A popular saying goes that it is very difficult to be simple. It has been always seen that great Seers and Kings who are the possessors of great knowledge and strength, choose to be simple and never boast about their divine strength. Just as they put their lies in the welfare of Dharma, the Almighty too blesses them with in a way which is beneficial to the whole mankind. One such devotee who was blessed by Shri Krishna in this beautiful way was the noble king Muchikund.
Muchikunda was actually a king of Ayodhya and one of the forefathers of Shri Ram. He was a great warrior and helped the Devas in many battles with the demons. After one such battle for thousands of years and the victory of Devas, Devraj Indr asks him for a boon. As the noble king felt tired after the long battle, Muchikund asks for an undisturbed sleep till the time he wished for. Indr granted him the same with a boon that anybody who would disturb his sleep forcibly would be reduced to ashes. Muchikund reaches a cave and starts sleeping in the cave for years together.
In the Dwapar Yug, after Shri Krishna killed Kamsa, Jarasandh, who was Kamsa father–in law, attacked Mathura seventeen times to avenge the death of Kamsa. But Shri Krishna and Balaram fought back him and foiled all his attempts to attack Mathura. Unable to counter Shri Krishna, Jarasandh seeks an alliance with Kalayavan, the demon warrior who was blessed with a boon by Bhagwan Shiv that he could never be defeated in the battlefield by his enemy. Endowed with such a boon and the powerful army of Jarasandh, Kalayavan attacks Mathura.
Shri Krishna who knew that it was impossible to defeat Kalayavan in the battlefield devises a plan. He asks Balaram to defend Jarasandh while he goes and stands in front of Kalayavan directly. When Kalayavan sees him, he challenges Shri Krishna for a fight. But Shri Krishna says nothing and starts running from there. Kalayavan arrogantly thinks that Shri Krishna is afraid of him and stars chasing him. Shri Krishna runs all over mountains, rivers, forests and Kalayavan chases him all through. Finally Shri Krishna reaches the cave in which Muchikund was in his deep slumber. He goes inside the cave and hides behind Muchikund’s rock bed.
Meanwhile, Kalayavan reaches the cave and believes that Shri Krishna is trapped in the cave and cannot escape him. In his foolishness, he enters the dark cave and sees Muchikund sleeping on the rocks. Assuming him to be Shri Krishna, Kalayavan mocks him to be a coward and hiding in a cave. Out of arrogance of his power, he kicks Muchikund and disturbs the king’s sleep. Muchikund is furious as to who was woke him up and opens his eyes and spots Kalayavana. The moment the noble king sees the demon, Kalayavan is burnt into ashes with the power of Indr’s boon.
Shri Krishna then comes in front of Muchikund and blesses him in the form of Bhagwan Vishnu and explains him the entire incident. Muchikund is delighted to have the darshan of the Almighty and requests Shri Krishna to grant him liberation which Shri Krishna does so. Through blessing Muchikund, Shri Krishna saves his people and Mathura from the terrific demon and also imparts a beautiful lesson to never underestimate anybody without knowledge of his power, as knowledge although powerful believes in simplicity.