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Week 10 Reading Notes: Sister Nivedita's Krishna, Part B "The Return to Mathura"



Image result for krishna fighting wrestlers
(Krishna Fights the Wrestler from krishnastore.com)
  • "The Return to Mathura"
    • tells the story of Krishna returing to Mathura at the age of 12
    • it was foretold that Krishna would slay the evil King Kansa around this age so Kansa did everything he could think of to stop Krishna
    • Kansa decides to throw a great feast with games (akin to gladiator games in Rome it seems)
    • Kansa sends a messenger to the cowherds with an invitation for Krishna and his brother Bolarama to wrestle in these games
    • the cowherds and their chieftan, Nanda, accept the invitation and prepare to journey to Mathura
    • when they arrive in Mathura Bolarama and Krishna convince their guide to allow them to explore the city
      • they find the place that is being prepared for the games and where Kansa has a sacred bow on display
      • if anyone can break or bend this bow (a weapon of the gods) they may be able to challenge Kansa's reign
      • Krishna snaps the bow in half without effort
      • Kansa, even though he is not present, hears the bow snap in his private chambers and knows what it was
      • Kansa is tormented with dreams of his downfall that night
    • the next day is the start of the tournament
    • Kansa had ordered a great elephant and his handler stationed at the entrance of the games
      • the handler was to goad the animal into a rage so that it would rampage and keep the boys from entering the arena
      • Kansa hoped the animal would kill the boys
      • Krishna defeats both the elephant and its handler and strolls into the arena with the elephants blood on his arms and his tusks in his hands
    • after the brothers enter the arena one of Kansa's champion wrestlers calls the boys to fight and show off the signiture fighting style of the cowherders from which they come
      • Krishna recognizes this as a trap and tells the wrestler if he truly wants to see their style of fighting that they should be matched with opponents their own age 
      • this angers the wrestler and he shouts that Krishna just wandered into the arena after defeating an elephant with the strength of 1000 men and that he and Bolarama are 2 of the strongest beings in the world - which everyone understood to be a call to mortal combat and a feeling of terror for the boys swept through the arena
        • especially amongst their long lost parents Devaki and Vasudeva who were seated as royal guests (although still fettered in chains)
      • the wrestlers and the boys fight - Krishna and Bolarama each defeat their foe with ease, thought the wrestlers put up a good fight
      • 2 more gladiators and then a 3rd attempt to defeat the boys and are struck down
      • the cowherders rush into the arena and begin to dance one of the forest dances out of joy because Krishna and Bolarama were not killed
      • Kansa is infuriated and calls for his guards to murder Nanda of the cowherders, Devaki, and Vasudeva
        • before the guards can carry out these orders Krishna leaps up to the royal seats and grabs Kansa by his hair, knocking his crown to the floor
        • Krishna will not let him attack those he holds dear
        • he leaps back to the arena floor dragging Kansa by the hair behind him all around the arena
        • some onlookers are upset at Kansa's treastment even though they hated him
        • Kansa's 8 brothers try to avenger him nut are struck down one by one by Bolarama and his club
        • all the royal women came to weep by the side of their slain husband 
    • Krishna and Bolarama quietly leave the scene to find Devaki and Vasudeva, their long lost parents
      • they bow and touch their heads to their parents feet like dutiful children but the parents are blinded by the divinity in front of them but eventually the veil of Maya is drawn once more over their minds so that they could forget the greatness of the brothers and give them the love of long lost parents
  • Storytelling notes: I chose this story from part B of the reading because I like the gladiator games aspect. I'm a sucker for a good fight scene and I was thinking of either modernizing the story somehow but keeping the fighting in an arena thing the same (think Thor: Ragnarok or Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). Or keeping the time period the same and just putting my narrative spin on the story. I think I could make the fight scenes a lot more theatrical then they are in this version. 
  • Bibiliography: Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907). 
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