Here at Kesi Ghata, Sri Krishna killed the Kesi Demon.
His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada explains the beautiful pastime:
After being instructed by Kamsa, the demon Kesi assumed the form of a terrible horse. He entered the area of Vrindavana, his great mane flying and his hooves digging up the earth. He began to whinny and terrify the whole world. Krishna saw that the demon was terrifying all the residents of Vrindavana with his whinnying and his tail wheeling in the sky like a big cloud. Krishna could understand that the horse was challenging Him to fight. The Lord accepted his challenge and stood before the Kesi demon. As He called him to fight, the horse began to proceed towards Krishna, making a horrible sound like a roaring lion. Kesi rushed toward the Lord with great speed and tried to trample Him with his legs, which were strong, forceful, and as hard as stone. Krishna, however, immediately caught hold of his legs and thus baffled him. Being somewhat angry, Krishna began to move around the horse dextrously. After a few rounds, He threw him a hundred yards away, just as Garuda throws a big snake. Thrown by Krishna, the horse immediately passed out, but after a little while he regained consciousness and with great anger and force rushed toward Krishna again, this time with his mouth open. As soon as Kesi reached Him, Krishna pushed His left hand within the horse’s mouth. The horse felt great pain because the hand of Krishna felt to him like a hot iron rod. Immediately his teeth fell out. Krishna’s hand within the mouth of the horse at once began to inflate, and Kesi’s throat choked up. As the great horse began to suffocate, perspiration appeared on his body, and he began to throw his legs hither and thither. As his last breath came, his eyeballs bulged in their sockets, and he passed stool and urine simultaneously. Thus the vital force of his life expired. When the horse was dead, his mouth became loose and Krishna could extract His hand without difficulty. He did not feel any surprise that the Kesi demon was killed so easily, but the demigods were amazed, and out of their great appreciation they offered Krishna greetings by showering flowers.
Previous life of Kesi Demon: –
In his previous life Kesi was a servant of Indra, who bore his umbrella, and his name was Kumuda. When Indra killed the Vrtrasura he became stained with the sin of killing a brahmana, so he performed an Asvamedha-sacrifice to become free from the sinful reactions. When a white horse arose from the sacrifice, Kumuda desired to mount it and when he tried to do so the Maruts saw him, arrested him and brought him before Indra. When Indra heard what had happened he angrily cursed Kumuda, saying: “O fool! Become a Raksasa and descend to earth in the form of a hourse!”. Following this curse Kumuda took birth in Vraja as the son of the Maya-demon, named Kesi.
