Week 11 Story: Destiny Awaits You
Destiny Awaits You
Many years ago, in Mathura, there lived a King named Kamsa.
The people of Mathura were unhappy with the King and lived a very dreadful
life. King Kamsa destroyed anything or anyone that would threaten him or
Mathura. But his destiny was awaiting him.
King Kamsa had a cousin sister name Devaki. She recently got
married to a man named Vasudev. While arranging their marriage, the universe
told King Kamsa that Devaki's eighth child would bring misfortune to him.
Hearing this, King Kamsa was enraged and decided to kill them right then and
there. But seeing that it was his family, he decided to not kill them. Instead,
King Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and her husband.
King Kamsa was aware each time Devaki gave birth to a child.
As evil-minded as he was, he decided to kill every one of the babies she
produced to be cautious. This brought so much grief to Devaki and Vasudev. On
the night the eighth child was born, Kamsa knew that his time had come.
That night Vasudev, guided by his intuition, left Mathura
with baby Krishna. As he stepped out of the cell, he noticed that all the
guards were fast asleep. As he reached the waters of the Yamuna, he wondered
how he would cross the raging waters. Immediately a majestic serpent came out
of the water. The serpent protected Vasudev and baby Krishna across the waters
to the village of Gokul. Here a woman named Yashoda just gave birth to a baby girl
that night. Vasudev replaced baby Maya with baby Krishna and left Gokul.
Upon return to Mathura, he placed baby Maya next to Devaki.
Within a few moments, King Kamsa entered the cell and beamed with cynicism
seeing the eighth child. He immediately picked the child up, but before tried
to kill baby Maya, she fell out of his hands. Startled, he looked up to see the
mighty Goddess Durga appear in front of him. She spoke words of wisdom and
truth.
“King Kamsa! You undermined me because I am a woman. Nonetheless,
you cannot run away from your destiny”.
Goddess Durga disappeared and King Kamsa, Devaki, and
Vasudev were left in the prison cell. King Kamsa knew he would not be able to
outwit his own destiny.
Author’s Note: I really enjoyed watching the story of Krishna
and found the theme of destiny to be fascinating. So, I retold the story of King
Kamsa running away from his destiny be killing all the children of Devaki and
Vasudev.
Hi Aarushi, this was a fun story to read! I enjoyed the perspective from King Kamsa as it made me feel like I could understand what the antagonist of the story was going through. The focus on him rather than the original protagonists of the source material made for a unique and interesting take on this tale. The writing felt natural and I didn't get the feeling that you had to force elements into the plot or rush the ending.
ReplyDeleteHi Aarushi! I loved reading your retelling of this part of Krishna's tale. I myself was also fascinated by this story, especially what Devaki and Vasudev must have been going through. I also think a retelling in which Kamsa realizes the error of his ways and changes so that Krishna doesn't have to kill him would make a great story.
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