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72
[Holy Abu
(fig. 16). The following story will explain the scenes carvd one this slab.
Kamsa, the son of Yadava Ugrasena, ruling at Mathurā, was a cousin brother of Devaki, the daughter of Devaka of the city of Mṛttikavati. He was thus the maternal uncle of Krshna, the son of Devakī, and was married to the daughter of king Jarasandha of Magadha. Putting his father into prison, Kamsa usurped the throne.
Being a friend of Kamsa, Vasudeva spent most of his time at Mathura where Kamsa arranged the former's marriage with Devaki, his own cousin sister. In honour of this marriage, Kamsa celebrated a big festival in Mathurā. During the festival, Atimuktaka muni, a former brother of Kamsa, entered the state-palace for obtaining alms. Jivayasha, the queen of Kamsa, was at the moment intoxicated with wine and insulted the saint who said," the seventh issue of this very pair, whose marriage you are celebrating, The will be the destroyer of your husband and father." words brought Jivayashā back to her senses and she ran to report the matter to Kamsa. Knowing that the words of the saint would be infallible, Kamsa became afraid of his future and immediately took a promise from his friend Vasudeva that the latter would hand over his first seven issues to Kamsa. Thinking that the friend wanted to bring up the issues as his own, Vasudeva innocently gave the promise. But every time a child was born, Kamsa took it and dashed it to pieces. This gave much pain to Vasudeva and Devaki who were bound by a promise. At last when the seventh child was born, the heart of the Mother could bear this no longer and she requested the husband to transport the son safely at mid-night to the house of their friend Nanda and his wife Yashoda staying in Gokula on the other side of the river Yamuna. Vasudeva did so and brought
