________________
G. K. Bhat
that the details that the dramatist has presented, namely, Vasudeva's simple attempt to carry away the child to a safe place, leaving it in the custody of Nandagopa and then carrying away the girl, available by a lucky coincidence, to use as a substitute, may have been the features of the early legend before it was wrapped with mystery and miracle,
26
(iii) In the present legend the relations between Vasudeva and Nandagopa are not precisely defined, The Harivamsa describes Kamsa as the lord of the cows and Nandagopa as a cowherd under his sway14, Nanda's wife Yasoda was apparently liked by Kamsa15. The Bhagavata tells us that Vasudeva's wives including Rohini were secretly living in Nanda's village out of fear of Kamsale. Later, when Nanda had come to Kamsa to pay his annual taxes Vasudeva went out to meet him, Nanda embraced him as a brother and was sorry to find that loving friends cannot stay together. The Bhagavata thus assures of a close, affectionate and friendly tie between the two.
Bhasa on the other hand, shows Nandagopa to be a serf of Vasudeva, Kamsa, as the king, is the supreme lord over the entire land of his king. dom. But Vasudeva is Nandagopa's 'master' and the latter calls him as such. We also learn that Vasudeva, at the order of Kamsa, had to inflict punishment on Nandagopa for some offence that he had committed, Nandagopa was whipped with lashes and fettered, Nanda enters the stage dragging his fettered foot18. This picture of the relations between the two enables Bhasa to make the impending meeting full of dramatic tension and also to create a fine human personality out of Nandagopa.
Is this a departure from the legend in order to introduce a touching dramatic motive or does it reflect an earller phase of a simple legend? The point is of course difficult to be decided. But it is interesting to see that the Ghata Jataka which recounts the story of Kamsa and his sister Devagabbha refers to Nandagopa as the serving woman or maid of Devagabbhal, with whom the latter exchanged her ten sons for her ten daugh. ters in order to escape their slaughter at the hand of Kamsa. The Jataka version is quite likely to be a later one. It indicates only that a certain tradition may have looked upon Nandagopa and his wife as a possibility Vasudeva's servants.
(iv) Towards the close of the first act, when Nandagopa accepts the responsibility of looking after the child Krsna, the dramatist presents an actual vision of Visnu's vehicle and his weapons. These are presented In human form on the stage and verse and prose speeches are assigned to them. Visnu's weapons and his vehicle, the Eagle, are quite well-known. Their presentation on the stage, although it deviates from the purāņa story, may have been added for a definite dramatic effect. It reveals and
