Question: The first demon killed by Rāma is a female. The first demon killed by Kṛṣṇa is Pūtanā, who is also a female. Do these incidences have some special significance?
Answer by Romapada Swami：
1. In Chapter 8 Text 14 of Çré Kåñëa-saàhitä, Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura explains that the 1st demon killed by Kåñëa is a display of His kindness in protecting a neophyte from the peril of accepting a false guru. There is written: “Persons who are on the path of attachment should avoid the first obstacle, accepting a bogus guru, by discussing Pütanä’s arrival in Vraja in the guise of a nurse. One who accepts argument as his guru and who learns the process of worship from such a guru is said to have accepted the shelter of a bogus guru.”
The same reasoning can be applied to Lord Rāmacandara’s killing Tataka first.
2. A second explanation can be found in Śrī Harisūri’s Bhakti-rasāyanam.
jātaś ced iha kaścanāpi bhagavat-sevānuraktendriyo
vighnas tatra varāṅganā prathamataḥ prādurbhavaty utkaṭaḥ
tan-niṣṭḥātmani ced dṛḍhātula-dayas taṃ vighnam utsārayaty-
ābodhīti ca pūtanāgamanatas tan-nāśato gokule
Translation: “As soon as a person engages his ‘Gokula’ – network of senses and mind – in the service of the Lord, the first obstacle that arrives in his life is a lady (the opposite gender). However, if that person remains fixed in the thoughts and service of the Lord, then the all-merciful Lord himself arranges for that obstacle to be removed. This is the implied message conveyed by the arrival and slaughter of Pūtanā in Gokula.”
Explanation: Śrī Harisūri is drawing a parallel between the sādhaka and the fathers of Bhagavān (Daśaratha/Nanda Mahārāja). Both fathers engaged themselves in serving Bhagavān as their son. However, the first obstacle that arrived in their sevā is a lady. In Rāma-līlā it was Tāḍakā (Tataka), and in Kåñëa-līlā it was Pūtanā.
However, both Daśaratha and Nanda Mahārāja were complete in their surrender towards Bhagavān. Thus, the first obstacle in their service towards Bhagavān was driven away by Bhagavān’s mercy. Similarly, in a sādhaka’s life, the first obstacle that arrives is usually the illicit associaion of the opposite gender. If the sādhaka remains surrendered to Bhagavān, then Bhagavān Himself drives away that obstacle.
3. A third explanation is found in the Sanskrit word äçä, which means aspirations contrary to devotional service. Äçä is of the feminine gender.
