Ariṣṭāsura

Ariṣṭāsura was an asura who took the form of a huge bull (vṛṣabha) and attacked Gokula and its community of cowherds. His hooves made the earth shake, and his roaring terrified the gopas (cowherd men) and gopīs (cowherd women). Kṛṣṇa killed him.

In his long stuti (hymn of praise) at the Rājasūya, Bhīṣma names the killing of Ariṣṭāsura among the deeds of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood at Gokula.

The attack on Gokula

Ariṣṭāsura came to Gokula in the form of a giant bull. His hooves dug into the earth, and his horns seemed to tear the sky. His roaring scattered the cattle and filled the gopas and gopīs with fear. Clouds of dust from his charge darkened the whole place.

Kṛṣṇa stepped forward and faced the asura in bull form. He took hold of Ariṣṭāsura’s horns and wrestled with him. He forced the bull’s neck down and brought him to the ground. Then he tore the horns off the skull and beat the asura with his own horns until he died. The bull fell and breathed his last.

In Bhīṣma’s stuti

Bhīṣma names the killing of Ariṣṭāsura in his stuti as one of the signs of Kṛṣṇa’s power as an avatāra (descent of Bhagavān Viṣṇu) in the Gokula years. Kṛṣṇa was the child of Nanda and Yaśodā.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākṣiṇātya prati, Chapter 38