Week 10 Story: A Little Love

Hastin was the meanest kid on the playground. If any other kid had the audacity to look at him strangely, Hastin was ready to fight. He was the strongest kid at Mathura Elementary and the other students quickly learned to stay out of his way. One day at lunch, an arrogant fifth grader, Richie, decided he would try and provoke Hastin to get him expelled. He began to shoot spit balls at Hastin and mocked the way he looked and spoke. Hastin began to get really angry, but then one of the smallest fourth graders sat down right next to him.

"Hiya, my name is Krishna! I'm new to this school and could really use a friend, can I sit here?"

Hastin was baffled by this small boy coming to sit by him, but he grunted out a "sure" and got back to his rectangle pizza. Krishna carried on the conversation, with Hastin replying with mostly grunts and nods. When the bell rang for recess, Krishna asked Hastin if he would like to stay inside with him and go to the music room. Hastin, still amazed by Krishna's kindness, agreed.

Hastin realized quickly that Krishna was a very talented musician and asked if he could play some of his favorite songs on the flute. Krishna happily obliged and Hastin was singing along by the end of recess.

(Krishna playing for Hastin; Image Source)

This continued for the next couple of weeks, with Hastin growing more and more friendly to those around him. He explained to Krishna what it was like at home for him and that he was mean to kids at school so that they didn't have a chance to be mean first. Krishna patted his friend on the back and reminded him that violence was never the way. Hastin chuckled and agreed with his new friend, thanking the gods that Krishna transferred to Mathura Elementary.

Author's Note:
This story is inspired by Episode 12 of the Epified Krishna videos, "Krishna Rides Hastin." I decided to make Hastin a misunderstood bully who everyone was scared of, and that some even antagonized just to get a reaction. These character traits are fairly constant with the original, but he is now a boy rather than a bull. I thought it would be neat to have Krishna display his kindness to Hastin and show the transformation that can occur when someone is kind, because this story is just as applicable to people as it is to bulls.

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna Part B

I'm finishing up the Krishna videos, these have been super helpful in understanding Krishna's life and legacy! 

Episode 11: Krishna Humbles Brahma

• Brahma, the creator of the universe, appears when Krishna is having lunch with his shepherd friends
• Brahma shames Krishna for sharing his food with cow herders
• Brahma kidnaps his friends and the cows
• Krishna quickly learns it was Brahma behind this trick
• Krishna recreates his friends and the cows from himself so that they don't appear to be missing
• Brahma returns a year later and realizes that everyone around him was Krishna - he falls to his knees and apologizes to Krishna, then returns the people and cows

Episode 12: Krishna Rides Hastin

• Hastin was the biggest and strongest bull. He was the sire of every cow in the area
• Krishna declares that he will ride Hastin and of course, no one believes him
• For the next month, Krishna visited Hastin every night and played the flute, fed him sweet food, etc. 
• Hastin became quite docile and at the next full moon, Krishna rode Hastin through the village
• The villagers came to understand that kindness is the ultimate strength

Episode 13: The Saviour of Dharma

• Radha and Krishna could not live one moment without each other, but when Krishna told his mother he wanted to marry Radha, she did not approve
• The priest told Krishna he couldn't marry Radha because his destiny was something else - the truth of his birth was revealed to him and he realized he was the deliverer the sages talked about
• The revelation made him very sad because he couldn't stay with his people or with Radha

Episode 14: Akrur Invites Krishna

• Kamsa sends Akrur to invite Krishna to an event
• Akrur had the purest feelings toward Krishna
• Akrur warns Krishna that Kamsa means to kill him at this event 

Episode 15: Krishna's Farewell

• All of Krishna's people tried to stop him from going because they couldn't imagine life without him
• He said he had to leave his safe shelter to perform his duties
• Akrur sees Krishna's true form, Vishnu, but Krishna is not aware

Episode 16: Krishna Arrives at Mathura

• As Krishna arrived in Mathura, he quickly made friends with the people 
• Stories of his kindness and heroics quickly spread
• An old woman goes to Krishna and asks for healing from her deformities, and he grants her health
• His fame spread, and reached the ears of Kamsa

Episode 17: Krishna Kills Kuvalayapida

• Kamsa knew that his life was in Krishna's hands
• He knew this was his last chance to do away with Krisha
• Kuvalayapida was a full grown, aggressive, uncontrollable elephant - Kamsa plans to use this elephant to trample and kill Krishna
• When Krishna found the elephant, it attacked him, but Krishna grabbed hold of the trunk and threw him away, then knocked him unconscious 

Episode 18: Krishna Kills Kamsa

• Krishna effortlessly lifts the divine bow, which was meant for Vishnu
• When Krishna began to string the bow, the bow snapped
• Kamsa flips out, as the breaking of the bow sealed his death
• Krishna and his brother fight all of Kamsa's men
• When Krishna approaches Kamsa, Kamsa sees Vishnu's face
• Krishna defeats Kamsa, much to the joy of the people

Episode 19: Freedom for Mathura

• Akrur frees Krishna's grandfather from prison
• Next, Krishna's parents are freed from prison
• Kamsa's father becomes king of Mathura
• Krishna and his brother continue to live in Mathura instead of going back to their home

Episode 20: Dwarka - Krishna's Kingdom

• The allies of Kamsa were very angry at the turn of events in Mathura
• They waged war against Mathura, leaving it in ruins
• Krishna asked the king to shift Mathura to another place, but the king was worried that they'd be seen as cowards
• The king finally agrees and the divine architect builds a new city for Mathura in Dwarka 
• In Dwarka, Krishna becomes king and takes over the administration of the new city
• Everyone knew Krishna could've defeated the other armies, but he spared them because he knew that later, they would meet their end at the hands of the Pandavas

(Krishna playing his flute; Gif Source)

Reading Notes: Epified Krishna Part A

I liked the Epified videos for the Mahabharata a lot, so I thought I would watch the ones for Krishna as well! I'm going to continue the same basic notes format I did when watching the past videos because it helped me understand the facts that I often get jumbled up in, so that I could later refer back to those as needed. 

Introduction: Krishna Comes

• Krishna had enemies before he was even born who tried to prevent him from ever being born, and then from ever growing up.
• He kept surviving, then went on to become a king and so much more 
• "They did not know that he was not a part of their world, they were a part of his world."

Episode 1: Kamsa

• On the same day Arjuna was born, Krishna was born as well
• Kamsa was a cruel king 
• He was told that the eighth child of his sister would kill him, so he locked her and her husband up, swearing to kill their eighth born
• He killed every child they had, but the seventh child was transferred to another's womb due to an act of a goddess
• The eighth child filled the prison cell with a divine light because Vishnu had come to the earth as Krishna

Episode 2: Vasudev Meets Yamuna

• Vasudev (Krishna's father) was worried because he knew his brother in law would come for Krishna
• Suddenly, the prison gates were opened and Vasudev heard a voice telling him that it was safe to go outside
• A sleep had fallen over the whole kingdom
• Vasudev went to the Yamuna (river) and asked her for help
• A serpent appeared and protected Vasudev and Krishna from the storm and the river as Vasudev walked across to the other bank
• He enters a camp and leaves his son with another woman, taking the newborn in exchange (Maya)

Episode 3: Durga Speaks to Kamsa

• Kamsa laughs when he sees the "eight child" is a girl, thinking that he is safe since he could never be killed by a woman
• The moment he raised his hand to kill the girl, she turned into Durga
• Durga tells him he is a fool for judging her for being a woman
• She says that his destiny will still consume him, as his slayer had already been born and was safe far away 

(The goddess Durga; Image Source)

Episode 4: Putana

• The mother who Krishna was left with was perplexed when she woke up next to a boy, rather than the girl she had given birth to
• Holy men and travelers from all over came to visit her and see her children, speaking blessings and love for Krishna
• A woman, Putana, came and grew very close to the family (in reality, she was sent by Kamsa)
• One night, she changed into a demonness and stole Krishna away from the house
• She fed Krishna poisoned milk, but Krishna was feeding on her and taking everything from her

Episode 5: Maakhan Chor

• A cart came rolling down a hill at Krishna, but he kicked it and it was destroyed
• Krishna became a troublemaker in the village - he and his friends liked to steal butter, giving him his nickname of Maakhan Chor 

Episode 6: Krishna's Mouth

• Krishna ate mud and when his mother came out, she forced his mouth open
• When she looked into his mouth, she didn't see mud, she saw the entire universe (sun moon, stars, planets, every creature, eternity, etc.)
• Just as her mind was about to burst, she came back to reality
• She came to terms with the fact that her son was the Brahman himself (Vishnu, just like Rama)

Episode 7: Dreams and Music

• Krishna's village travels to a new home
• Around this time, he became very interested in music
• He picked up the flute and learned it quickly, like he had always known how to play
• One day when he was playing, it suddenly got silent
• When he went to his friends, he found that they were all unconscious. He challenges the snake of the river who had poisoned them all
• Krishna begins to play his flute and to its rhythm, he jumped on the snake and danced, forcing the snake to withdraw
• It became clear to everyone that Krishna was an avatar

(Krishna with his flute; Image Source)

Episode 8: Kamsa's Terrors

• Krishna grew into a young man
• Every demon who came after the village met its end at Krishna's hands
• Kamsa was quickly running out of monsters, but he kept trying to get Krishna killed

Episode 9: The Govardhan Hill

• Krishna tells his neighbors to honor the Govardhan Hill rather than Indra
• Indra gets very angry and sends a terrible storm to the people
• Krishna consoled the people and lifted the Govardhan Hill with his little finger, making it an umbrella to protect them from Indra's wrath
• Indra descends and begs Krishna's forgiveness

Episode 10: Radha's Love

• Krishna loved Radha
• They grew up together and their love for each other made them one soul