Hindu Mythology

Lesson 7: Krishna

Krishna’s Birth

Ugrasen was the king of Mathura. Kansa was his son. Ugrasen’s niece Devaki was just married to Vasudev. Kansa was escorting his cousin and her husband to their home after the marriage. There was a prophecy from the skies that Devaki’s eighth son would kill Kansa. An enraged Kansa wanted to kill Devaki there and then. But Vasudev convinced him not to on the condition that he would deliver each child of his to Kansa. Kansa put Devaki and Vasudev under house arrest and told Vasudev to deliver the eighth child only.

Narada, the mischievous messenger of the Gods, met Kansa and told him that the concept of eighth is a relative one. If one starts from the last child and counts backwards then the first child will be the eighth. Depending from where the counting starts any child could be the eighth. Kansa then jailed Devaki and Vasudev with the intention of killing all the children. When his father Ugrasen objected Kansa jailed the King as well and usurped the throne.

Kansa killed the first six sons of Devaki as soon as they were born. Then Vishnu set in motion the events preparatory to his birth as Krishna. Yogamaya had a crucial role to play. Yogamaya has been described as the Goddess of Sleep. Because Vasudev was in jail, his other wife, Rohini, was staying in Gokul with Nand, the chief of a cowherd clan. Gokul was just across the River Yamuna from Mathura. After Devaki conceived for the seventh time Yogamaya took the embryo from Devaki’s womb and transferred it to Rohini’s womb. The maids guarding Devaki told Kansa that she had miscarried. In Gokul Rohini gave birth to Balrama.

Then Devaki conceived for the eighth time. Kansa began the count for nine months to get over. At the same time Nand’s wife, Yashoda also conceived. Vishnu had entered Devaki’s womb and Yogamaya entered Yashoda’s womb. Both delivered prematurely after eight months. The newborn Krishna revealed his secret to Vasudev. By Yogamaya’s magic the inhabitants of Mathura, including Kansa’s guards, fell asleep and the prison doors opened. Krishna instructed Vasudev to take him to Nand’s home in Gokul and exchange him with Yashoda’s baby girl. Vasudev forgot everything as soon as he brought the baby girl to the prison. Kansa’s guards woke up and heard the crying of the child and called Kansa.

Kansa was surprised to see a girl as the eighth child. Devaki pleaded with him to spare the girl’s life as the prophecy had specifically mentioned a son. But Kansa did not listen and lifted the girl to smash her on the stone floor. The girl slipped out of Kansa’s hand and flew upwards where she revealed her true form. She informed Kansa that his killer had already been born and was elsewhere and then vanished.

Kansa ordered the killing of all infants that had been born in the last ten days. He sent his Demons everywhere to destroy all new-borns. Meanwhile Krishna grew up as the son of Nand and Yashoda. He killed the Demons sent to destroy him and years later returned to Mathura to kill his maternal uncle Kansa as per the terms of the prophecy.

Optional Exercises

2a. Read the narration about Krishna’s birth from Harivansam from page 206 of Hindu Myths

2b. A more detailed version can be read from ‘Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God’ in Part One, Chapters 1 to 4 beginning on page 7.

2c. Prophecies are a common feature of all mythologies. They demonstrate that men are not the masters of their fate but are controlled by a destiny against which they are helpless. In Hindu mythology we have seen how destiny works silently without the character knowing or realising that he or she is being manipulated by destiny. Sometimes, as in the case of Kansa, destiny appears as a vocal and public prophecy. Greek mythology makes prolific use of prophecies.

A common prophecy is one that warns the character that he is going to die in a particular manner. The character then spends the rest of his life trying to fight the prophecy, only to succumb to it in the end. The story of Kansa exemplifies this from Hindu mythology. In Greek mythology is the tale of Acrisius who was to be killed by the son of his daughter. The tale can be read at the following site. There are comparisons and differences with the tale of Kansa.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/acris...

2d. A tyrant ordering the deaths of all children in order to kill the one he fears is not unique to Hindu mythology. When Herod learnt that the future king of the Jews has been born he embarked on a similar killing spree as the lines from verse 16 Chapter 2 of the book of Mathew indicate.

2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/mat0...

2e. Heroes being raised by foster parents are a common occurrence in mythology. He usually learns of his true parents later when the time has come to accomplish his destined task. In some cases the child is raised by friends or relatives of his parents, like Krishna being raised by Nand and Yashoda. In others the child is raised by his eventual enemy and the realisation of the truth causes considerable inner conflict. The story of Moses exemplifies this. The story of his birth can be read at the following sites.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/exo0...
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/exo0...

Compare and contrast the birth of Karna with that of Moses.

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