Chapter 34: Lord Krishna’s ‘Leelas’ ( Miracle Acts)

The transfer of Lord Krishna from Mathura to Gokula by Vasudeva was a mystery. A heavenly voice was heard that Vasudeva should hurry up to Gokula, that the heavy gates were all opened, the strong force of guards were put to slumber, the River Yamuna which was in spate under a spell of cyclone would give way, he should deposit Devaki’s Krishna on the bed of Yashoda (while  Rohini would have already given birth from Lord Balarama) and pick up the female child back to the prison in Mathura as though nothing happened as Kamsa would visit the prison to throw away the female child of Yashoda to skies which warned that indeed the eighth child of Devaki was safe elsewhere to kill him eventually.

The frightened Kamsa despatched his associates to locate and destroy the child one by one including Putana, Baka, Vatsa, Dhenuka, Pralamba, Sakata, Kesi and so on. It was a sport for Krishna and Balarama to terminate the many Demons thus sent by Kamsa. As time passed, the miracle acts of Lord Krishna included the punishment to the mighty and poisonous serpent Kaliya ; the lifting aloft of the Govardhana Mountain by a little finger; the ‘Vimochana’( Relief) of a curse by Narada to the two sons of Kubera viz. Nalakubara and Manigreeva who converted as tall trees Yamala and Arjuna in the backyard of Nanda as mother Yashoda tied Him to a grinding stone placed in between the trees since he was highly mischievous; and finally the  opening His mouth to Yasoda  as He was eating pebbles and sand and demanding His mouth to be opened wide only to witness the Whole Universe in it.  

As though his final days drew near to his end, Kamsa sent Akrura to Gokula to invite Krishna and Balarama to Mathura. On their entry into the City there was an enthusiastic welcome to the heroes of Gokula by onlookers- men, women and child. They broke the bow ‘Indra Dhanush’ easily, killed Kuvalayapidana the ferocius elephant, put an end to the powerful wrestlers Chanura, Mushtika, Sala and Tosala and finally shattered Kamsa with ease. The parents were released from prison and installed the maternal grand father Ugrasena back to the throne. Thread Ceremony was performed to the two boys who having taken the vow of celibacy moved into the hermitage of Muni Sandipana to learn Vedic knowledge, martial arts, Artha (Finance) and Administrative skills for twelve years, returned to Mathura. Kamsa’s father-in- law Jarasandha tried to kill Krishna and Balarama in seventeen battles and they were able to resist the high and mighty opponent mostly by mental alertness and planning. Jarasandha engaged Kala-Yavana ( the Black Yavana) of Mlechyas of foreign origin whose warriors far outnumbering those of Mathura were ruthless and sinful not used to the Regulations of ‘Dharma Yuddhas’ or Disciplined Battles, terrorising innocent men, women and children alike. Krishna led Kala Yavana into a cave where Sage Muchukunda was in deep slumber for centuries and mistaking him for a false and wily Krishna Himself kicked Muchukunda, who got the boon from Indra that who ever woke him up by force would be burnt off. Thus cleverly getting rid of Kala Yavana, Krishna got rid of the menace of Jarasandha till he was killed in a duel with Bhima of Pandavas as Jarasandha was destined to die in Bhima’s hands. But before Jarasandha’s end, he kept on tormenting Yadavas as Krishna’s killing Kamsa was never forgotten. Thus Krishna and Balarama decided to create another place Dvaraka as a beautiful port City which was constructed afresh by Visvakarma the Divine Architect. Having shifted to Dvaraka from Mathura, Yadavas and allies had a comfortable and peaceful time.Meanwhile, Lord Krishna desired to marry Rukmini and vice versa but her powerful brother Rukmi who hated Krishna since he was in the camp of  the deceased Kamsa, Sisupala and Jarasandha, preferred her marrying Sisupala instead. At the time of her marriage with Sisupala, Krishna eloped with Rukmini defeating the armies of the friends of Rukmi. In course of time, Krishna acquired seven other queens viz. Jambavati and Satyabhama in the context of winning Syamantaka Jewel and the rest of them viz. Kalindi, Mitravinda, Lakshmana, Bhadra and Nagnajiti.