49 / Krsna Erects the Dvaraka Fort

After his death, Kamsa’s two wives became widows. According to Vedic
civilization, a woman is never independent. She has three stages of life: In
childhood a woman should live under the protection of her father, a
youthful woman should live under the protection of her young husband,
and in the event of the death of her husband she should live either under
the protection of her grown-up children, or if she has no grown-up children,
she must go back to her father and live as a widow under his protection. It
appears that Kamsa had no grown-up sons. After becoming widows, his
wives returned to the shelter of their father. Kamsa had two queens. One
was Asti, and the other Prapti, and both happened to be the daughters of
King Jarasandha, the lord of the Behar Province (known in those days as
Magadharaja). After reaching home, both queens explained their awkward
position following Karhsa’s death. The King of Magadha, Jarasandha, was
mortified on hearing their pitiable condition due to the slaughter. When
informed of the death of Karsa, Jarasandha decided on the spot that he
would rid the world of all the members of the Yadu dynasty. He decided
that since Krsna had killed Kamsa, the whole dynasty of the Yadus should
be killed.

He began to make extensive arrangements to attack the kingdom of
Mathura with his innumerable military phalanxes, consisting of many
thousands of chariots, horses, elephants and infantry soldiers. Jarasandha
prepared thirteen such military phalanxes in order to retaliate the death of
Kamsa. Taking with him all his military strength, he attacked the capital
of the Yadu kings, Mathura, surrounding it from all directions. Sri Krsna,
who appeared as an ordinary human being, saw the immense strength of
Jarasandha, which appeared as an ocean about to cover a beach at any
moment. He also perceived that the inhabitants of Mathura were over-
whelmed with fear. He began to think within Himself about the situation

327
