One day Krsna wanted to enjoy a picnic lunch within the forest, and therefore He went out early into the forest with the other cowherd boys, accompanied by their respective groups of calves. While they were enjoying their picnic, Aghasura, the younger brother of Putana and Bakasura, appeared there, desiring to kill Krsna and His companions. The demon, who had been sent by Kamsa, assumed the form of a python, expanding himself to a length of eight miles and the height of a mountain, his mouth seeming to extend from the surface of the earth to the heavenly planets.

Having assumed this feature, Aghasura lay on the road. Krsna's friends, the cowherd boys. thought that the demon's form was one of the beautiful spots of Vrndavana. Thus they wanted to enter within the mouth of this gigantic python. The gigantic figure of the python became a subject for their sporting pleasure, and they began to laugh, confident that even if this figure were dangerous, Krsna was there to protect them. In this way, they proceeded toward the mouth of the python.

Krsna was waiting outside, and Aghasura was waiting for Krsna, thinking that as soon as Krsna entered he would close his mouth so that everyone would die. While waiting for Krsna, he refrained from swallowing the boys. In the meantime, Krsna was thinking of how to save the boys and kill Aghasura. Thus He entered the mouth of the gigantic asura, and when He was within the demon's mouth along with His friends, He expanded His body to such an extent that the asura suffocated and died. After this, Krsna, by casting His nectarean glance upon His friends, brought them back to life, and with pleasure they all came out unhurt.