Retelling an ancient story of the Preserver-God’s foremost incarnation, Krishna.
In an ancient kingdom, the Queen gives birth to a baby boy with three eyes and four arms. Aghast, the parents lament their bad fortune, but a celestial voice1 in the sky foretells their son’s future: The extra eye and arms would disappear when touched by the right person. Alongside this bit of cheerful news, it announces that the same person will also become responsible for their son’s death.
Upon hearing the joyous news of a new baby cousin born to his aunt in the Royal family, Krishna arrives to visit her, as was the custom, and to bless the baby.
As he approaches, the baby’s third eye disappears, and when Krishna cradles the baby in his lap, the extra arms vanish.
Watching this unfold, Krishna’s aunt becomes afraid for her baby son.
Her beautiful baby boy, and Krishna, her dear nephew. Her mother’s heart refuses to accept the voice’s ominous prediction.
“No, Krishna, no. My dear boy, You cannot.” She wails and tells him of the prophecy.
She begins to cry and begs Krishna’s mercy to spare her son’s life, unable to accept the fate entwining the lives of the two cousins.
Moved by the mother's love, Krishna makes a solemn promise. He assures her that he would not initiate any harmful action against her son. However, if her son were to commit moral inequities, then that would be a different matter.
Despite Krishna's assurance, his aunt refuses to accept this answer. She fervently begs him to spare her son’s life.
Again, moved by her prayers, Krishna pledges to forgive her son one-hundred mistakes committed against him.
With this assurance, the mother is satisfied. Surely, her son, nurtured under her loving care and within the auspices of the Royal family alongside noble cousins, would not be inclined to commit that many mistakes against Krishna.
The son though raised in a loving environment, grows up with an inexplicable jealousy and hatred of Krishna.
Thus, the influence of ‘samskaras,’ as the ancient texts define it, where the imprint of past actions that a soul carries with it through many births2, becomes evident in his actions.
The son reaches adulthood and is thwarted in his desire to marry a Princess who chooses Krishna instead. The son challenges Krishna, but loses the duel. The son’s hatred festers unchecked and becomes an obsession with him. He takes every opportunity to abuse Krishna in front of whomever would listen.
Some apprise Krishna of his cousin’s acts, but he merely smiles, preventing them from reacting to it.
So, one fine day dawns when Krishna is invited as the guest of honor to an ancient ceremony by the righteous five brothers and their wife, Princess Draupadi. Krishna is accorded the highest honors among all the guests present at the ceremony.
The cousin, filled with hate, has now become a king after his father’s death. He too, is invited to participate in the festivities.
Yet, just as he arrives in the Royal Court, he happens to see the honor being accorded to Krishna. His anger unbound, he begins to heap verbal abuses on Krishna in a full Court filled with dignitaries from vast lands who have come to bless the five brothers.
He calls Krishna a coward and unfit to be the recipient of such honor. He calls on the five brothers to reject such a dishonorable friend. Recounting all his grievances, the son asks the Court to bear witness to Krishna’s actions, calling them unfair and evil.
Smarting from losing the Princess as a wife, he accuses Krishna of being a hypocrite and cheating others.
He shrugs off the efforts of other Kings to make him stop, claiming he is not afraid of Krishna, unlike the others.
The son, mistaking Krishna’s kindness for weakness, grows bolder in his speech and accusations, even as Krishna remains calm.
Finally, after enduring a continued series of verbal abuses, Krishna, bound by his promise to his aunt, warns his cousin to cease, cautioning that he has no more room.
Still drunk from his power, having gotten away with his previous acts of abuse, the son remains convinced he can do no wrong.
On the one-hundredth and one-th time, he abuses him, Krishna unleashes his weapon - the Divine discus held on his fingers that appears on command - and beheads his cousin. When the discus returns to rest on Krishna’s fingers, it accidentally cuts his finger, causing him to bleed. That’s when Princess Draupadi tears a piece of her expensive saree and binds Krishna’s wounded finger, placing him in her debt—a debt he later repays when she needs it the most, as recounted in this tale.
After the son's death, the Court watches in amazement as his soul merges into Krishna. At this, the eldest of the five brothers, the most righteous, asks the Preserver-God’s foremost devotee Narada to explain how a person who hated the very sight of God achieved salvation.
Narada explains that the son obsessed with his hatred for Krishna, thought of Him incessantly. The constant focus on God and His name liberated the cousin’s soul. Nevertheless, Narada cautions the eldest brother that hatred is not the way to God — love is the only true path.
Thus, Krishna forgave one hundred mistakes of his cousin, who hated him at every turn and also liberated his soul.
Takeaways
A mother’s love can help avert disaster even in the face of impending doom.
God forgives and redeems, always.
An evil soul intent on destruction will find a way to it on its own.
Several key mythological stories have this notion of a celestial voice in the sky known as ‘Akashvani’ in Sanskrit [Akash (sky) + vani (speech) ] that usually foretells the future to puzzled humans. It may be a friendly or resentful celestial being based on the havoc the news causes, but this is never revealed. From this term, is derived the name of modern-day India’s national state-run radio service - Akashvani or All India Radio.
The son was the demon H1 in the story below in his previous birth.
Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing this enchanting story.
Ah. This is a beautiful story. Heard of it for the first time. The Mahabharata always has something new to offer. Good read Jayshree.