(P) Stories of Krishna
The Birth of the Blue God
Adapted from the book, “Hindu Stories” written by Anita Ganeri and published by Evans Brothers. Reproduced with permission.
On the banks of the Yamuna River in India, lay the kingdom of Mathura, which was ruled over by wicked King Kamsa. The king was unjust and unpopular but nobody dared disobey his orders. They were much too afraid of what he would do. The only good thing about King Kamsa was his beautiful sister, Devaki, who was kind and sweet to everyone.
On the day of Devaki’s wedding, Kamsa was driving the chariot of his sister, and her new husband, Vasudeva. Suddenly, a voice boomed out of the sky. “Beware, O king,” it announced. “Beware of your sister’s children. For her eighth child will one day kill you.”
Then the voice was gone. King Kamsa was startled and a little bit frightened. What if the voice was telling the truth? He decided that the best thing to do was to kill his sister to make sure the prophecy could not happen. There and then, he drew out his sword. But Vasudeva begged the wicked king to change his mind.
“Spare her life, I beg you,” Vasudeva pleaded, “and take our children instead. We will give them to you when they are born.”
King Kamsa agreed. To make sure that Devaki and Vasudeva, and their children, could not escape, he threw them into prison and had them guarded day and night.
And so matters went on for several years. Devaki had seven babies and wicked Kamsa killed them, one by one. From his home in heaven, Lord Vishnu saw what was happening and knew what must be dome.
“I shall have myself born as Devaki’s eighth child,” said Vishnu. “I will be born as the baby Krishna.”
So this is exactly what happened. One night, in August, Devaki gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. To celebrate this happy time, there was peace and plenty all around. The rivers flowed clear and full; the lakes bloomed with lotuses. The forests were filled with birds and peacocks, singing their sweet songs. Heavenly music rang from the skies and everyone was joyful. For this was no ordinary baby. Devaki cried to think that she must hand him over to the king.
“Give him to me,” said Vasudeva, suddenly. “I will make sure he is safe. The king will not kill this child.”
With the help of the gods, Vasudeva escaped from prison and crept right past the king’s guards. (The gods had sent them to sleep while Vasudeva made his getaway.) When he reached the river, he lifted the baby high above his head and waded across to the other side. All the time, his heart was pounding. What if the guards woke up and warned the king he was gone?
Once he was safely over the river, he went to a house in the village of Vrindavana and knocked on the door. It was the home of a kindly cowherd called Nanda and his wife, Yashoda. Unseen by anyone, he exchanged his son for Yashoda’s new-born daughter and hurried back to the prison. Next morning, he handed the baby over to the king. But the baby was really a goddess, and when King Kamsa tried to kill her, she flew right out of his hands and returned to the heavens.
When King Kamsa found out that he had been tricked, he was furious. He had the palace searched from top to bottom, then sent his soldiers into every corner of his kingdom to kill all the baby boys they could find. But they did not find Krishna because the cowherd’s village lay outside his lands. And the prophesy? Well, many years later, an informer told King Kamsa that Krishna was still alive and the king sent demon after demon to kill him. Finally, he invited Krishna to a wrestling match with two gigantic wrestlers. But Krishna killed the wrestlers before they could harm Him, and then killed the evil king himself, just as the voice from the sky had said he would.
Agha – The Snake Demon
Long time ago, in a village called Vrindavana, Krishna and his friends played happily in the forests and fields near their homes. Every morning, Krishna blew his buffalo horn and called together his friends.
Krishna had many friends and they cared for hundreds of calves. The boys, with their calves, left the village of Vrindavana and played many games on their way to the grassy fields. All the boys were decorated with flowers, leaves, twigs and peacock feathers. They all wore beautiful ornaments made of pearls and gold. Each boy carried a stick, flute, horn and lunch bag.
The boys loved Krishna very much and always competed to gain his company. One boy would cry out, “I will run and catch him!” Another would reply, “Oh no, you won’t! I’ll get to Krishna first!”
One boy stole another boy’s lunch and passed it to a third. When the boy whose lunch was stolen found out, he tried to snatch it back. But his friends continued to pass it from one boy to another.
Some of the boys climbed up the trees and imitated the monkeys. Others caught the tails of the young monkeys and played with them. Some of them played their flutes and sang and danced. Others laughed and splashed in the water, pretended to be frogs. Some followed the swans, and others ran after the shadows of the birds. Some of the boys imitated the dance of the peacocks, while others imitated the sounds of the cuckoo. Some shouted down the wells and then listened for the echo, which they would call bad names. Thus they spent their days in the fields and forests of Vrindavana.
One day, Krishna and His friends were enjoying themselves in the forest. A terrible demon, in the shape of a green snake, slithered towards them. The name of the demon was Agha. This demon was so dangerous that even the people in heaven were afraid of him.
The demon hated to see the boys enjoying themselves. As he watched them, he thought, “This Krishna is the boy who killed my demon sister, Putana, and my demon brother Baka! Now I’ll kill all his friends and their calves. With their children dead, all the people in Vrindavana will die of sorrow!”
Then the terrible demon, Agha, grew bigger and bigger until he was eight miles long. He stretched his mouth wider until it was as wide as a mountain cave. His sharp teeth looked like the peaks of that mountain, and his hot tongue appeared like a wide road. His eyes blazed like fire. Agha decided to swallow Krishna and the boys all at once. So he sat on the path – and waited.
When the boys first saw the demon, they thought he was a statue. Very surprised, they talked to each other.
One boy said, “This appears to be a huge animal. He looks like he wants to swallow us all!”
Another boy asked, “Is it a big snake that has opened his mouth wide to eat us?”
A third boy said, “His mouth is dark; his breathing is blowing like a hurricane and it smells bad, like dead fish.”
The boys decided that even if the serpent was to swallow them, Krishna would save them. Thinking of Krishna, they marched right into the mouth of the demon.
Krishna understood that the big serpent was a terrible demon. When he saw his friends swallowed by the demon, he felt very sad. He thought, “My friends are lying in the belly of a great serpent! How will I save them?” Finally he decided to enter Agha’s mouth. All the demigods hiding behind the clouds were afraid. They cried out, “Alas! Alas!”
When Krishna entered the demon’s throat, he grew bigger and bigger. Agha choked, and his big eyes moved violently. His soul burst from a hole in the top of this head and hovered in the sky. It was like a dazzling light that spread everywhere.
Inside Agha’s belly, Krishna found His friends unconscious. With His magical glance, he brought them all back to life. Then they marched right out of the demon’s mouth.
Suddenly, Agha’s glittering soul entered into Krishna’s body. The demigods became overwhelmed with joy. They showered flowers on Krishna. They danced and beat drums and sang songs. “Jaya! Jaya! All glories to Krishna!”
The gigantic, fierce mouth of the demon stayed open for many days. Slowly his body dried up and the boys used it us a fantastic playground.
This was just one of the many adventures of Krishna and his friends in Vrindavana.