DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0125
Vaishnavism. Ten Incarnations. 113
called Rajputana1—had two wives, Rohini and Devakl. The
latter had eight sons, of whom the eighth was Krishna. It
was predicted that one of the eight would kill Kansa, chief
of Mathura (Muttra), and cousin of Devakl. Kansa therefore
imprisoned Vasudeva and his wife, and slew their first six
children. Bala-rama, the seventh, was abstracted from De-
vakl's womb, transferred to that of Rohini, and so saved.
The eighth was Krishna, born with a black skin, and the mark
SrI-vatsa on his breast2. His father Vasudeva escaped
from Mathura with the child, and, favoured by the gods,
found a certain herdsman named Nanda, whose wife had
lately had a child. To his care he consigned the infant
Krishna. Nanda settled first in Gokula or Vraja, and after-
wards in Vrindavana, where Krishna and Bala-rama grew up
together, roaming in the woods, and joining in the sports of
the herdsman's sons and daughters. While still a boy,
Krishna gave proof of his divine origin by working a few
startling miracles. Thus he destroyed the serpent Kaliya
■—regarded as a type of sin and evil—by trampling and
dancing on his head. He lifted up the mountain-range Go-
vardhana on his finger to shelter the herdsmen's wives from
the wrath of Indra. Yet in spite of these and other evidences
of his supramundane nature and powers, Krishna is described
as addicted to very mundane practices. He constantly sported
with the Gopls or wives and daughters of the cowherds, of
whom eight were his favourites, especially Radha. On attain-
ing mature age Krishna migrated to Gujarat, built Dvarika
on the coast of that country, and thither transported the in-
habitants of Mathura after killing Kansa. Krishna is said to
1 The two most powerful lines of Indian princes, those of Oudh and
Rajputana, were careful to trace back their pedigree to superhuman
origins, the former claiming the Sun-god and the latter the Moon-god as
their primeval progenitors.
2 Compare note I, p. 103. The day of his birth is called Janmashtami.
It is kept on the eighth day of the dark half of the month Bhadra in some
places, and of Sravana in others.
I
called Rajputana1—had two wives, Rohini and Devakl. The
latter had eight sons, of whom the eighth was Krishna. It
was predicted that one of the eight would kill Kansa, chief
of Mathura (Muttra), and cousin of Devakl. Kansa therefore
imprisoned Vasudeva and his wife, and slew their first six
children. Bala-rama, the seventh, was abstracted from De-
vakl's womb, transferred to that of Rohini, and so saved.
The eighth was Krishna, born with a black skin, and the mark
SrI-vatsa on his breast2. His father Vasudeva escaped
from Mathura with the child, and, favoured by the gods,
found a certain herdsman named Nanda, whose wife had
lately had a child. To his care he consigned the infant
Krishna. Nanda settled first in Gokula or Vraja, and after-
wards in Vrindavana, where Krishna and Bala-rama grew up
together, roaming in the woods, and joining in the sports of
the herdsman's sons and daughters. While still a boy,
Krishna gave proof of his divine origin by working a few
startling miracles. Thus he destroyed the serpent Kaliya
■—regarded as a type of sin and evil—by trampling and
dancing on his head. He lifted up the mountain-range Go-
vardhana on his finger to shelter the herdsmen's wives from
the wrath of Indra. Yet in spite of these and other evidences
of his supramundane nature and powers, Krishna is described
as addicted to very mundane practices. He constantly sported
with the Gopls or wives and daughters of the cowherds, of
whom eight were his favourites, especially Radha. On attain-
ing mature age Krishna migrated to Gujarat, built Dvarika
on the coast of that country, and thither transported the in-
habitants of Mathura after killing Kansa. Krishna is said to
1 The two most powerful lines of Indian princes, those of Oudh and
Rajputana, were careful to trace back their pedigree to superhuman
origins, the former claiming the Sun-god and the latter the Moon-god as
their primeval progenitors.
2 Compare note I, p. 103. The day of his birth is called Janmashtami.
It is kept on the eighth day of the dark half of the month Bhadra in some
places, and of Sravana in others.
I