In this episode of Mahabharata Shri Krishna is born in order to vanquish the tyrant Kansa. But his birth requires that six of his brothers must die.
After Kansa learns of the prophecy, he locks his sister Devaki and brother in-law Vasudev in a dungeon so that he can kill their sons as they are born. And when Devaki gives birth to a baby boy, Kansa flings the infant into the prison wall, killing him instantly and leaving only a bloodstain on that wall. Kansa kills a total of six babies this way.
When Devaki is pregnant with her seventh child, Vasudev’s other wife Rohini sneaks into their cell, uses a spell to transfer the fetus to her womb and thereby smuggles him out of the prison. Kansa is surprised by this at first, but then surmises that son #7 must have been too scared to be born and thereby self-terminated. Actually, Rohini had secretly spirited the baby away to be raised in the village of Gokul by Vasudev’s friend Nanda and his wife Yashodha.
Later, when Krishna, the prophesied eighth son is born, the most blatant version of a Deus ex Machina is used to spirit him away to Nanda and Yashoda. The prison guards just faint, the doors swing open, the chains binding Vasudev break, and a terrible squall rages outside, preventing any news from reaching Kansa. Vasudev makes an arduous trek through the storm, across the river Yamuna to reach his friend Nanda in Gokul, Nanda swaps Krishna for his own newborn daughter, who he hands over to Vasudev. They hope that Kansa spares her because she is a girl, thereby apparently violating the prophecy.
Tropes found here are
- Born During a Storm: Krishna is deliberately born during a particularly nasty thunderstorm so that Vasudev can take advantage of it to smuggle him to Gokul village, while Kansa is forced to remain in the safety of his palace.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Kansa, the baby killer.
- Death of a Child: Death count - six newborns.
- Despair Event Horizon: Devaki slides in right after her firstborn is murdered.
- Deus ex Machina: Krishna’s “escape”. The prison guards just faint, the doors swing open, the chains binding Vasudev break, and a terrible squall rages outside, preventing any news from reaching Kansa. Vasudev makes an arduous trek through the storm, across the river Yamuna to reach his friend Nanda in Gokul, but a cobra carries them across the water, using its head to shield them from the rain.
- Eviler than Thou: Devaki pleads with Kansa that even the rakshasa demons don’t kill their own babies.
- Forced to Watch: Having to watch chained up and helpless, while Kansa murders six of your newborn babies. This is Vasudev and Devaki’s fate.
- Switched at Birth: Krishna is swapped for “Nandini”.
