tān samīkṣhya sa kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān kṛipayā parayāviṣhṭo viṣhīdann idam abravīt
When we think of objects we like, we develop an attachment to them. Attachment creates desire, and from desire comes anger.
The gods, overcome by weakness, were losing the battle against demons. They put their heads together and came up with an idea to request King Muchukunda to lead them in war. King Muchukunda, a descendant of the Ikshvaku dynasty and an ancestor of Sri Rama, was an expert warrior with qualities that made him a hero.
Muchukunda, being a selfless personality, agreed to bail out the gods. He fought on their behalf for thousands of years. Finally, the gods were ready to let him go back to Earth. But there was a small problem. For every one day that he spent in heaven, one year had passed on Earth. Because he had been in heaven for several years, thousands of years had passed on Earth, and his kingdom no longer existed. His family was no longer alive, and he was no longer a king!
The gods apologized to Muchukunda for sacrificing everything for them and offered him a boon. A devastated Muchukunda had no desire left without his kingdom and family. He pleaded with the gods, “All I want now is moksha, liberation from life and death.”
Indra, the king of gods, replied, “Alas! We do not have the power to grant you moksha.”
Feeling dead tired, the king said, “I am desperate for rest. I want to go into a deep sleep. Grant me a boon that anyone who tries to wake me up would be burnt to ashes simply by my gaze.”
The gods granted this boon with much gratitude. Muchukunda selected a cave on Earth and went to sleep. That was Treta yuga, the second yuga in the cycle of four yugas.
Sri Krishna made an appearance at the end of Dwapar yuga. When he was in Mathura, Jarasandha attacked him again and again. Krishna repeatedly defeated him, but Jarasandha did not give up. After attacking Krishna seventeen times, Jarasandha then sent a demon called Kalayavan to kill Krishna. Kalayavan had a boon that he would not be killed by anyone from the Yadava clan, not even by Krishna. When Krishna saw Kalayavan, he climbed down his chariot and started running away from Mathura. Kalayavan started chasing him. From a distance, he saw Krishna entering a cave.
Kalayavan reached the cave; it was completely dark inside. As his eyes adjusted to it, he saw a figure sprawled across the cave. He couldn’t believe what his eyes saw and thought, “Why did Krishna run away to sleep inside a cave?”
Kalayavan was furious! In his fury, he kicked Krishna to wake him up. Imagine his surprise when he found that the person who woke up was Muchukunda, who had been sleeping there for centuries. And he was furious! He had specifically asked for a boon to punish the one who woke him up. That person who had woken him up was in front of him and had to be punished. Muchukunda gazed down at him with fire in his eyes. Within moments, there was no trace of Kalayavan. He was reduced to a heap of ashes.
Muchukunda desired sleep, and when that was interrupted, it made him angry. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that we feel angry when our wishes are not fulfilled. If you keep thinking of an advertisement you saw for a mobile phone, you will get attached to it, and soon you will want to have it. If your parents refuse to buy it for you, it makes you angry. Avoiding unnecessary attachments can prevent us from getting angry.