Book Title: Babu Devkumar Smruti Ank
Author(s): A N Upadhye, Others
Publisher: Jain Siddhant Bhavan Aara

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Page 510
________________ No. 1 Heroes of the Jain Legends his real origin. He asked for help against king Ugraséna which was readily given by the mighty Jar&sandha With the help of the army of Magadha, Kamaa defeated his father, kept him confined in a cage and himself became the the king of Mathură. He did not forget his friend and master, prince. Basudēva; so, it was at his instance that Basudēva was married to the princess, Dévaki who was the daughter of his uncle. A great banquet took place at the marriage of Basudeva with Devaki and every one was making merry. Kamsa's wife, queen Jivad-yaśā, drank toy much wine. Intoxicated she came across Atimuktaka who was one of the sons of the ex-king Ugra-sēna and who had taken to the religious orders, being disgusted with the ways of the world. Jivad-yaśā asked her cousin-in-law to join in the revelries importunately, where upon the sage uttered the imprecation that Kamsa would die at the hands of one of the offspring of the very marital union which she was thus shamelessly celebrating in wine. When Jivad-yaśā came to her sen sey, she told Kamsa what had happened. Kamsa was frightened. So, without telling Basudeva the real fact, he simply requested him to hand over to him the children, as soon as they would be born to him. The unsuspecting Basudeva agreed to it. Afterwards, when he came to know the real facts, his grief knew no bounds. Dövaki gave birth to six sons, one after the other. It is said that at the very times when these sons were born, Sulasił, wife of the merchant Nāga of Mahili-pura-nagara, gave birth to six dead children. At the instance of a god of the heavens, the sons of Dēvaki were taken to and kept with Sulasă whose dead children were in a similar manner taken to and kept with Devaki. The cruel Kamsa took away the dead children thinking them to be Devaki's and smashed them on a stone. Dëvaki's real children were thus saved and not killed,-as according to tbe Vedic Purānas. The Jaina Purānas state that Krishna was the seventh child of Devaki. Krishna was stealthily taken to Yasodā, wife of Nanda of Gokula and Yasõda's daughter was handed over to Kamsa. Kamsa, however, did not attempt to kill the female child, as described in the Vedic Purānas. He thought that the prediction was false, in as

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