Kaṃsa, King of Mathurā

Kaṃsa was the cruel king of Mathurā. The Purāṇas say he was born of an asura. He was the maternal uncle of Kṛshṇa, because Devakī was his sister. A voice from the sky told him that Devakī’s eighth child would kill him. So he put his sister and her husband Vasudeva in prison. The Purāṇas say he killed her first children himself. But the eighth child, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, was secretly exchanged with Yogamāyā. After that, every plan of Kaṃsa to destroy the child failed, even with the help of his asura servants. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa killed him at last in the wrestling arena of Mathurā. Kaṃsa’s father Ugrasena was set on the throne again.

Many texts tell about Kaṃsa. Here is what the Agni Purāṇa, the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the Padma Purāṇa, the Hari Vaṃśa and the Mahābhārata say.

His origin in the Padma Purāṇa

The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa (Chapters 47–51) tells a detailed account of where Kaṃsa came from. In this account, Kaṃsa was not the birth son of Ugrasena.

Ugrasena had a dear queen, Padmāvatī. At the request of her father Satyaketu, Ugrasena sent her to her parents’ home in Vidarbha. There a daitya (a kind of asura) named Gobhila, a servant of Kubera, was passing overhead in a flying vimāna (aerial chariot). He saw Padmāvatī playing at a forest lake. He was overcome by kāma (desire). By māyā (magic power) he took the exact form of Ugrasena, with his looks, voice, walk and every detail. In this way he deceived Padmāvatī and wronged her. The child born from this was Kaṃsa.

The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa also says that Gobhila was an earlier birth of Kālanemi. So Kaṃsa came from an old daitya line that stood against Vishṇu.

His family in the Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 12)

The Agni Purāṇa says Kaṃsa was the son of Ugrasena, the rightful king of Mathurā. It names him as an asura born in a human body, a wicked ātmā (soul) in a royal form. He removed his own father Ugrasena from the throne, put him in prison and took power over Mathurā by force.

His sister was Devakī. He arranged her marriage to Vasudeva, a noble Yādava. The Yādava line to which Kaṃsa belongs is given as: Brahmā, Atri, Candra, Purūravas, Āyus, Nahusha, Yayāti, Yadu, and then the Yādava line. Vasudeva was born in this line as its most distinguished member. Kaṃsa held the throne by taking it.

The voice from the sky and the prison (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 12)

Devakī’s wedding procession was in progress. The newly married pair were riding in it. At that moment an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) spoke to Kaṃsa. It said that the eighth child of Devakī and Vasudeva would cause his death.

Kaṃsa was seized by fear. At once he caught Devakī and was about to kill her. Vasudeva stepped in. He made a solemn promise to hand every child born to them to Kaṃsa himself. Kaṃsa accepted this. He put both Vasudeva and Devakī in his prison, where he could watch the birth and killing of each child.

The killing of the children (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 12)

Kaṃsa kept to this agreement. When each child was born, Vasudeva brought the baby to Kaṃsa, and Kaṃsa killed it. The first six children died this way.

The seventh child was Balarāma. Through the power of Yogamāyā, he was moved from Devakī’s womb to the womb of Rohiṇī. Devakī seemed to have lost the child.

Then the eighth child was born, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. With the help of Yogamāyā, Vasudeva carried the baby across the flooded Yamunā to the home of Nanda in Gokula. He left Kṛshṇa there and took the newborn daughter of Yaśodā, who was Yogamāyā in the form of a girl. He came back with her to the prison.

Kaṃsa heard the baby cry and rushed in. He seized the girl and threw her against the stone. She rose into the sky and showed her divine form. She said, “O Kaṃsa, what is the use of throwing me? The one who will destroy you has already been born elsewhere.” She said she was the slayer of Śumbha and other asuras, and then she disappeared.

Kaṃsa had been warned, but he could do nothing about it. He sent a series of powerful asuras to Gokula to destroy the child. They were Pūtanā (the poison-nurse), Śakaṭāsura (the cart-asura), Kāliya (the serpent), Dhenukāsura (the donkey-asura), Arishṭāsura (the bull-asura) and Keśī (the horse-asura). The infant or young Kṛshṇa killed every one of them, often easily and as if at play.

His death at Kṛshṇa’s hands (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 12)

Kṛshṇa and Balarāma grew into strong young men. Kaṃsa called them to Mathurā through his messenger Akrūra. The reason given was a great festival, a dhanur-yajña (a bow ritual). Akrūra was devoted to Kṛshṇa, and he praised him as he brought the brothers to the city.

Kṛshṇa and Balarāma entered Mathurā. At the city gates they met Kaṃsa’s mad elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa. Kṛshṇa killed it and tore off its tusk to use as a weapon.

Then, in the wrestling arena, the citizens had gathered and Kaṃsa watched from a high seat. Kṛshṇa faced the champion Cāṇūra, and Balarāma fought Mushṭika. The brothers killed their opponents and then finished the other wrestlers. Kṛshṇa then leapt straight onto the royal platform. He seized Kaṃsa by the hair, threw him from his seat to the arena floor and killed him.

Ugrasena had been removed from the throne and shamed by his own son. He was at once put back on the throne of Mathurā as its rightful king.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa: Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa

The wedding and the voice (Chapters 4–7)

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells the same event at the wedding of Devakī and Vasudeva. The newly married pair were riding in the wedding procession. The voice from the sky warned Kaṃsa that Devakī’s eighth child would destroy him. This Purāṇa already names Kaṃsa as an asura-natured being. He at once decided to kill Devakī. To protect his wife, Vasudeva promised to give each child to Kaṃsa. He made this promise out of love and fear. Through it, the miraculous birth of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa came about.

The Purāṇa says Kaṃsa’s fear for his own fate was the cause of all the asuras he sent to Gokula. Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, Śakaṭāsura and others were his tools. Each of them reached moksha (liberation) through Kṛshṇa. In this Purāṇa, every being Kaṃsa sent to destroy Kṛshṇa received liberation from Kṛshṇa.

Kaṃsa’s bad dreams and the Dhanuryāga plan (Chapters 63–64)

On the night before Kṛshṇa came to Mathurā, Kaṃsa saw many terrible dream-visions. The next morning he told them to his court in detail. He had seen:

a blood-red woman with a sword and a skull, dancing in his city;
a broken pūrṇakumbha (a full water-pot) smashed by an angry devī who was a wife, and she gave him a śāpa;
showers of fire, ash and blood;
monkeys, crows, pigs and donkeys screaming at him in twisted forms;
a naked, laughing woman dancing in every house;
the sun and moon swallowed together by Rāhu;
comets, earthquakes and cyclones;
mountains falling;
a headless giant dancing with a garland of cut-off heads in every home;
all the āśramas (hermitages) burned to ash.

After he told the dreams, Kaṃsa fell silent. His purohita (family priest) Satyaka fainted. His parents, wives and relatives wept.

Satyaka advised him to perform a Dhanuryāga, a bow-yajña in honour of Śiva, to drive away the bad signs. He described the bow. Śiva gave it to Nandiśvara, then it went to Bāṇāsura, and Paraśurāma gave it to Kaṃsa. It was one thousand hastas (cubits) long. Ananta, Sūrya and Kārttikeya could not bend it. Only Nārāyaṇa could break it.

Kaṃsa saw the plan. He would invite Kṛshṇa to the yajña and lead him to the bow. If Kṛshṇa broke it, the destruction of the yajamāna (the one who sponsors the ritual) would be the formal excuse.

Many kings and ṛshis came to the Dhanuryāga. They included Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla, Bhīshmaka, Bhīshma, Droṇa and Kṛpācārya. There were also dozens of great ṛshis, from Bhṛgu to Vālmīki.

His death and liberation (Chapter 72)

In the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa’s account of the Kaṃsa-vadha (the slaying of Kaṃsa), the different beings in the arena saw Kṛshṇa in different ways.

Yogīs saw the Paramātmā.
Kings saw a supreme rājeśvara (lord of kings).
Devakī and Vasudeva saw their infant.
The women of Mathurā saw the form of crores of Manmathas.
Only Kaṃsa saw Kālapurusha, the form of Death.

Kṛshṇa broke Śiva’s bow with a sound that deafened all of Mathurā. He killed the gaja-malla (elephant warrior). With the help of Balarāma, he killed Cāṇūra and Mushṭika. Then he seized Kaṃsa by the hair, dragged him from the throne and killed him.

At the moment of death, Kaṃsa’s ātmā entered the feet of Kṛshṇa. The ātmā was itself a flash of tejas (radiance). It went to Vishṇupada in a divine body. This Purāṇa teaches this again and again: even the strongest enmity toward Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, kept up through a whole life, gives the same liberation as devotion, because a mind fixed on Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, even in hatred, reaches him.

Kṛshṇa then gave the throne back to Ugrasena, Kaṃsa’s righteous father. He broke the iron chains of Devakī and Vasudeva and freed them.

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa: Tenth Skandha

His reaction to Yogamāyā’s words (Chapter 4)

Yogamāyā rose from his grip and said that Kṛshṇa was already born elsewhere. For a moment Kaṃsa was stunned. He tried at once to kill Devakī. But Vasudeva stopped him with force. Vasudeva was usually gentle and patient, but now he spoke sharply to Kaṃsa. He pointed out that the child Kaṃsa feared was already born and had left the prison. There was no use in killing Devakī.

Kaṃsa came to his senses and was ashamed of his act. He gave way. He freed both Devakī and Vasudeva from their chains. He said he was sorry for the killing of their children, and he made peace with them for the time. The Bhāgavata says that Devakī and Vasudeva were generous and forgave him. Both knew that the plan of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was already in motion.

The ministers’ plan and the list of asuras (Chapter 4)

After the night of the exchange, Kaṃsa called his main daitya ministers together. He told them the words of Yogamāyā: the child who would destroy him was already born and was somewhere in the world of men. The ministers were daitya-dānavas of old families, men who had fought in wars against the devas. They gave him this advice. The child could be any infant in the land, because the divine voice had not said which one. So all the male children born in the past ten days all over the earth should be killed. They would send their strongest agents, Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, Śakañju and others, to search out and destroy every infant.

The Bhāgavata gives the names of the chief asura beings in Kaṃsa’s service. They had been defeated earlier in fights with the devas and had now taken human or asura births. They were Arishṭa (the bull-asura), Dhenuka (the donkey), Bāṇāsura, Naraka and many others, placed at key points. Pūtanā was given the first task: to kill the children of Gokula.

The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa: Vishṇu Parva

The talk between Kaṃsa and Nārada (Chapter 1)

The Vishṇu Parva of the Hari Vaṃśa begins with an important event. Nārada went to Mathurā on purpose to tell Kaṃsa that his death was near. Nārada knew that Kaṃsa had to be stirred up so that the avatāra could do its work. He came down from the sky in a single moment and sent a messenger ahead. Kaṃsa came out of the city himself to welcome the great ṛshi with full honours. He seated him on a blazing golden throne.

Nārada spoke to Kaṃsa in a tone of concern. He said he had been in the assembly of Brahmā on Meru, where all the devas were talking about how to destroy Kaṃsa. The eighth child born of Devakī in Mathurā would be his slayer. That child was the same being who had killed Kaṃsa in an earlier birth. Nārada said this openly, as a warning, and left.

Kaṃsa took the news with proud contempt. He told his assembly that he would destroy all who stood with the side of the devas. He ordered Hayagrīva, Keśī, Pralamba, Dhenuka and other allied asuras to roam the earth in disguise and kill any who opposed him. He also ordered that Devakī’s pregnancies be watched. But the Hari Vaṃśa records that he went into his palace burning with the fire of fear. At the very moment of Nārada’s words, Kaṃsa knew that his time was fixed.

The plan for the six garbhas (Chapter 2)

After Nārada’s warning, Kaṃsa called his ministers. He ordered full watch over Devakī. Trusted guards were to watch every pregnancy day and night. The time of each conception was to be tracked, and every child was to be killed without exception. He said that mantra (sacred words), oshadhi (herbs) and every other means should be used to get Devakī’s children for the killing.

The Hari Vaṃśa then tells of the counter-plan of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Through dhyāna-yoga (meditation), he knew that Kaṃsa planned to kill each of Devakī’s children. He went down to Pātāla and entered the sleeping bodies of the six children of Kālanemi. These are the Shaḍgarbhas, the six embryos. Brahmā had given them a vara (a boon) that no being could kill them. But their grandfather Hiraṇyakaśipu had given them a śāpa: their own father would destroy them.

Bhagavān Vishṇu moved their jīvas (life-breaths) into the care of Yoganidrā. He told her to put them one by one into Devakī’s womb. Each would be born and then killed by Kaṃsa. In this way the śāpa of Hiraṇyakaśipu would come true. Kaṃsa’s violence would also be used up on beings who, by Kṛshṇa’s own plan, would meet a death that freed them.

Bhagavān Vishṇu then told Yoganidrā the whole plan.

The seventh child, Balarāma, as a portion (aṃśa) of Śesha, was to be moved from Devakī’s womb to Rohiṇī’s womb.
Bhagavān Vishṇu himself would be the eighth child.
Yoganidrā was to be born at the same time to Yaśodā in Gokula.

After the exchange at birth, Kaṃsa would throw Yoganidrā against the stone. She would rise, show her form and make her home in Vindhyācala. She was also told about her future worship: on the ninth of the kṛshṇa-paksha (dark fortnight) and the eleventh of the śukla-paksha (bright fortnight). She was given her names: Ārya, Kātyāyanī, Kauśikī and Brahmacāriṇī.

How Kaṃsa sent out the asuras (Chapters 1, 25)

In Chapter 1, Kaṃsa openly orders Hayagrīva, Keśī, Pralamba, Dhenuka and other asuras to roam in disguise and kill all who support the cause of the devas. The text also names the great war-elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa and the wrestlers Cāṇūra and Mushṭika among his tools for destroying the brothers in Mathurā.

The Hari Vaṃśa also records that before Akrūra’s mission, Kaṃsa sent a messenger to Keśī. He told Keśī to go to Vṛndāvana, as a last try to destroy Kṛshṇa before bringing him to Mathurā. Keśī came in the form of a great horse and wrecked the settlement of the cowherds until Kṛshṇa killed him. Nārada appeared in the sky and blessed Kṛshṇa. For this deed Kṛshṇa would be known as Keśava. Each of Kaṃsa’s tools only hurried the plan to its end.

Akrūra’s mission and the Dhanuryāga excuse (Chapter 23)

Kaṃsa’s last plan was a dhanuryāga, a great bow-yajña. Under this excuse he would invite Kṛshṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā. The holy bow was set in the centre of the yāga-śālā (the ritual hall). Not even Indra or any deva could bend it.

The plan went like this. If Kṛshṇa broke the bow, the destruction of the yajamāna would be sealed by the formal sign of the ritual. Before that, the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa would be placed at the gate to kill the brothers when they arrived. If that failed, the champion wrestlers Cāṇūra and Mushṭika would finish them in the arena.

To bring Kṛshṇa and Balarāma, Kaṃsa chose Akrūra. Akrūra was the senior Yādava, known as dānapati (lord of gifts), trusted and respected in Vṛndāvana. Kaṃsa’s speech sounded warm. But its shape showed his real aim: the brothers were invited as guests of the yāga, but the whole arrangement was a trap. The elder Yādava Andhaka rebuked Kaṃsa in public for this deceit. He called Akrūra the most blessed person present, because he would see Kṛshṇa.

The breaking of the bow and Kaṃsa’s grief (Chapters 28–29)

Kṛshṇa and Balarāma went into the dhanuśśālā (the bow hall). They went there of their own accord. No one had told them. They simply followed their own inner knowledge of the matter. At Kṛshṇa’s request the keeper of the weapons showed them the great bow. Kṛshṇa lifted it, bent it and strung it. As he strung it, the bow broke in two. The sound shook the whole inner palace of Kaṃsa and rang in all directions.

Kaṃsa heard the report with fear and grief. He thought: “This child has broken my holy bow without fear, in front of the guards. Who could bend what even Indra and the devas could not? The wrong I did to save myself, killing the children of my own sister, was of no use. Nārada’s word has come to my door.” He went into his palace, full of grief. He made plans for the next day, though in some way he knew that his hour was near.

Kuvalayāpīḍa and the arena (Chapter 30)

The second day was the day of the arena. The whole city had gathered. Kaṃsa came in white clothes, with white fans and a white crown. He shone like the moon above a white cloud. He took his royal seat. He ordered the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa, a war-elephant of great strength, to be placed at the gate to meet Kṛshṇa and Balarāma.

The brothers came beautifully dressed, with flower garlands and sandal paste. The elephant charged. Kṛshṇa laughed at Kaṃsa’s plan and dodged the elephant’s attacks. He seized one tusk and killed the elephant. Balarāma helped by holding the elephant’s tail. Kṛshṇa also killed the mahout and the elephant’s guard. Both brothers then went into the arena with the elephant’s tusk as a weapon. The crowd cheered. Kaṃsa watched in grief.

The slaying of Kaṃsa (Chapter 31)

In the arena, Kaṃsa ordered Cāṇūra to fight Kṛshṇa and Mushṭika to fight Balarāma. The contest was long and hard. At one point Kaṃsa watched Kṛshṇa’s strength with growing fear. He ordered the musical instruments to be silenced. But the devas in the sky went on playing, and celestial sounds filled the arena. The earth shook. The jewel fell from Kaṃsa’s crown.

Kṛshṇa killed Cāṇūra with a blow of his fists and the crush of his knee. Balarāma killed Mushṭika in a similar way. The other wrestlers were also killed. Then Kaṃsa saw his last tools fail and lost his calm. He ordered the gopas (cowherds) to be driven out and Nandagopa to be arrested. He also heaped more abuse on Vasudeva. This was what brought on Kṛshṇa’s final act: the threat to Vasudeva, the pain of Devakī and the insult to all his people.

Kṛshṇa leapt from the arena floor to the royal platform so fast that no one in the crowd could follow. They saw only that he was suddenly beside Kaṃsa. He seized Kaṃsa by the hair. The golden crown fell. Kaṃsa was helpless and could not even look at Kṛshṇa’s face. Kṛshṇa dragged him from his throne, threw him to the arena floor and killed him. Kaṃsa’s body lay in the dust, his dark face like a lotus without its petals.

After the vadha, Kṛshṇa bowed at the feet of Vasudeva and at the feet of Devakī. She wept tears of joy. Ugrasena was at once put back on his rightful throne. Balarāma killed Kaṃsa’s brother with his own hands.

His return to the Viśvedevas

The Mahābhārata ends with the Svargārohaṇa Parva. There Sauti tells the final destinies of the great souls of the Bhārata age. Kaṃsa is counted among those who entered the Viśvedevas when their karma was used up. He is listed with the Yādava and allied great ones, such as Ugrasena, Vasudeva and Akrūra. The parva states this plainly as the destination that his portion reached. It follows the teaching of aṃśa and aṃśī (portion and whole) that the Mahābhārata gives at its close.

Sources

Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 12
Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 4–7, 63–64, 72
Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Tenth Skandha, Chapter 4
Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 47–51
Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapters 1–2, 23–31
Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5