CHAPTER FOUR

The Atrocities of King Karnsa

This chapter describes how Karnsa, following the advice of his demoniac
friends, considered the persecution of small children to be very
diplomatic.

After Vasudeva bound himself with iron shackles as before, all the
doors of the prison house closed by the influence of Yogamaya, who then
began crying as a newborn child. This crying awakened the doorkeepers,
who immediately informed Karhsa that a child had been born to Devaki.
Upon hearing this news, Karnsa appeared with great force in the mater-
nity room, and in spite of Devaki’s pleas that the child be saved, the
demon forcibly snatched the child from Devaki’s hands and dashed the
child against a rock. Unfortunately for Karnsa, however, the newborn
child slipped away from his hands, rose above his head and appeared as
the eight-armed form of Durga. Durga then told Karnsa, “The enemy
you contemplate has taken birth somewhere else. Therefore your plan to
persecute all the children will prove futile.”

According to the prophecy, the eighth child of Devaki would kill
Karnsa, and therefore when Karnsa saw that the eighth child was a
female and heard that his so-called enemy had taken birth elsewhere, he
was struck with wonder. He decided to release Devaki and Vasudeva, and
he admitted before them the wrongness of his atrocities. Falling at the
feet of Devaki and Vasudeva, he begged their pardon and tried to con-
vince them that because the events that had taken place were destined to
happen, they should not be unhappy for his having killed so many of
their children. Devaki and Vasudeva, being naturally very pious, im-
mediately excused Karnsa for his atrocities, and Karhsa, after seeing that
his sister and brother-in-law were happy, returned to his home.

After the night passed, however, Karnsa called for his ministers and
informed them of all that had happened. The ministers, who were all
demons, advised Karhsa that because his enemy had already taken birth
somewhere else, all the children born within the past ten days in the

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