Slokam 7

Putana has a history of having killed numerous children. Her full time occupation seems to have been to carry out the instruction of Kamsa,  who controls her completely. So she has accumulated a lot of papam,  for which life would hand out appropriate retributions.

Putana, like Kamsa,  like Hiranyakshipu, Hiranyaksha and Ravana is fortunate that her target is the indestructible Paramathma Himself.  Anyone meeting their end at the hands of the Paramthma attains His Feet.

This privilege being accorded to asuras,  is an indication to the ultimate truth that it is only the Paramathma whose different aspects come into play in the form of asuras as well as devas.  Pure consciousness is the treasure within us.  It is owned, sustained, nourished and cultured by the Paramathma. The sustenance is physical nourishment,  to start with, which is not permanent. This physical nourishment should be transcended,  which means our consciousness should discard its physical aspects.  The true nature of consciousness is eternal and entirely independent. However, our fear of the consequences of detachment from physical objects,  keeps us clinging perennially to the material world.  The release to eternity comes with the knowledge of the illusion of the physical realm which is ever changing and the knowledge of  permanence of the unchanging.

The Paramathma seeks to inculcate this knowledge within us,  by assuming the opposing forms and tugging us back and forth between the two extremes in this journey of life. 

Knowledge begins as needs, temptation, desire, and gradually ascends, under the Paramathma’s guidance to a self situated state of the absolute.  This state does not look for rewards or recognition, or to seek to identify cause and effect relationships in the physical realm. It seeks peace in surrender.

Reaching this state of seeking peace as opposed to the “excitement” of worldly life,  is the critical step.  Once this transition is made by our mind,  we are then firmly on the assigned path to eternity.

The Paramathma,  knowing that Putana had killed a lot of children,  jumps on to her lap and starts feeding on her mango like breasts, with mighty suction (that Putana could not have expected from a child)