Part 4: Early life of Kaṃsa

He then became (an embryo) in the womb of Ugrasena’s wife, Dhāriṇī, and she had a pregnancy-whim^[1] to eat her husband’s flesh. Day by day Dhāriṇī grew thinner, ashamed. Finally she told her husband her base pregnancy-whim. His ministers put hare’s flesh on the stomach of the king, who remained in the dark, and cut it off again and again and gave it to the queen who looked on. When her pregnancy-whim was gratified and she returned to her original nature, she said, “What is the use of life, what is the use of the embryo without a husband?” The ministers said to her wishing to die, “In a week we will show you the master restored to life.” When she had been cured in this way, on the seventh day they showed her Ugrasena; and she held a great festival.

On the auspicious fourteenth^[2] day of the dark half of Pauṣa, the moon being in Mūla, during the night Ugrasena’s chief-queen bore a son. Afraid of the embryo because of the pregnancy-whim, as soon as he was born she cast him into a brass chest she had had made in advance. She had a slave-girl throw the chest, which was full of jewels together with a letter fastened to two rings marked with her own and the king’s names, into the Yamunā. The queen told the king, “A son was born and is dead.”

The chest was carried by the river to the gate of Śauryapura. At dawn Subhadra, a rasa-dealer,^[3] went there to bathe, saw the brass chest, and pulled it from the water. With astonishment he saw in it the boy, like a new moon, together with the letter, the jewels, and the rings. The merchant took the boy with the chest, et cetera home and, delighted, handed him over to his wife, Indu, as a son. The husband and wife gave him the name Kaṃsa and made him grow with honey, milk, ghī, et cetera. As he grew up, he was quarrelsome and abused the boys. Daily complaints came to the merchant and his wife from the people.

When he was ten years old, he was sent by them to attend Prince Vasudeva and he became very dear to him. He studied all the arts with Vasudeva and played with him and reached manhood with him. Prince Vasudeva and Kaṃsa, being together, looked like Mercury and Mars in one sign of the zodiac.

Now in the city Śuktimatī the ninth son of Vasu escaped and went to Nāgapura.^[4] His son was Bṛhadratha. He went to Rājagṛha and among his descendants was a king, named Jayadratha, and his son was Jarāsandha. He, the Prativiṣṇu, having cruel commands, was lord of three parts of Bharata; and thus commanded King Samudravijaya through a messenger: “Capture and bring King Siṃharatha, who lives in Siṃhapura, a city near Mt. Vaitāḍhya, who is irresistible like a lion. To the one bringing him, I will give my own daughter, Jīvayaśas, and any one city of first rank in wealth which he desires.”

Vasudeva bowed to Samudravijaya and asked permission to execute Jārasandha’s order, though difficult. Samudravijaya said, “Fighting is not appropriate for you, a delicate boy, prince. No more of that request.” Vasudeva persevered in asking the king again and finally he sent him forth with many soldiers.

Vasudeva went rapidly and King Siṃharatha went to meet him and a great battle between the two took place. Siṃharatha put to flight Vasudeva’s army; and Vasudeva himself with Kaṃsa as a charioteer advanced to fight. Then the two fought for a long time with various weapons, like a god and demon, longing for victory over each other from anger.

Then Kaṃsa ceased being a charioteer and, powerful, soon broke Siṃharatha’s strong chariot with a very large club. Blazing with anger, Siṃharatha drew his sword to kill Kaṃsa and Vasudeva cut it at the hilt with a sharp-edged arrow. Kaṃsa, arrogant from tricks and strength, tossed up Siṃharatha, like a wolf tossing a goat, bound him, and threw him in Vasudeva’s chariot. Siṃharatha’s army having been broken, then Vārṣṇeya, victorious, took Siṃharatha along and gradually returned to his own city.

King Samudravijaya said to Vasudeva secretly: “What the astrologer Kroṣṭuki told me is certainly useful. ‘This daughter of Jarāsandha, Jīvayaśas by name, inauspicious, will certainly cause the destruction of her husband’s and father’s family.^[5] Jarāsandha will give her to you as a reward for bringing Siṃharatha. Some means must be devised for not accepting her.”

Vasudeva replied; “Kaṃsa captured Siṃharatha in battle and brought him. So Jīvayaśas must be given to him.” The king said; “He will not want to take her, because he is a merchant’s son, but he appears to be of the warrior caste from his strength.” The rasa-merchant, questioned by the king after he had administered an oath (of secrecy), told the story about Kaṃsa from the beginning, Kaṃsa listening. Subhadra delivered the rings of Ugrasena and Dhāriṇī and also the letter to the king, who had the letter reati. “The son, dearer than life, is abandoned by Dhāriṇī, wife of Ugrasena, terrified because of a pregnancy-whim, to protect her husband. After putting him together with the name-rings, adorned with all the ornaments, into a brass chest, she had him carried away by the Yamunā.”

After hearing this read, the king said: “He is a powerful Yādava, son of Ugrasena. Otherwise, how could such heroism be?”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For dohada, a pregnancy-whim, see Pārśva., p. 204.

[2]:

For the fourteenth, see 1, n. 301.

[3]:

Rasavāṇija. Rasa seems to include a wide range, such as honey, milk, ghī, sugar-cane juice, wine. I can think of no English term to include them all.

[4]:

For this incident, see IV, p. 147.

[5]:

When this prediction was made is not told in our account.