Keśī

Keśī was an asura sent by Kaṃsa. He took the form of a great horse (aśva) of terrifying size and speed. He attacked Gokula with flashing hooves that tore up the earth and a mane that blocked out the light.

Kṛṣṇa killed him by thrusting his arm into the horse’s mouth. The arm grew larger and choked Keśī from within. Because of this victory, one of Kṛṣṇa’s famous names became Keśava, “he who slew Keśī”. This is one meaning given for the name. In his great stuti (hymn of praise) at the Rājasūya, Bhīṣma names the slaying of Keśī among the līlās (divine acts) of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood.

The attack

Keśī came to Gokula as an asura in the form of a horse of extraordinary size. His hooves cut deep furrows in the earth as he galloped, and his mane lashed like storm clouds. He attacked by biting and kicking, hurting the cattle and terrifying the cowherd people.

Kṛṣṇa faced him without fear. He did not use a weapon. He thrust his left arm straight into Keśī’s open mouth. Inside the throat of the asura, Kṛṣṇa’s arm grew to an enormous size and choked Keśī completely. Keśī shook, thrashed and died, unable to bite or push out the growing arm. His body fell, and he was set free.

The name Keśava

One tradition draws the name Keśava, one of the most common names of Kṛṣṇa, from this event. It is read as ke + śava, “he who made Keśī a corpse” (śava). The name thus recalls this one victory.

Other meanings of Keśava are also given, relating to beautiful hair, or to the syllables of the divine name. Even so, the slaying of Keśī is among the most often cited sources of the name in the Purāṇic tradition. Bhīṣma’s use of the name at the Rājasūya ties the name to this origin.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākṣiṇātya pratī, Chapter 38