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Putana

पूतना

Pūtanā is the demoness sent by Kaṁsa, who came to Gokula in the guise of a beautiful woman intending to kill the infant Krishna with a poisoned breast; the Lord, while sucking, drew out her very life, and she fell dead in her monstrous form. Vaiṣṇava teachers dwell on the point that although her intent was treacherous, because she gave suck in the character of a nurse she attained the destiny of a mother — a proof of the Lord's generosity. SB 2.7.27 calls it 'the taking of the life of the owl-like one by a mere infant' and counts it among three childhood acts which 'could not be otherwise' — that is, which establish the child's divinity.

Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa 2.7.27 — Sanskrit Wikisource (pinned oldid=200170)