![]() In the town of Mathura there reigned the evil king Kansa. To him Narada announced that he would meet his death at the hands of the eighth son of Devaki, the sister of his father and the wife of Vasudeva. Kansa determines to kill all Devaki's children. He has Devaki closely guarded by his servants, and six of her children are killed immediately after birth. The seventh child is rescued by Nidra the goddess of sleep. She transfers the boy (Balarama) before he is born from the womb of Devaki to that of Mohini, another wife of Vasudeva. The eighth son, Krishna, was exchanged by Vasudeva himself, immediately after birth, in order to rescue him from Kansa, with the daughter of the cowherd Nanda and his wife Yashoda, who was born at the same time. So the little daughter of the latter is dashed against a rock by Kansa, while Krishna is regarded as the son of a cowherd and grows up among the cowherds. Balarama, too, is entrusted to the protection of the cowherd family by Vasudeva, and the two boys grow up together in the cowherds' station. ![]() After seven years had elapsed, the boys grew tired of the cowherds' station. So Krishna caused innumerable wolves to issue from his body, which frightened the cowherds so much that they decided to wander further. They wandered with to the Vrinda forest. Here the boys now run happily through the forest. One day, while Krishna was strolling along the banks of the Yamuna River all alone, singing and playing his flute he reached the deep lake in which the snake king Kaliya used to live along with his retinue. He used to poison the water of the river and make the entire neighbourhood safe. Krishna swiftly plunges into the lake, in order to overcome the frightful dragon. Soon the five-headed, fire-breathing monster appears, and a host of snakes rush furiously upon the youthful hero, surrounding and biting him. But he soon frees himself, presses the heads of the monster on the ground and jumps with force on to the middle head so that the dragon confesses himself conquered and retreats with the whole brood of snakes. Soon afterwards he also slays the demon Dhenuka, who, in the form of an ass, guards the mountain Govardhana. Another demon, the giant Pralamba, does not venture to tackle Krishna but is slain by Balarama. ![]() He organises bull-fights and tournaments with the strongest among the cowherds. On the lovely autumn nights, however, his heart rejoiced in the round dances, which the beautiful cowherdesses, who are all enamoured of the hero-youth, perform in the moonlight, singing of his deeds and jestingly imitating his play, his gait, his dancing and his singing. Once when Krishna was enjoying himself with the cowherds, Arista, a demon in the form of a bullock, appeared. Krishna tears out one of his horns and slays him with it. ![]() After some time the two brothers go to Ujjain, in order to learn the art of archery from a famous teacher there. A son of this teacher has perished in the sea, and as his fee, he demands that Krishna shall bring him back this son. Then Krishna descends into the underworld, overcomes the god of death, Lord Yama, and brings the boy back to his father. ![]() The tale of Rukmini is similarly spun out. Bhismaka, King of Vidarbha has promised his daughter Rukmini in marriage to Shishupala and the wedding was about to be celebrated. At this point Krishna comes with his brother Balarama to the marriage-feast and kidnaps the bride. The deeply-offended prince pursues him but is repulsed by Balarama. Rukmin, the brother of the kidnapped girl, swears he will never return to his native town unless he has killed Krishna and brought his sister back. A fierce fight takes place in which Rukmin is defeated but in response to the entreaties of Rukmini Krishna grants him his life. In order not to break his oath, Rukmin founds a new town for himself. In Dwarka the marriage of Krishna with Rukmini takes place. With her he begets ten sons but later marries seven queens and sixteen thousand other wives with whom he begets thousands of sons. Pradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini, later marries a daughter of Rukmin, and their son Aniruddba marries a grand-daughter of Rukmin. At the marriage of Aniruddha, Balarama and Rukmin quarrel over a game of dice and the latter is slain by Balarama. In connection with this there is a glorification of the deeds of Balarama. Then again there is the story of the slaying of Naraka. This Naraka is a demon, who has stolen the ear-rings of Aditi, and also otherwise gives the gods much trouble. At the request of Indra, Krishna fights against him and kills him. ![]() ![]() After a few shorter pieces, legends and speeches in praise of Krishna, the book concludes with the story of the "battle of Bana" and the love affair of Aniruddha, son of Pradyumna, with Usha, the daughter of the Asura-king Bana. The latter is a favourite of Lord Shiva. Krishna comes to the aid of Aniruddha who is hard pressed by Bana and the fighting with Bana leads to a violent battle between Shiva and Vishnu, by which the whole world is seriously menaced. But Brahma comes to the aid of the earth and creates peace between the two gods by declaring that Shiva and Vishnu are one. Here follows a hymn (stotra) glorifying these two as identical deities. With the marriage of Aniruddha and Usha, which is celebrated with great magnificence in Dvaravati, the book ends. |
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