Kamsa

In Hindu mythology, the wicked king of
Mathura who is considered the brother of
Devaki, the god Krishna’s mother, and
thus Krishna’s uncle. According to legend, Kamsa is born when a demon takes
the form of Ugrasena, Devaki’s father,
and under this guise has intercourse
with Kamsa’s mother.
On Devaki’s wedding day, a divine
voice warns Kamsa that his sister’s
eighth child will eventually kill him. In
an effort to prevent this prophecy, he
kills all of Devaki’s children as soon as
they are born. Yet on the night Krishna
is born, a deep sleep falls over the
inhabitants of the palace, the locked
doors magically open, and the infant is
spirited away to the home of his foster
parents, Nanda and Yashoda. When
Kamsa finds out what has happened,
he first sends his men to kill all the
newborn children in the country. When
that attempt fails to destroy Krishna,
Kamsa sends various demon assassins,
such as Putana, Shakata, Trnavarta,
Keshi, and Bakasur. Krishna dispatches
all of these with ease, and Kamsa eventually has to try other strategies. He
announces a grand festival and dispatches his chariot to pick up Krishna
and his brother Balarama, who by
then have grown into adolescents.
Kamsa’s plan is to lure the brothers to
the festival grounds where they can be
killed in a “friendly” match with some
experienced wrestlers. The two boys
derail this plot by killing the wrestlers,
after which Krishna leaps up into the
royal box and kills Kamsa as well.