Nilanjana recounts the tale of Keshi and Krishna, from Srimad Bhagavatam, in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.

Sukha went to the next story, “Kamsa worked out a plan in his head. Now that he was sure about Devaki and Vasudev’s eight-born-son, he had to arrange everything so that the child never comes in his way. Without wasting time, he called out for one of his loyalists.”

Parikshit asked, “Another loyalist?”

Sukha said, “Oh yes, kings do have many loyalists, don’t they?

So this time he called Keshi. He informed Keshi that he was now convinced that Yashoda and Nanda’s son is Devaki’s eighth-born. Not only that, Balarama was the seventh son who had disappeared from Devaki’s womb. Both Devaki and Vasudeva had betrayed the king by keeping him in the dark. Hence instead of wasting time, they should immediately proceed to kill these two boys. Keshi could not agree more. He was himself very upset with the untimely death of many of his friends – Putana, Dhenuka, Aristha, and others. All of them were just doing their duty and they got killed. His sorrow turned into anger the moment he thought of the one who had killed his friends. He wanted to avenge their brutal deaths.

Keshi did not waste too much time but headed straight to Vrindavan. There he took the form of a huge wild horse and dashed towards Krishna menacingly. Devaki’s eighth-born was equally alert. He knew what was coming his way. The huge horse galloped towards Krishna speedily and tried to kick him with his strong hind legs. Krishna managed to escape and catch hold of the horse’s hind legs. He then lifted up the huge horse and tossed it around like a discus. After that, he threw the horse away. Not the one to give up so easily, Keshi in the form of a horse, stood up again. Though his mouth was bleeding, he dashed towards Krishna furiously. Krishna put his hand inside the mouth of the horse. His hands began to expand. The horse could not hold it for long and eventually gave up the fight when death conquered him.

 With Keshi, one of the last loyalists of Kamsa was again dead.

 Kamsa was very nervous but would he give up so easily? After all, he was the king! In his mind, he began to make backup plans. He called for all his cronies and decided that he would take a final try of sending Vyoma to kill Krishna. If Vyoma also met the same fate as the rest of Kamsa’s loyalists, then Krishna had to be brought to Mathura. There the stage needed to be set to kill this boy who has created so much nuisance and given Kamsa sleepless nights. He definitely had to be put in place…”

[To be continued]

Footnote: Srimad Bhagavatam is often called the Bhagavad Purana. Authored by Ved Vyasa, the stories are about the various avatars(incarnations) of Lord Vishnu, also known as Narayana. These stories are narrated by Ved Vyasa’s son Sukhadeva to King Parikshit.

©Nilanjana Dey

Photos from the Internet

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Nilanjana Dey

A story-teller at heart, Nilanjana Dey is on a journey to experiment with fiction and poetry. Her first novel, largely aimed towards children, is titled ‘The Adventures of Puti – The Cheese Trail’. Her poems have been published at various prestigious portals. An alumni of English Literature from Jadavpur University (Kolkata), she is a marketing and communication professional based in Mumbai. She volunteers with a Mumbai based NGO working with the marginalised sections of the society.

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