishna was actually enjoying the ride on the demon’s shoulders and was appreciating the wonderful view from the air of Vraja Mandala, with all its beautiful hills, forests, lakes, and pasturing grounds.
As the Trinavarta demon went high into the sky, Krishna grabbed hold of him very tightly around the neck and the demon suddenly began to experience a terrible choking sensation. It felt to Trinavarta that he was carrying a great mountain instead of a small baby, as Krishna seemed to be getting heavier by the moment. Due to Krishna’s ever-increasing weight and with his breathing completely dislocated, the whirlwind demon’s eyes began to bulge from their sockets and after feeling completely disorientated, he suddenly came crashing down to the ground and hit a large stone slab with such an almighty thud, that his limbs were totally smashed to pieces and he died on the spot. Mother Yashoda immediately came running with all the other ladies of the palace and was greatly relieved to see that their darling little Krishna was completely unharmed as He sat happily on top of the whirlwind demon’s crumpled body. There is a small temple here dedicated to this pastime known as Trinavarta-Bihari Mandira. The word ‘badha-sthala’ means ‘the place (sthala) where Trinavarta was killed (badha)’.
