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About five and a half thousand years ago, there ruled in Mathura in the modern day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh a despotic king known as Kans. The people of the city had a trying time bearing the whims and oppression of their tyrannical ruler. Kans had overthrown his own father Ugrasena to gain access to the royal throne and was infamous for his fierce ambition that spared none, not even his loved ones. But even the fearsome Kans had a soft corner for his cousin Devaki, whom he loved very much and wanted to marry her off to a decent man. Soon the day of Devaki's marriage came near and King Vasudeva of the Yadu dynasty won her hand. But when the marriage ceremony was almost complete, the great sage Narada told Kans that he would die in the hands of the eighth child born of Devaki and Vasudeva. This filled Kans with anxiety and anger and he proceeded to kill his beloved cousin in fear for his own life. Then Vasudeva pleaded with the tyrant and promised to surrender every one of the children born to them to Kans. Being fond of his sister and pleased with this agreement, Kans forced the newly wed couple to live in his palace prison as captives till their eighth child was born. This was soon carried out and the duo were under constant watch by the royal guards. Each time a child was born to the couple, Kans would personally pay a visit to their cell and smash the head of the infant on the prison wall unmoved by the heartbreaking cries of Devaki and the entreaties of Vasudeva. He did this for seven times until nine years had passed and Devaki was to have a baby for the eighth time. But the night the eighth child was about to be born, a miracle happened. All the guards magically went to sleep, the doors of the prison opened by themselves and the shackles of Vasudev and Devaki opened by themselves and dropped to the ground. Soon Devaki gave birth to a baby. The child was very dark in complexion but a beautiful boy beyond comparison. As Vasudeva marvelled at his new-born child, a voice from the sky (akashvani) ordered him: "O Vasudev, take your child to the Gokul kingdom, ruled by your friend King Nanda. Nanda and his queen Yashoda has just given birth to a daughter. Exchange your son for their daughter. They are asleep and will not know about the exchange. Take their little girl and return to the prison immediately. Make haste or else Kans will come to know about the birth of this child and kill it. This child has been born to subjugate all evil and protect the innocent. He will even save you one day. Now hurry before it gets too late". The Gokul kingdom was across the river Yamuna, which flowed near the city of Mathura. Vasudev knew that he had to carry his baby. Suddenly his eyes caught the sight of a "chhaaj" (reed contraption by which all foreign matter is removed from any lentil, rice, wheat etc.). He cleared the dirt from it, placed his little baby in the basket and took him to the banks of the great river Yamuna. It being the rainy season, the river was in full spate, and it was still raining. On stepping into the river, poor Vasudev had more than half of his body submerged in the water. He tried to save the baby from the rising river by holding him higher and higher. But there was no way he could shield it from the torrential rain. Then, he saw a huge five-mouthed snake following him from behind and providing a canopy over the baby with its hood. The sight struck fear in the heart of Vasudev, but then he remembered the akashvani, which is the voice of angels, andz he was reassured that he and his baby was being protected and that he would surely reach his destination. At Gokul, Vasudev entered the house of his friend Nand, who was asleep and so was his wife Yashoda, and so were all the attendants. He saw a sweet baby near Yashoda and quickly scooped it in his arms after placing his own son in the empty space next to Yashoda. With Sheshnag assisting him like before, Vasudev returned to the prison with the girl-child. He entered his dark cell and laid the baby by Devaki's side. Soon the shackles were back in place, the doors shut and the guards woke up. On seeing the baby, the attendants rushed up to their master Kans to give him the news. Kans came in a great hurry, Because it was the eighth child. He picked up the baby and threw it against the wall, but the little girl flew up into the air. With a blinding flash of light, the baby took the form of a fierce goddess sky, who taunted Kans: "O Kans, your destroyer has already been born, and is elsewhere. He is now well and alive in a safe place. And one day, he will come in search of you and kill you! You can not change your destiny, how hard you may try!" Along with the sound of laughter, the goddess disappeared leaving behind the dumbstruck Kans. This little girl has come to be worshipped under various names - Durga, Tara, Ishani and Mandakini. This legend of the birth of Lord Shrikrishna is recounted on every Janmashtami and the praises of the friend-god are sung in almost every temple dedicated to the divine being. Pious Hindu's hold this account of the birth of the Lord very dear to their hearts. This story recounts a well-known incident from the childhood of Lord Krishna. Some years had passed since the birth of Lord Krishna and the blue-skinned god had grown up to be a mischievous but lovable boy. In Vrindavan, where the Lord resided, there was none who did not love him. Little Krishna had a gang of little friends whom he played and hanged out with. One fine morning, Krishna and his friends were having a wonderful time beside the village lake. The boys were playing with a ball and having some good fun. After an hour of play, they grew tired and were having some rest when Krishna expressed his wish to build a big-tree house for them all. Then Kusela, one of his closest friends, said that there was a big tree, possibly the biggest in Vrindavan, in the eastern part of the Yamuna River next to the village and surrounded by dense forests. Krishna immediately declared that he was going to try and build a house on that same tree. It would give them a nice spot to hang out and have fun. Followed by his friends, the little god started walking eastwards. Now it so happened that a many-hooded snake called Kalia and his brood had settled in the eastern part. They were venomous beings who poisoned the very ground they slithered on. Wherever they went, the grass they moved on turned black, the trees they passed by lost their colour, the air around the area turned toxic and any bird died immediately if it happened to fly nearby. When Krishna and his friends arrived at the eastern part, they were shocked to see how fearsome the place looked. The water of the river Yamuna which was flowing nearby was still bluish but the grass around the lake had turned black. A big tree stood at the ground adjoining the lake. "This must be the tree my father had spoken about." remarked Kusela. "But how terrible it looks"! The tree indeed seemed to die. It had no leaves and its branches were all blackened. It seemed as if the whole place was damned; cursed by some monstrous evil. There was an eerie silence all about the place. Krishna was thoughtful for a moment. Then he said "Let us drop the idea of the tree house then. We shall play here instead." So the boys began to play with the ball again. Soon the ball slipped and fell into the water. "Plop!" It disappeared with a soft sound. The boys let out a cry of lamentation. "Don't worry friends! I will go and fetch the ball in a moment." saying so, Krishna jumped into the water without paying a heed to the warnings of his playmates. Before his friends could stop him, he went under the bluish waters of Yamuna. The water was cold beyond comfort but it hardly made a difference to Krishna. He swam lower, searching for the ball and found that all the plants below had been burnt and badly bent. "Hiss!" A huge snake slid out of its underwater hole and stood behind Krishna. The little god turned to see the fearsome snake slithering on the ground before him, baring its numerous hoods. Kalia was at first amazed to see the little boy but then he was pleased that he was having his food so readily available. "Hey all of you..." he called his family "come and have a share of your food". Saying so, he tried to gobble up Krishna who moved fast and skilfully escaped the huge mouth of the snake. Again and again Kalia tried to devour the little god, but his jaws narrowly missed the divine being. Kalia and his kin were surprised at how this mere boy was fooling him. Little did they know that the boy was indeed the almighty god, born to rid the earth of evil and protect the innocent. Soon Krishna overpowered the snake and began to dance on its head. This incident is known as "Kalia daman" (the subjugation of Kalia). Every footstep of the Lord was as if a blow of a huge hammer on Kalia's head. Fearing for their husband's life, Kalia's wives pleaded with Krishna. Krishna assured that he would spare Kalia's life only if he and his family promise to leave the place and settle elsewhere. When they promised to do so, Krishna ordered Kalia to rise above the water. He rose to find all his friends, most members of his village and his parents waiting anxiously for him. It had been a long time since he had dived into the water and his playmates, who had grown highly anxious, had rushed back to the village informing the folks of all that they had been through. At the sight of Krishna, his mother Yashoda let out a cry of joy. Tears of relief fell down her cheeks. His father Nanda heaved a sigh of relief after having prepared himself for the worst. The snake bent his head in respect as Krishna landed on the shore. Yasodha and Nanda rushed to embrace him. All the villagers and his playpals shouted with joy. With Kalia and his family out of the place, the river and its surroundings regained the old glory. Soon Krishna and his friends built their tree-house over the same tree which was dying but had come back to its former majesty. Every playmate of Krishna realized that the boy they knew was no ordinary soul. Tale of his antics spread far and wide and are remembered even to this day. |
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