- Against the odds, Krishna was born despite so many attempts
to prevent it. He went on to become a king and had many friends and foes who
did not know of he wasn’t part of their world.
- An aakaashvaani fortold the cruel ruler Kansa of Mathura that the eighth
child of his cousin Devaki and Vasudev. Rather than kill them after learning of
his fate, Devaki talked him down from the ledge of that decision and he decided
instead to kill all the children of this couple instead in a show of his
demonic ruthlessness. He managed to slay six of them. The seventh fetus was transported
from her womb to that of Rohini (Vasudev’s first wife) by the goddess Mahamaya
and many suspected she suffered a miscarriage. The eighth child she bore came
with a great spectacle- and in devalok the gods and animals were joyful at the
thought of Vishnu’s eighth incarnation until word got to Kansa.
- Vasudev held his beloved child but felt a divine urge to embark with his
newborn to the Yamuna, so in the downpour he set out with his son. Once arrived,
he beheld it’s vicious waters and from it emerged a serpent which used it’s
body to shield the man and his child while he walked through the waist-deep river.
On the other side was a cowherd camp where he found Nanda’s wife who just gave
birth to a baby called Maya, and he switched their babies.
- When Kansa awoke from a nightmarish rest, he approached the couple’s cell full
of anxious thoughts having heard about the boy slayer being born but noticed the
baby was a girl upon arrival. He laughed out loud at the thought of a little
girl bringing about his demise, and when he was about to kill the child from Yashoda
she transformed into Durga. She criticized Kansa for his foolishness for
underestimating her strength on account of her womanly form and reminded of the
many demons (more mighty than him) that she had already annihilated. She also admitted
to Kansa that the eighth incarnation of Vishnu was alive and safe, and that at
the appropriate time they would meet and their fates fulfilled.
- Nanda’s wife, Yashoda, was surprised to find newborn Krishna in place of the
baby girl she had remembered birthing but loved him and another boy she had
been elected to take care of like her own children. After hearing about the
many newborns being slaughtered by Kansa in Mathura in his anxious attempt to
kill his future assassin, she became all the more protective of her children.
So many people—merchants, travelers, holy men, and many more visited Gokul to
see her kids, including a woman named Putana whom her children took to quickly
and became close to the family. Until one night, she turned into a wicked demoness
with intentions to kill Krishna with her poisonous breast milk. However, the
tables turned and baby Krishna ended up sucking her strength, powers, and the
hatred in her heart from her in the process. This is when it became apparent to
his adoptive mother that he was different.
- Krishna was known in the neighborhood as a naughty kid who with his friends got
into trouble and was known as the boy who stole butter. In an attempt at
disciplining her boy after learning he was eating mud, when Yashoda went to
examine his mouth saw not mud but the entire universe within—sun, moon, stars
and all creatures and galaxies and cosmos connected by strings stretching eternally.
It was at this point she came to terms with the fact that he was the Bramand
itself.
- After learning of collective dreams urging the citizens to move elsewhere, Nanda
and his subjects evacuated Gokul for Vrindavan, where Krishna and Balram explored
endlessly. Krishna had an innate talent for the flute, and while playing one day
he heard the sounds of his friends playing cease and upon investigation found
that the poisonous air in the lake of Kalia the snake had made them all unconscious.
Krishna with his rhythmic music played the snake back into the deep which in
turn cleared the water and the atmosphere of poison. This is only one of many
different monstrous terrors sent to the town from Kansa that Krisha ended up
overpowering against all odds.
- Inda brought torrential rain upon Vrindavan after feeling neglected with
Nanda agreed with Krishna’s appeal that they would instead worship the
Govardhan Hill. The people ran to Krishna to seek shelter from the storm, who
lifted the mountain with his litter finger making it like an umbrella and urging Indra to put
his pride aside and ask the mighty god of gods his forgiveness.
- Krishna was enamored with a Gopi named Radha, who was equally devoted to him
as proven from a prank to drink scalding milk that was said to be an order from
Krishna himself that resulted in Krishna’s somehow taking in the blisters and
pain from the show. She also allowed him to lick her feet when he was ill since
it was said that was the only thing that could cure him.
Bibliography:
Author: Epified
Title: Epified: Krishna, Part A (Playlist)
Source: YouTube
(Image Source: Screenshot by me of episode 1, YouTube)
