Krishnavatara I: The Magic Flute Read online

  BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY

  KRISHNAVATARA

  VOLUME 1

  THE MAGIC FLUTE

  By

  K.M.MUNSHI

  2018

  BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN

  Kulapati K.M.Munshi Marg

  Mumbai – 400007

  All Rights Reserved

  © Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

  Kulapati K.M. Munshi Marg

  Mumbai 400007

  First Print Edition: 1962

  Second Print Edition: 1967

  Third Print Edition: 1972

  Fourth Print Edition: 1978

  Fifth Print Edition: 1983

  Sixth Print Edition: 1988

  Seventh Print Edition: 1990

  Eighth Print Edition: 2002

  Ninth Print Edition: 2004

  Tenth Print Edition: 2009

  Eleventh Print Edition: 2012

  Twelfth Print Edition: 2017

  Thirteenth Print Edition: 2018

  First e-edition: 2020

  KULAPATI’S PREFACE

  The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan—that Institute of Indian Culture in Mumbai—needed a Book University, a series of books which, if read, would serve the purpose of providing higher education. Particular emphasis, however, was to be put on such literature as revealed the deeper impulsions of India. As a first step, it was decided to bring out in English 100 books, 50 of which were to be taken in hand, almost at once.

  It is our intention to publish the books we select, not only in English but also in the following Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

  This scheme, involving the publication of 900 volumes, requires ample funds and an all-India organisation. The Bhavan is exerting its utmost to supply them.

  The objectives for which the Bhavan stands are the reintegration of Indian culture in the light of modern knowledge and to suit our present-day needs and the resuscitation of its fundamental values in their pristine vigour.

  Let me make our goal more explicit:

  We seek the dignity of man, which necessarily implies the creation of social conditions which would allow him freedom to evolve along the lines of his own temperament and capacities; we seek the harmony of individual efforts and social relations, not in any makeshift way, but within the frame-work of the Moral Order; we seek the creative art of life, by the alchemy of which human limitations are progressively transmuted, so that man may become the instrument of God, and is able to see Him in all and all in Him.

  The world, we feel, is too much with us. Nothing would uplift or inspire us so much as the beauty and aspiration which such books can teach.

  In this series, therefore, the literature of India, ancient and modern, will be published in a form easily accessible to all. Books in other literatures of the world, if they illustrate the principles we stand for, will also be included.

  This common pool of literature, it is hoped, will enable the reader, eastern or western, to understand and appreciate currents of world thought, as also the movements of the mind in India, which, though they flow through different linguistic channels, have a common urge and aspiration.

  Fittingly, the Book University’s first venture is the Mahabharata, summarised by one of the greatest living Indians, C. Rajagopalachari; the second work is on a section of it, the Gita by H.V.Divatia, an eminent jurist and student of philosophy. Centuries ago, it was proclaimed of the Mahabharata: “What is not in it, is nowhere.” After twenty-five centuries, we can use the same words about it. He who knows it not, knows not the heights and depths of the soul; he misses the trials and tragedy and the beauty and grandeur of life.

  The Mahabharata is not a mere epic: it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems that is hard to rival: but, above all, it has for its core the Gita, which is, as the world is beginning to find out, the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas in which the climax is reached in the wondrous Apocalypse in the Eleventh Canto.

  Through such books alone the harmonies underlying true culture, I am convinced, will one day reconcile the disorders of modern life.

  I thank all those who have helped to make this new branch of the Bhavan’s activity successful.

  New Delhi

  1, Queen Victoria Road,

  October 3, 1951

  INTRODUCTION

  Who has not heard of Sri Krishna who delivered the message of the Bhagavad Gita and whom the Bhagavat calls ‘God Himself’?

  From the earliest days that my memories can go back to, Sri Krishna has been, in a sense, dominating my imagination. In my childhood, I heard his adventures with breathless amazement. Since then I have read of him, sung of him, admired him, worshipped him in a hundred temples and every year on his birthday at home. And day after day, for years and years, his message has been the strength of my life.

  Unfortunately, his fascinating personality, which could be glimpsed in what may be called the original Mahabharata, has been overlaid with legends, myths, miracles and adorations for about three thousand years.

  Wise and valorous, he was, loving and loved, far-seeing and yet living for the moment, gifted with sage-like detachment and yet intensely human; the diplomat, the sage and the man of action with a personality as luminous as that of a divinity.

  The urge, therefore, came upon me, time and again, to embark upon a reconstruction of his life and adventures by weaving a romance around him.

  It was an impossible venture, but like hundreds of authors in all parts of India for centuries, I could not help offering him whatever little of imagination and creative power I possessed, feeble though they were.

  I have called the whole work Krishnavatara, The Descent of the Lord. This, the First Part, which ends with the death of Kamsa, has been named “The Magic Flute”, for it deals with his boyhood associated with the flute, which hypnotized men, animals and birds alike, sung with such loving tenderness by innumerable poets.

  I have named the Second Part, which ends with Rukmini Haran, The Wrath of an Emperor, as the central theme is the successful defiance by Sri Krishna of Jarasandha, the Emperor of Magadha. The Third Part is entitled The Five Brothers and ends with Draupadi’s Swayamvara. The Fourth Part is entitled The Book of Bhima and the Fifth Part is entitled The Book of Satyabhaama. The Sixth Part, which is now being serially published in the Bhavan’s Journal, is entitled The Book of Vyaasa, the Master.

  I hope to carry forward the series till the episode when, on the battle-field of Kurukshetra, Krishna reveals himself as the Eternal Guardian of the Cosmic Law-Saashvata Dharma Gopta—to Arjuna, if it is His will that I should do so.

  I have followed the technique since 1922 to reconstruct the episodes connected with Chyavana and Sukanya in Purandara Parajaya (a play), Agastya and Lopamudra, Vasishta and Vishwamitra, Parashurama and Sahasrarjuna in Vishvaratha (a romance), Deve Didheli (a play), Vishwamitra Rishi (a play), Lomaharshini (a romance) and Bhagavan Parashurama (a romance), and now Sri Krishna and the heroes and heroines of Mahabharata in these volumes of Krishnavatara.

  Time and again, I have made it clear that none of these works is an English rendering of any old Purana.

  In reconstructing Sri Krishna’s life and adventures, I had, like many of my predecessors, to reconstruct the episodes inherited from the past, so as to bring out his character, attitude and outlook with the personality-sustained technique of modern romance. I had also had to give flesh and blood to various obscure characters referred to in the Mahabharata.

  In the course of this adventure, I h
ad often to depart from the legend and myth, for such reconstruction by a modern author must necessarily involve the exercise of whatever little imagination he has. I trust He will forgive me for the liberty I am taking, but must write of Him as I see Him in my imagination.

  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,

  Chowpatty Road, Bombay-7

  August 15, 1967.

  CONTENTS

  KULAPATI’S PREFACE

  INTRODUCTION

  CONTENTS

  INVOCATION

  PROLOGUE

  1. THE MARRIAGE OF VASUDEVA AND DEVAKI

  2. KAMSA’S WRATH

  3. KAMSA MAKES A PLAN

  4. AKRURA, THE SAINTLY

  5. KAMSA’S PREDICAMENT

  6. THE PROPHECY OF VEDA VYASA

  7. THE TIME DRAWS NEAR IN HASTINAPURA

  8. NANDA VISITS MATHURA

  9. BALARAMA IS BORN

  10. THE EIGHTH CHILD

  11. KAMSA’S STRATEGY

  12. AND HE WAS NAMED KRISHNA

  13. PUTANA MASI GOES TO GOKUL

  14. TRINAVRIT

  15. KRISHNA'S MUSINGS

  16. HOW WOMEN FEEL ABOUT CLOTHES!

  17. THE MIRACLE OF THE TWIN TREES

  18. VASUDEVA AND DEVAKI RETURN TO MATHURA

  19. RADHA

  20. AS THE YEARS PASSED

  21. A MAD ADVENTURE

  22. KALIYA OF THE POISONOUS POOL

  23. THE BETROTHAL OF RADHA

  24. AIYYAN RETURNS FROM THE WARS

  25. THE LIFTING OF GOVARDHAN

  26. THE DYING MINISTER

  27. KAMSA’S SUMMONS

  28. SUMMONED TO MATHURA

  29. THE GODDESS OF JOY AND BEAUTY

  30. KRISHNA LEAVES FOR MATHURA

  31. ANDHAKA’S WARNING

  32. TRIVAKRA, THE THRICE CROOKED

  33. THE SACRED BOW

  34. MASTER OF THE ELEPHANTS

  35. KUVALAYAPIDA: THE ANGRY ELEPHANT

  36. CHANUR, THE CHAMPION

  37. THE PROPHECY COMES TRUE

  NOTES

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  INVOCATION

  I salute Thee, O Vyasa,

  With Thy all-embracing intellect and wide-eyed vision,

  lighted the torch of knowledge,

  Fed by Thy immortal epic, the Mahabharata.

  I salute Thee, O Krishna, Thou that blessest all,

  Thou that givest to those that come to Thee

  All that they want.

  Thou art the giver of all gifts.

  Thou art the chastiser of the wicked.

  Thou art the source of all knowledge.

  Thou art the One who gave us the life-giving Gita.

  I salute Thee, Thou God among gods,

  Thou, the son of Vasudeva,

  The destroyer of Kamsa and Chanur-

  Thou, the eternal joy of Devaki,

  Thou, O Krishna, art the world’s supreme Teacher.

  I salute Thee, Madhava,

  Thou alone makest the mute eloquent and the cripple Scale Mountains.

  I seek Thy Grace Lord,

  From Thee alone floweth the stream of Bliss.

  PROLOGUE

  Mother Prithvi, Earth, the Mother of us all, bathed in tears, approached Narayana, the Lord, as He swung on Ananta, Endless Time.

  The Mother folded Her hands and addressed the Lord thus: ‘Thou All-Powerful, Thou Final Refuge of those in distress, I cannot bear the weight of misery any more. In Thy wisdom, Lord, Thou didst command me to raise sons and daughters who, rising from joy to joy, would find everlasting happiness in devotion to Thee. However, Lord, a new race of men and women has sprung up, whose wickedness is great and who have turned their faces away from Thee.

  ‘These who rule men have grown selfish and their thoughts are evil. In their lust for power, they oppress and persecute my children, and they deny Dharma, the Law of Righteousness. They part men from their wives, children from their parents. They sow the seeds of hate where love once reigned supreme.

  ‘Through force or guile men and women are taught by these wicked rulers to debase themselves before their wealth and power. They are seduced into unrighteous ways by dancing, drink and lechery. They are led to reject Thee and take delight in their own might. Homes are broken; temples are desecrated; saints are derided, stoned or crucified.

  ‘Lord, I am weighed down with grief. Redeem Thy promise, O Merciful One, and save me.’

  Then the Lord said to Mother Prithvi in loving accents: ‘My child, I already knew what Thou hast told me. Do not fear. My word is pledged to thee and shall ever remain so. Whenever Dharma declines, I shall descend to earth to root out wickedness. Those devoted to me shall never perish.’

  So Mother Prithvi begged the Lord:

  ‘Then, I pray Thee, Lord, come and save my children.’

  And then the Lord said: ‘I will.’

  KRISHNAVATARA

  VOLUME I

  THE MAGIC FLUTE

  1. THE MARRIAGE OF VASUDEVA AND DEVAKI

  In the great days of the Dvapara Yuga the Yadavas were settled in the fertile valley of the Yamuna which went by the name of Vrajabhumi. It was full of the shady trees, flowering creepers and luscious pastures on which the wealth of the Yadavas, vast herds of cattle, were fattening. Mount Govardhan was the pivot of this smiling land, and the Yadavas worshipped it.

  Several clans like Kukkura, Andhaka, Vrishni, Satwat, Bhoja, Madhu and Shoora, formed the Yadava confederacy, which was also called Vrishni Samgha. Their constitution was republican. However, the Andhakas were the most powerful of the clans and took pride in calling their chief ‘King’ as a courtesy title.

  The Yadavas were a brave and virile race; they were also proud of their high position among the peoples of the earth, for they claimed descent from Brahma, the Creator Himself.

  Brahma had two sons: Atri and Daksha. Daksha begot Aditi, who begot Vivasvat; Vivasvat begot Manu. Ila, the daughter of Manu, was married to Soma and gave birth to Pururavas, who in the prime of his life fell in love with Urvasi, the beloved apsara of the gods.

  Pururavas had two sons; the elder being Ayusha. Ayusha begot five sons; the mightiest of them was Nahusha, whose first-born was Yayati. Yayati was the first on earth to be a great conqueror; he conquered both the demons and the gods. Yayati’s first wife was Devayani. She was the daughter of the Bhargava Sage, Shukracharya, the High-Priest of the demons. By virtue of his tapas the Sage abased the pride of gods. Devayani gave birth to two sons: Yadu and Turvasu.

  The descendants of Yadu were known as Yadavas. Yadu had a son called Kroshtu, Kroshtu’s son, Devamidhush, begot a son by name Shoora.

  In the Treta Yuga which preceded the Dvapara, the demon Madhu lived in the forests of Vrajabhumi where he became so strong that they were known as Madhuvana. Madhu cleared the forest and founded a settlement on the banks of the Yamuna which came to be known as Mathura.

  Great wickedness was caused on earth by the sons of Madhu and men trembled at their very name. Shatrughna, the brother of Sri Ramachandra, in whom God had descended in that age, was angry at the sons of Madhu whose hearts were evil. He invaded Mathura and destroyed that race of sinful men. He also cleared some forest areas in the valley, and under him and his sons of the Ikshvaku dynasty, the former Madhuvana settlements flourished as never before.

  Then Shoora achieved power among men. Led by him, the Yadavas invaded Mathura and conquered the descendants of Shatrughna. Then the Yadavas built settlements in the valley. They grew rich in cattle, silver and gold. And Vrajabhumi came to be known as Shoorasena after him.

  Vasudeva was descended from Shoora. He was born when the stars were propitious. Then bugles sounded in the heavens and kettledrums resounded on the earth; hence he was known as Anakdundubhi. Flowers were also showered on him by the gods, for he was beautiful like the moon and his fame was to spread till the end of time.

  Vasudeva had five sisters, of whom one was Pritha. She was adopted by the King of Kuntibhoja. Later she became the wife of Pandu and th
e mother of three of the five Pandavas, the conquerors in the Bharata War, whose names were destined to be inscribed in human memory for all time. One of Vasudeva’s sisters was married to the King of Chedi’s son and gave birth to Sishupala.

  Vasudeva was the chief of the Shooras, who had vast herds of cattle. However, as we have said before, the Andhakas, another clan descended from one of the sons of Kroshtu, had become powerful and Vasudeva was a feudatory to their chieftain, Ugrasena, whom people called the ‘King.’ Ugrasena had five sons and nine daughters. The first-born of his sons was Kamsa.

  Devaka, the brother of Ugrasena, had four sons and seven daughters, of whom Devaki was the loveliest.

  There was strife between the Shooras and the Andhakas. Their herdsmen often fought with one another. And the elders of the two tribes decided that Devaki should be wedded to Vasudeva, so that they could live in peace ever afterwards. The marriage took place in the Palace of King Ugrasena.

  Vasudeva went round the Sacred Fire seven times, leading the girl, whose face was like the moon and who was gifted with incomparable charms. The auspicious event was announced to the world by the joyful sound of conchs and fifes, hand-drums and kettledrums. And the Yadavas were happy, for they had never seen so fine a man and wife matched in such perfect harmony.

  2. KAMSA’S WRATH

  Of all the wicked princes of Bharata, the son of King Ugrasena was the most wicked. He was bold and crafty, haughty, revengeful and obstinate. Allied to powerful princes, he was a terror to friends and foes alike; he respected no law, human or divine. He scoffed at the wise, derided the saintly and hated those who had devoted themselves to God.

  At the time when Devaki was being united with Vasudeva in wedlock, Narada, the ancient Sage, the incarnate conscience of those who loved God, came to Kamsa. In welcoming the Sage the Prince offered worship and asked for his blessing.

  In reply, the Sage exhorted Kamsa to forswear his evil ways. He said, ‘None who disregard the law of dharma can ever win the final victory.’