Grace and Duty - Krishna's way
Grace and Duty – Krishna’s way
(Re-written from HariVamsa
Purana)
King Ugrasena went to Krishna
and said “Lord. My son was a sinner. He was never liked by the good and pious
people of Mathura. O Krishna, accept this immortal army of Kamsa abounding in
elephants, horses, chariots and infantry.”
Ugrasena continued “O Madhava,
let your men take Kamsa’s wealth, jewels, covers, gold, clothes, women and all
that he possessed. O Krishna, the slayer of your enemies, by the Yoga, to which
you have resorted on behalf of the Yadavas, all dissensions have been put a
stop to and the earth has been established. O descendant of Yadu, from you
now will proceed the happiness or misery of the Yadavas.
If you please, O Govinda, they
may perform the obsequial rites of Kamsa, of sinful deeds, who has been
consumed by the fire of your anger. Having performed the after-death ceremonies
of that king who has met with this calamity, I shall, along with my wife and
daughters-in-law, range in the forest with the animals. To perform the
obsequial rites of the dead is the duty of men.
This is my only prayer, O
Krishna. Show me kindness in this matter. With the performance of his
after-death rites let sinful Kamsa attain to a blessed state."
When Krishna heard the words of
the old king Ugrasena, his eyes filled with tears and his heart with
compassion. He bowed before the king and folded his hands in respect. He said
“Oh Great king, your words are those of a true king and a father. It was inevitable
that Kamsa should meet his death in my hands due to his accumulated sins.”
Lord Krishna continued “Even
great kings who rule their kingdoms as per the rule of dharma meet their end.
Kamsa created his own bad Karma that caused his end. I am only the instrument
that brought his death.”
Then again touching the feet of
King Ugrasena and folding his hands respectfully Krishna continued “I did not
kill Kamsa for the sake of the throne or kingdom. I am happy with the cows and
calves and my kinsmen, the Yadavas. I had to kill Kamsa to remove the stigma of
bad name from your great lineage.”
Lord Krishna continued “Please
communicate to your people that I do not want this kingdom. I consider you my
elder, my leader and my king. Please accept the kingship of this kingdom.”
The next day at dawn, as was the
custom, the Yadava clan took the body of Kamsa in a palanquin to the norther
banks of the Yamuna. They accorded the due respect to be given to a king and
after the rituals for the dead were followed as prescribed by the priests, they
lit fire to the funereal pyre.
As per Krishna’s direction, the
Yadavas then performed the last rites of Sunama, the large armed brother of
Kamsa. Then after repeatedly chanting Ohm Shanthi, the Vrishnis, the Andakas
and the Yadavas did the tharpana (offering of water and rice) to the departed
in their honor.
Having then offered water to
Kamsa and his brother, all the Yadavas, preceded by Ugrasena, returned to Mathura
with a sorrowful heart.
Kamsa tried to kill Krishna many
times from the time of his birth. He had sent many Asuras to kill Krishna who
was but a toddler. All because of his belief that the infant may harm him. This
kind of behaviour would have irked anyone. They would have considered it a
right and just retribution to kill such a person. But Not Krishna.
Krishna considered Kamsavadam
(killing of Kamsa) as a required action that needed to be done to free the
citizens of Mathura from a tyrant. He did not have any individual likes or
dislikes in this matter. Once Kamsa was
killed, Krishna did not bear any hatred towards a dead person in his heart.
Rather, he was kind to the father of Kamsa and also ensured that the dead were
given a respectful send off.
h some one for an action but to bear constant anger and hatred towards that person can consume you. A lesson that is still relevant even to this day in our conflict driven world.
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