While thus going along the high road, Krishna saw a young girl, who was
crooked, carrying a pot of unguent. Krishna addressed her in sweet words
and said—"For whom are you carrying that unguent? Tell me, lovely
maiden, tell me truly". Being thus addressed by him through affection,
Kubja being attracted by his affection and well disposed towards Hari,
replied to him also mirthfully:—"Do you not know, my lord, that my name
is Tribakra, I am the servant of Kansa and appointed to prepare his
perfumes. Kansa does not like perfumes prepared by any other female and
for this he loves me greatly and shows me favour". Krishna said:—"O thou
having a lovely countenance, give us sufficient unguent used by the
king, to rub upon our bodies". "Take it," Kubja said and she gave them
as much of the unguent as was required for their persons and they rubbed
it on various parts of their bodies and faces, till they looked like two
clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow of
Indra. Then Krishna skilled in the curative art, took hold of her under
the chin, with the thumb and two fingers and lifted up her head, whilst
with his feet he pressed down her feet and in this way he made her
straight. Being thus rendered straight, she became the most beautiful of
damsels. Then filled with affection, she took Govinda by the garment and
said "Come to my house". Hari, smiling, replied—"I shall come to your
house sometime after". Having thus dismissed her and cast his looks
towards Rāma, he laughed aloud.
Dressed then in blue and yellow raiment and annointed with fragrant
unguents and adorned with beautiful garlands, Kesava and Rāma went to
the hall of arms. They then inquired of the warder which excellent bow
they would take. Being informed, Krishna at once took up a bow and bent
it; then drawing it with violence he snapped it in two and all Mathura
resounded with the noise made by its fracture. Abused by the guards for
breaking the bow, Krishna and Rāma retorted and defied them and left the
hall.
When Kansa came to know that Akrura had returned and Krishna had snapped
the bow, he then said to Chānura and Mushtika:—"Two cow-herd boys have
arrived—You must kill them both before me in a trial of strength, for
they always try to kill me. When you two, gifted with great strength,
shall destroy these two cow-herd boys—I shall give you whatever you will
desire. These two boys are my enemies; by means, whether foul or fair,
you must kill them both. They killed, the kingdom shall be ours in
common". Having thus commanded the two wrestlers, he sent for his
elephant-driver and said to him loudly:—"You must place my great
elephant Kuvalayāpida who is as huge as a cloud charged with rain, near
the gate of the arena and drive him upon the two boys when they shall
attempt to enter". Having given these orders, he ascertained that the
platforms were all ready and waited for the rising sun, not conscious of
his impending death.
In the morning the citizens assembled on the platforms set apart for
them, and the princes with the ministers and courtiers occupied the
royal seats. Kansa made all those sit in front who were judges of the
games whilst he himself sat apart, close by, upon a lofty throne.
Separate platforms were also set up for the ladies of the palace and
they sat there. Nanda and cow-herds had places set apart for them at the
end of which sat Akrura and Vasudeva. Amongst the wives of the citizens
was Devaki, mourning for her son, whose lovely countenance she desired
to see even in the hour of destruction. Thereafter the bugles were
sounded and Chānura sprang forth and Mushtika clapped his arms defiantly
and people cried aloud "Alas". Covered with the temporal juice and blood
of the elephant, whom they had killed when driven against them by the
driver, Balabhadra and Janarddana confidently entered the arena, like
two lions amidst a herd of deer, with proud looks towards all. There
arose exclamations of pity and expressions of surprise from all the
arena and people said "This is Krishna! This is Balabhadra!! This is
that Krishna by whom the she-demon Putanā was killed. This is that
Krishna by whom the wagon was upset. This is that Krishna who uprooted
the two trees. This is that Krishna—the boy who danced upon the hooded
fangs of the serpent Kāliya and who for seven days upheld the mountain
Govardhana. Behold, this is that Krishna, who easily destroyed the
demons Aristha, Dhenuka and Kesin. This is that Achyuta. There is his
elder brother Balabhadra, before him, having long arms. He is young,
sportively affording delight to the minds and eyes of the damsels. It
has been foretold by the wise, skilled in the sense of Purānas that he
shall, as a cow-herd, exalt the depressed Yadu race. This is a portion
of the all-existing, all-generating Vishnu descended upon earth, who
will assuredly lighten her load". The citizens having thus described
Rāma and Krishna, Devaki's heart was filled with compassion and milk
oozed out of her breast out of affection. And on beholding the faces of
his son, Vasudeva forgot his infirmities and felt himself young again.
The women of the palace, and the females of the city beheld Krishna with
eyes wide open. "Look friends" said they to their companions "Look at
the face of Krishna; his eyes are reddened by his conflict with the
elephant and the drops of perspiration stand upon his cheek outweighing
a full-blown lotus in autumn studded with glittering dew. Make your
birth blessed and the faculty of vision fruitful, by beholding the
breast of the boy, the seat of splendour and marked with the mystic sign
Sribatsa; and see his arms menacing destruction to the enemies. Do you
not see Balabhadra coming with him, clad in a blue raiment, having his
countenance fair as the jasmine, as the moon and as the fibres of the
lotus stem? See, how he gently smiles at the gestures of Mushtika and
Chānura as they spring up. And see Hari is advancing to meet Chānura. Is
there no elder present here who will judge rightly? How can the delicate
form of Hari, just in his youth, match the huge and adamantine form of
the great demon Chānura? Two youths of delicate and beautiful forms are
on the one side and the athletic fiends headed by Chānura on the other.
Is this fair? This is a great sin in the umpires to allow a contest
between boys and strong men".
Parāçara said:—The women of the city having thus conversed with one
another, Hari tightened his girdle and danced in the ring shaking the
ground on which he trod. Balabhadra too, slapping his arms defiantly,
danced—and wonder it is that the earth was not riven asunder by his
trodding. The highly powerful Krishna engaged with Chānura and the demon
Mushtika, well-versed in wrestling, began to fight with Balabhadra.
Mutually entwining and pushing and pulling and beating each other with
fists, arms and elbows and pressing each other with their knees,
interlacing their arms, kicking with their feet, pressing with their
whole weight upon another, fought Hari and Chānura. And at the time of
this national festival, dreadful was the encounter, though without
weapons, displaying strength and heroism. And as long as the contest
continued, Chānura was gradually losing something of his original vigour
and the wreath upon his head trembled from his fury and distress, whilst
the world-comprehending Krishna wrestled with him but sportively. Seeing
Chānura losing and Krishna gaining strength—Kansa, worked up with ire,
ordered the music to cease. And as soon as music was stopped by Kansa
countless celestial bugles were sounded in the welkin. And the
celestials, greatly delighted and invisible, said "Krishna be thou
crowned with success; Kesava, do thou slay that demon Chānura".
Thereupon sporting for a long time with Chānura, Krishna, the slayer of
Madhu, at last lifted him up and whirled him with the intention of
slaying him. Having whirled Chānura round a hundred times until his
breath was expended in the sky, he dashed his body on the ground. As
soon as it fell it was sundered into a hundred pieces and the earth was
strewn with a hundred pools of gory mire. Whilst this happened, the
powerful Baladeva was engaged likewise with the demon bruiser Mushtika.
Striking him on the head with his fists and on the breast with his
knees, he stretched him on the ground, and pummelled him there till he
was dead. Again, Krishna encountered the royal bruiser Tomalaka, and
felled him to the earth with a blow of his left hand. When the other
athletes saw Chānura, Mushtika, and Tomalaka killed, they fled from the
field; and Krishna and Sankarshana danced victorious on the arena,
dragging along with them by force the cowherds of their own age. Kansa,
his eyes reddening with wrath, called aloud to the surrounding people,
"Drive those two cow-boys out of the assembly; seize the villain Nanda,
and secure him with chains of iron; put Vasudeva to death with tortures
intolerable to his years; and lay hands upon the cattle, and whatever
else belongs to those cowherds who are the associates of Krishna".
Upon hearing these orders, the destroyer of Madhu laughed at Kansa, and
springing up to the place where he was seated, laid hold of him by the
hair of his head, and struck his tiara to the ground: then casting him
down upon the earth, Govinda threw himself upon him. Crushed by the
weight of the upholder of the universe, the son of Ugrasena, Kansa the
king, gave up the ghost. Krishna then dragged the dead body, by the hair
of the head, into the centre of the arena, and a deep furrow was made by
the vast and heavy carcass of Kansa, when it was dragged along the
ground by Krishna, as if a torrent of water had run through it. Seeing
Kansa thus treated, his brother Sumālin came to his succour; but he was
encountered, and easily killed, by Balabhadra. Then arose a general cry
of grief from the surrounding circle, as they beheld the king of Mathura
thus slain, and treated with such contumely, by Krishna. Krishna,
accompanied by Balabhadra, embraced the feet of Vasudeva and of Devaki;
but Vasudeva raised him up; and he and Devaki recalling to recollection
what he had said to them at his birth, they bowed to Janārddana, and the
former thus addressed him: "Have compassion upon mortals, O god,
benefactor and lord of deities: it is by thy favour to us two, that thou
hast become the (present) upholder of the world. That for the punishment
of the rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having
been propitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart
of all creatures; thou abidest in all creatures, and all that has been,
or will be, proceeds from thee, O universal spirit! Thou, Achyuta, who
comprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices:
thou art sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection
that inspires my heart and the heart of Devaki towards thee as if thou
wast our child, is indeed but error, and a great delusion. How shall the
tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all things who is
without beginning or end, son? It is reasonable, that the lord of the
world from whom the world proceeds should be born of me, except through
illusion? How should he, in whom all mobile and immobile beings exist,
be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being? Have pity on me,
therefore, O Supreme lord, and being incarnate do thou protect the
universe. O god, thou art not my son: thou comprisest the whole universe
from Brahmā to a tree. Therefore, O great soul, why dost thou beguile
me? Blinded by illusion I considered thee, as my son and hence I was
afraid of Kansa. And therefore I did carry thee to Gokula where thou
hast grown up; but I no longer consider thee as mine own son. Thou
Vishnu the supreme lord of all, whose actions Rudra, the Maruts, the
Aswins, Indra and the celestials cannot equal although they behold them;
thou, who hast descended amongst us for the behoof of the universe, art
recognized, and delusion is no more".