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| KRISHNA - THE COWHERD
WARRIOR |
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| KRISHNA - THE COWHERD
WARRIOR |
Krishna, the god who delivered the message of Gita to Arjuna, is worshipped in
thousands of temples throughout India. As a lovable child, as a shrewd diplomat,
as a great sage and even as a fearless man of action, Krishna's personality has
fascinated for ages not only Indians but also thinkers of other lands.
Krishna's picture is depicted in so many styles; in fact Lord Krishna has probably
been the subject of the most numerous masterpieces of art. Sometimes he is shown
as a child eating butter-cake, at others he is seen dancing with maidens or playing
on flute or advising Arjuna in the battlefield of KURUKSHETRA, so on and so forth.
Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and he descended to the earth in
the third stage of Brahma's KALPA the DWAPARA YUGA.
The story of Krishna should start with the marriage of his
parents. Krishna was born in the Yadava clan, a brave and virile people. There
was a branch of this clan called Shoora and Vasudeva; Krishna's father was their
chief. At the same
time there was another tribe living adjacently and their
chief was King Ugrasena. The first-born son of this King was Kansa, a villainous character. Elders
of the two tribes were anxious to forge an alliance. King Ugrasena' s brother
named Devak had a beautiful daughter named Devaki, who was married with Vasudeva
to ensure peace between the two tribes.
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| DEVAKI AND VASUDEVA IN
PRISON |
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| KANSA KILLING THE NEW BORNS OF DEVAKI AND VASUDEVA |
Kansa was cruel, haughty and wicked. Narada, a sage, predicted
that the eighth child of Devaki would slay Kansa. Hearing this Kansa decided that not only the
eighth child but also all the children of Devaki should be killed immediately
after birth. To implement his diabolical plan, Kansa held both Vasudeva and Devaki
as prisoners in the palace.
This way six of Devaki's sons were killed one by one by
Kansa. Her husband's
kinsmen, who took away the child immediately on birth in a nearby town named
Gokul at the house of his friend, Nanda, where Vasudeva's elder wife, Rohini,
was living, saved the seventh son of Devaki.
As the fateful day of the birth of the eighth child drew near, Devaki was full
of anxiety. A great sage had told her that Lord Vishnu himself was going to appear
in this world through her womb. On the other side Kansa had also taken extra
precautions against the birth of the eighth child. The guards were heavily armed
and many more men were deployed.
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