[Short Story] The Prince of Yadu

Cover Image: Eternal Love by Deepika Kabe

Two teens were pitched against the greatest killers in the kingdom. The rigged match was however won by them. One of them grew up to become God, another founded the principles of Yoga. 

“Hurry up, Jaimini,” said the poor old farmer as he stepped out of the house. He tried to shut the door of his small hut but the handle was broken, “We should have got this handle fixed.” “Forget about it now,” Jaimini, his wife, said, “The handle is not the only thing broken in this house. The roof is leaking, we have food supplies only for a couple of more days. But what is it to you? You spend whatever you earn on booking tickets for those wrestling matches or drinking alcohol.” “Stop with your complains already,” he said, “Today the match is free for all. It is not always that the king invites the entire village to watch the match of Canura and Mustika.” “Aren’t those the two topmost wrestlers in entire Mathura?” asked Jaimini, remembering her husband speak about them. “Indeed they are,” the farmer explained, “Canura, the man with the power of 100 elephants in his arms and Mustika, the one who can stop a raging bull with his bare fist. It is going to be the fight of the century, we should hurry up if we need good seats.” “I have heard people from as far as Vrindavan have come for this match,” Jaimini broadcasted the local gossip as they rushed towards the stadium. As they hurried along the potholes laden dirty path towards the stadium, they saw many people gathering from the huts nearby. “Look at the state of our Mathura,” Jaimini said, “It was very nice when Ugrasen was the king. This new King Kansa has ruined...” “Hush,” said the farmer stopping her, “He has spies everywhere. Just keep walking to the arena or he will throw you in the wrestling ring.” “Today is like a festival,” spoke another man, who turned out to be village cobbler. Indeed, it was festive today. The wrestling ring was decorated and it was free for all. The marks and spots of drunken adventures were cleaned. Infact the wrestling arena was the only clean area in entire Mathura. People had come in hordes from different parts of the kingdom, even the peace loving village folks from Vrindavan had come. A group of ladies had just arrived in a bullock cart for the event. The girls wore garlands made of flowers as decoration. They rushed inside but not before grabbing the attention of every male on the way. They were the gopis from Vrindavan. As the farmer and his family made their way to the seats, they realized something was amiss. Indeed the wrestler Canura and Mustika were present in the arena but with them were two teenagers. They were new to Jaimini; she had never seen these boys in the district. She turned around to the cobbler's wife and inquired about them, “The muscular one is Balarama, Son of Rohini,” said the cobbler’s wife, Dusvasini, “From the garden village of Vrindavana. The other one with dark complexion is Krishna, son of Devaki, it is said that he single handedly lifted the mountain of Govardhan, calmed the venomous snake Kalia and is also the killer of Madhu.” “Don’t believe in hearsay,” said the cobbler sitting next to his wife, “No one can slay the three headed monster Madhu. I believe these boys must have done some mischief and are punished.” “But then why Canura and Mustika?” questioned the farmer, “Why the two most prized fighters in the city? These teens could be defeated by a normal wrestler. Mustika is a killer, he prefers to kill his opponents and Canura ,he gets sadistic pleasure in torturing them first.” The chatter around the stadium would not die down, people looked in disbelief as two skinny lads faced the mighty beast of wrestlers. Finally drums started beating and someone blew the royal conch. King Kamsa was here, he sat on the highest throne surrounded by the circle of Guards. Strange, people thought, the king never had so much protection. Kamsa ordered the match to begin. First Balaram and Mustika locked hand to hand. It was said that Mustika could stop a bull with his bare hands but Balaram on the other hand had dragged many bulls with his. Krishna smiled at Canura who grinned back. ‘Easy meat’, thought Canura. He rushed towards Krishna but being an active teen, Krishna simply jumped out of the path and Canura smashed his head against the railing. Rubbing his head Canura looked behind only to find Krishna punching him hard against the temple. Here Balaram had succeeded in pinning down Mustika to the ground. The later surprised by the strength shown by the teenager couldn’t get out of his grip. Both Balaram and Krishna were well versed in martial arts. Canura was still recovering from the punch when he saw Krishna sitting on his stomach pinning him down and punching hard on the chest. Nanda, Yashoda and Rohini were sitting in the audience looking at the match. At that moment Vasudev realized his son had gone way beyond his childhood pranks. Besides them Uddhava the fairer cousin of Krishna realized what his cousin was doing, by not giving Canura a chance to recover, he was tilting the balance of match in his favor. Behind a circle of heavy guards King Kamsa lay biting his nails, ‘it was true then, these were the kids he was warned about. The eighth son of his sister Devaki would come to kill him’. He looked across Kanaka, his younger brother who had come armed for the wrestling match. Kanaka assured him those boys would not reach the king. One mighty blow near the heart by Krishna and Canura had a massive heart failure. He died on the spot. Nanda gasped as Krishna simply smiled sitting on the chest of the dead wrestler. His son was no longer a child anymore. Balaram on the other hand was still dueling with Mustika, Balarama used his entire force and hit Mustika hard on his forehead. Blood started oozing out of the mouth and nose as Mustika collapsed on the ground. Looking at the fallen wrestlers the entire crowd became silent. Canura and Mustika had many supporters. As soon as both the wrestlers collapsed Kuta, Sala and Tosala came forward to tackle the boys. Balaram knocked Kuta dead with a brutal blow while Sala and Tosala had their head cracked with clever tricks from Krishna. Tired and sweating from the fights Krishna raised his hands to the cheering audience. The entire stadium screamed their hearts out. Angry and frustrated Kamsa screamed from his seat, “Take this villager and his brother outside Mathura. I want them killed... all of them, I will kill Devaki and Vasudev and I want Ugrasen to die. Kill them all.” Kanaka immediately sprang into action and ordered the guards to seize the boys. The guards put their weapons down. “The fight was unfair,” said the head guard, “We cannot raise weapons against unarmed teenagers.” Krishna swiftly rushed on top of the podium and jumped near Kamsa’s seat, “Look around you cruel King Kamsa,” Krishna screamed, “These guards are more loyal to your father than to you. These subjects are suffering in your city but you were only concerned about your own safety.” Kamsa drew out his sword while across the podium Kanaka and seven other brothers of Kamsa drew their swords and charged towards Krishna. Balaram raised the elephant tusk he was carrying and charged towards the brothers. Krishna tackled Kamsa and made him throw his sword on the ground. He dragged the defeated King in the middle of the arena. Balaram had killed all the brothers and was now dueling Kanaka. Krishna threw the limp Kamsa in the middle of arena, “Look around you, the angry tortured people. You were entrusted to take their care but look at their plight. You ruined so many lives, so many families. Why? Because you wanted to become a king?” The entire audience had their eyes on him and Kamsa looked around the area, they were jeering and cheering for Krishna. “You imprisoned your own father, arrested your own sister,” Krishna continued, “Why? To avoid your fate?” “You were warned long back,” Krishna said, “About my arrival and you were given a chance to change your ways. You were informed that I was going to come to smite you and that I had the power to stop you, yet instead of improving your ways you continued pursuing me. You killed my six brothers and tried to kill my sister. I would have not come in your path had you not dragged me on it. Look at your subjects, look at your people whom you exploited. Look at your Mathura, the one you were so desperate to have, look what you have done to it.” Kamsa saw his younger brother Kanaka getting killed at the hands of Balarama, he got up on his knees and pleaded, “I am sorry,” he said, “Please forgive me. I was wrong, you are my nephew.” “I am the son whose mother you have imprisoned for so many years. I am the boy who you pitted against two killers for your amusement. I am the boy who you pursued with so much aggression that you chose to destroy the village of vrindavan countless number of times. Every time you send a new demon with a new trick I had to stop them.” Krishna sat on his chest and pounded it with his fist. The heart gave away first and Kamsa died on the spot. Krishna looked around to the cheering crowd, the guards, the farmers and the every city dweller cheered at the defeat of their cruel king. Balaram now drenched in blood joined him in the glory The crowd cheered, ‘We have a savior’, ‘The princes of yadu are here’. Somewhere amidst the cheering and jeering crowd, Jaimini whispered to her husband, “This was indeed a great fight. What were you talking about super wrestlers, they got defeated by a bunch of skinny teenagers. I can’t believe you spend all our savings on these stupid fights.”

The story is a work of complete fiction. It is loosely based on the story of Death Of Kamsa in Bhagwat Puran and Mahabharata. Was the match really rigged? What do you think, do mention in the comments below.