KRISHNA CORIOLIS#1: Slayer of Kamsa (30 page)

Then he was silent for another half hour. Just standing there, brooding, eyes rolling in separate directions, wildly.

Finally, Bana dared to speak up again.‘What shall we do, sire? Shall we do a purge, round up the most obvious troublemakers and make examples of them as usual?’

Kamsa started, as if disturbed out of deep thought. ‘What? Oh yes. Of course. No, we shall dispense with the usual methods this time. This calls for something more drastic.’

‘Yes,sire?’

Kamsa toyed with something growing out of the underside of his ear. Canura looked away, unable to watch.

‘The people believe that my slayer has been born today. So we shall rid them of this notion. We shall kill the slayer wherever he might be.’

‘But, My Lord, we do not know where he is.’ ‘Exactly. Therefore we shall kill them all.’
‘All, sire?’ ‘Allthenewborns.Maleandfemale.Acrossallthe

Yadava nations.’
Bana and Canura stared at him, speechless. Kamsa’s left eye peered at them. ‘Assemble every

soldier. Every last one. We shall need them all.’ ‘Even the reserves, sire?’
‘Yes!’
They flinched. Kamsa was regaining his normal

tone and volume now. He stalked the hall, looking like a man who had reached a decision at last after long pondering.

‘They believe a slayer has been born to save them. We shall see to it that this slayer, whoever he may
be, wherever he may be, will not live to see another day, let alone live long enough to slay me. We shall do this today, and quell all rebellion, all challengers, onceandforall.Weshallslayeverynewbornchildin the Yadava nations today. Assemble the army, divide all the men and send them out to start work at once. Tell them to kill every newborn child ...’ He paused. ‘No, make that every child born in the past ten days, just to be sure they don’t trick us by pretending he was born last week or the week before. When in doubt, kill all the infants, even the children if you like. Cut off their heads and bring them to me. I want a full tally by tomorrow morning.’

He looked around at the hall filled with stunned faces staring up at him.‘What are you all looking at, you fools?’

Bana looked at Canura, then back at Kamsa.‘Sire, you don’t mean
all
of them, do you? I mean ...’ he trailed off.

Canura spoke up.‘What Bana means, sire, is that he and his wife have just had twins ... three days ago...’ He gestured around the hall.‘There must be hundreds of our
own
soldiers whose wives have delivered babies in the past few days as well.’

Kamsa grinned a lopsided grin.‘Then we must start with
them
first. Setting an example. Bana, let us see these bonny twins of yours, hey?’

Kamsa began to expand himself, cracking open the roof of the sabha hall, growing enormous. ‘AND
ANY MAN WHO ATTEMPTS TO DECEIVE ME OR SPARES A CHILD, I SHALL KILL HIM AND HIS ENTIRE FAMILY MYSELF. SLAYER OF KAMSA, IS IT? WELL, THEN LET ME BE CALLED THE SLAYER OF MATHURA TODAY. OR BETTER STILL, THE CHILDSLAYER!’

And then he raised his head to the sky and roared his fury. The sound reverberated for yojanas around.

‘VISHNU, I AM COMING FOR YOU!’

And as if in response, the sky replied with a burst of thunder that shook the palace to its foundations.

Also in the Krishna Coriolis Series

The prophesied Slayer of Kamsa has been born and smuggled out of Mathura in the dead of night. Kamsa finds that his nephew has escaped and flies into a demoniac rage. Meanwhile, Jarasandha of Magadha arrives in Mathura with his coterie of powerful supporters to ensure that Kamsa stays loyal to him. But Kamsa is not to be crushed. With the help of Putana, a powerful demoness living incognito among humans, he slowly regains his strength and acquires new powers. Packed with surprising insights into the characters of Kamsa and Putana, Dance of Govinda is a brilliant interpretation of the nature of evil in a world that teeters on the edge of violence.

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Infant Krishna and his half-brother Balarama are the most mischievous children in all of Gokuldham, getting up to all sorts of pranks, raiding neighbours’ dahi handis and letting the calves run free. But disciplining God Incarnate is no easy task. It slowly dawns on Mother Yashoda that the babe she is trying to protect is in fact the protector of the entire world! As Krishna survives one horrific asura attack after the other, she comes to terms with the true identity of her adopted son. Meanwhile, Kamsa despatches a team of otherworldly assassins to slay his nemesis. Harried by Kamsa’s forces, Krishna’s adoptive father, the peace-loving Nanda Maharaja, is forced to lead his people into exile. They find safe haven in idyllic Vrindavan. But even in this paradise, deadly demons lurk…

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As Krishna grows into youthful manhood, Kamsa grows ever more desperate to kill his nemesis. With Jarasandha’s aid, the rakshasa-king launches a relentless campaign of demonic assault against Krishna–and his fellow Vrishnis. Young gopi Radha learns to her sadness that Krishna cannot return her love when he has the fate of all humankind in his hands. Finally the day of the prophecy arrives and the stage is set for the final showdown between Krishna the boy-god and Kamsa, lord of Mathura.

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Also in the Krishna Coriolis Series

Kamsa the Usurper has been slain. Krishna has fulfilled the prophecy. But barely has he restored old King Ugrasena to the throne of Mathura when a new threat rears its head. Jarasandha of Magadha encircles Mathura with a great army. Even if Krishna and Balarama fight like superheroes, they cannot possibly save the citizens of Mathura. Or can they? The Krishna Coriolis series ramps up to an epic new level of thrills and excitement in this 5th and most exciting installment of the bestselling series.

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