The Story of Krishna’s Childhood
In Treta Yuga, the demon-like king Kamsa ruled the kingdom of Mathura (that belonged to the Yadava clan) by overthrowing his father and the king Ugrasena. He became too powerful and people on earth as well as Devas (the celestial beings) suffered immeasurably under his tyrannical rule. Moved by the earnest prayers of the sufferers, Lord Vishnu decided to take birth in human form and annihilate the evil forces headed by Kamsa. The King Kamsa was forewarned by his astrologers that his death would be caused by the eighth son who would be born to his cousin Devaki. To prevent such a happening, Kamsa arrested Devaki and her husband Vasudeva and incarcerated them in his prison. As and when a child was born to the couple, he would go to the jail and kill the child then and there. When the eighth child was born, it was Lord Krishna. By a dramatic divine play, at the midnight when the birth took place, the child was miraculously and secretively transported to Gokula (a community of cow herds belonging to Yadava clan at the banks of river Yamuna) to become the foster son of mother Yasoda and King Nanda.
(Baby Krishna being taken in the middle of the night)
A female child born to them (Maya) at the same time was transported back to the prisons. All these took place without the knowledge of Devaki and Yasoda and it was Vasudev who did the exchange at the behest When Kamsa came to know of the birth of the eighth child, he came to the prison as usual and as he lifted the child to kill it, it got freed and flew away laughing aloud that the king was cheated squarely and the child meant to kill him was alive elsewhere. Kamsa was shell shocked.
(The Goddes Maya Warns the Evil King of His Doom)
The baby Lord Krishna grew up joyfully in the company of cow herds at Gokula. He was dark skinned and was the most beautiful and charming boy of the community. Whoever came across him fell in instant love with him. He was full of childhood pranks. He loved to steal butter and eat it in the company of fellow cow herd boys. He became the prince charming for all the young girls and women folk (Gopis) of the community.
(watch from minute 9 on)
In the meanwhile, Kamsa sent several powerful demons in varying disguises to search for, seek, locate and kill the boy-who-escaped from the prison. Little Krishna encountered all of them and killed them all as a matter of child play.
Krishna Fights the Demons Sent After Him:
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(Krishna the Warrior) |
When Krishna became a matured boy, it was time for him to go to Mathura and take the bull by its horns to face his uncle Kamsa and destroy him for all his vengeful deeds. Krishna overcame several obstacles at Mathura and finally killed his uncle in a ferocious combat. This can be seen in the following excerpt from the 44th chapter of the tenth canto of the Bhagavata Puranna:
(Watch from minute 6 on)
