Akrura

In Hindu mythology Akrura is most
famous as the envoy from the royal
court at Mathura, who takes the god
Krishna away from Krishna’s childhood
home in Braj, never to return. Krishna’s
wicked uncle, King Kamsa, instructs
Akrura to lure Krishna and his brother
Balarama to a festival, where they will
be killed in a “friendly” bout with some
wrestlers. Akrura sees through the plot
and warns Krishna about it, but he
remains indelibly associated with
Krishna’s departure from Braj, which for
his devotees (bhakta) is the bitterest
moment in all of Krishna’s mythology.
For a moving, dramatic account of this
incident, see John Stratton Hawley, At
Play with Krishna, 1981.