6 
G. A. Grierson —Translation to Ma^ihodlis Haribaiis. [Sp. Ko. 
that moment! Even so impassable a river as the Yamnna became forda¬ 
ble. Yasoda slept overpowered by Yoga Nidra; and as she slept^ by 
night the babes were changed. The one,—a girl —, was taken from 
her and (Devaki) sent her to Kamsa and what^ she said (to him) has 
been (already) told (by me) 
When Kamsa heard the story told by Karada the saint, his sonl flew 
from him (in terror). (30) He called there his maidservant,—very vicions^ 
was the witch Pntana. Gazing round upon the countenances of all, he 
cried ‘ Slay all the babes ye find, spare not one; seize them, and seize 
them, and dash them upon the stones, but see and be careful that 
they fly not from your hands into the skies.^ If any infant show signs 
of being very fearless,® ye shall certainly'^ twist his throat.”® All of 
them said, “ we will do all this,—whatever, my lord, you may desire. 
Tremble not.”^ (35) His attendants all gave a howl, as Kamsa went to 
the prison, and unbound Devaki and Yasudeva, saying, “ Do not ye blame 
me, but your fate. He who will trouble me hath been born elsewhere 
to no purpose, have I cut of£ your progeny. I am full of shame, and 
cannot even look ye in face; who is he who can seize and imprison his 
sister and her spouse ? Pardon me, I have been guilty of a great impro¬ 
priety,” saying these words Kamsa departed to his sleeping room. 
(40) When Yasoda’s sleep broke, she rejoiced like a beggar who hath 
stolen jewels and wealth, while the bosom of her husband Kanda could 
not contain its joy, as tears of gladness overflowed his eyes. As soon as 
it was dawn, there rose cries (of joy) in the town; who can describe 
the gladness of that hour ! The cowherdesses passed over each other’s 
heads oil and vermilion, and here and there put handfuls on each other.^^ 
^ is loo. of fern, of past participle of ^ 
^ Regarding tlie ■z\ in see note ^ page 2. 
3 See I, 37. 
derived from ‘ fire,’ means ‘ inflammatory,’ lienee ‘ vicious. 
The word is not given in Bate, 
3 Kamsa is warning them after his own experience with Yasoda’s daughter, which, 
imagining to he Devaki’s eighth child he had dashed upon the washerman’s stone, 
and which had escaped from him and flown to the skies, as prophesied by Vishnu in 
I, 35. The description of this incident is omitted in the poem. 
‘ fearless,’ not in Bate. 
^ lit. ‘ having commenced,’ is used to mean ‘ certainly.’ 
3 ‘ throat,’ not in Bate in this sense. 
9 is a prohibitive particle, used only in the sense 
of the Imperative. Here the past tense indicative is used exceptionally in the sense 
of the Imperat., for the sake of rhyme. 
i. e., Kamsa was under the impression that Krishna was Yasoda’s child. 
going here and there.’ handful of oil and vermilion.’ 
