Week 9 Reading Diary A: Krishna by Nivedita

Kansa was the king of Mathura. He had a sister named Devaki and a best friend named Vasudeva. He played matchmaker and brought them together in a marriage. Then a voice from heaven told Kansa that the couple's 8th child will kill Kansa. So Kansa threw the couple in a prison and killed each baby when their were born. The 7th child, Bolarama, was hid secretly so that he wouldn't die. The 8th child was born with shining 4 arms that held symbols (battle-trumpet, discus, mace, and lotus) that represented the god Vishnu. The extra arms disappeared, and it was clear that the baby was a reincarnation of Vishnu sent to destroy King Kansa. In order to protect the new born Krishna, they sent the baby to be raised by foster parents Nanda and Yasoda in another city. In exchange, Nanda gave the couple a baby girl. Kansa knew that the prophecy said that a boy would be the death of him. Realizing that he was tricked, Kansa killed the baby girl and sent out his army to kill every newborn child in his kingdom.

Back in the other city, baby Krishna killed Putana, a demoness, by sucking the life out of her during breast-feeding. He also destroyed the tornado demon Trinavarta. When Krishna grew to be 8 years old, he was reunited with his brother Bolarama to be a cow herder near the forests.

One day in the forest, Krishna battles a hundred-headed serpent of Lake Kaliya, but to Krishna, it was just a game he was playing with a serpent. As the serpent snapped at Krishna and had the intention to kill him, Krishna felt like he was in no real danger. Unlike Krishna, his friends died by the snakes poison. It's okay though because when Krishna cried, his tears brought them back to life. In the end, Krishna defeated the snake.

Another day, Krishna told the village it'd be cool to offer praise to the mountain and the cows that protected them and given them food. The god Indra was jealous that the village wasn't offering their sacrifices and praise to him! So Indra made it rain for days. In order to protect his people, Krishna ordered everyone to pack their belongings and their cows (can't forget the cows) and to come under the mountain for protection of the rain. Krishna lifted the mountain with a single finger for shelter for his people. He kept holding the mountain high up in the sky until Indra exhausted his powers to make it rain.

Young Krishna battling the serpent. Source.