1. Krsna has his hand on a friend's shoulder when Aristasura attacks, showing he doesn't take him very seriously.
2. We must be deriving ajnata-sukrti from the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, even now. We can realize this imperceptible benefit of his association by, for instance, reading his books.
3. One wonders about the stupidity of Kamsa's plan. The elephant is his first line of defense, followed by WRESTLERS?
If the elephant can't take them out, how could the men? Perhaps he was realizing that he was pretty much dead already, so he kind of lost it.
Also, as King, he still had to put on a show of fairness. To have soldiers would show he was an outright rogue, so the wrestlers were part of the show, an excuse as it were to bring the boys from Vrndavana, being well known for Their wrestling etc. activities. The excuse of the pageant was used to bring the boys and show the spectacle of the King subduing all his enemies.
In all these stories, we find the participants very much under the influence of powerful controlling social customs and norms. Almost never do we find characters of total independence or acting with no knowledge of custom; those that do are usually the demons!
Yes, Kamsa did not send armies, rather he sent powerful magicians and demons against Krsna and Balarama. At this time, Krsna was still young, and had not yet been engaged in ksatriya activities and great epic scenes of battle. The demons insisted on pushing against them, threatening the residents of Vrndavana itself. Balarama and Krishna took the battle away from the village, and the result in due course was Kuruksetra.
"the material world is so contaminated that even in Vrndavana the asuras or demons tried to disturb the peaceful situation." And this we see; the more one tries to be a good servant of Godhead, the more the objectors will try to stop you. Aristasura was so big, clouds hovered over him!
Again, Vasudeva is put in prison by Kamsa. A wrestling bout is arranged; 5000 years ago, they apparently also enjoyed this type of spectacle.
Like any mad king, Kamsa makes plans to murder all opposition and steal everything, and to do so calls in his friends, who are of similar insanity. Things have not changed so much in 5000 years among humans!
Replies
1. Krsna has his hand on a friend's shoulder when Aristasura attacks, showing he doesn't take him very seriously.
2. We must be deriving ajnata-sukrti from the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, even now. We can realize this imperceptible benefit of his association by, for instance, reading his books.
3. One wonders about the stupidity of Kamsa's plan. The elephant is his first line of defense, followed by WRESTLERS?
If the elephant can't take them out, how could the men? Perhaps he was realizing that he was pretty much dead already, so he kind of lost it.
Also, as King, he still had to put on a show of fairness. To have soldiers would show he was an outright rogue, so the wrestlers were part of the show, an excuse as it were to bring the boys from Vrndavana, being well known for Their wrestling etc. activities. The excuse of the pageant was used to bring the boys and show the spectacle of the King subduing all his enemies.
In all these stories, we find the participants very much under the influence of powerful controlling social customs and norms. Almost never do we find characters of total independence or acting with no knowledge of custom; those that do are usually the demons!
Yes, Kamsa did not send armies, rather he sent powerful magicians and demons against Krsna and Balarama. At this time, Krsna was still young, and had not yet been engaged in ksatriya activities and great epic scenes of battle. The demons insisted on pushing against them, threatening the residents of Vrndavana itself. Balarama and Krishna took the battle away from the village, and the result in due course was Kuruksetra.
"the material world is so contaminated that even in Vrndavana the asuras or demons tried to disturb the peaceful situation." And this we see; the more one tries to be a good servant of Godhead, the more the objectors will try to stop you. Aristasura was so big, clouds hovered over him!
Again, Vasudeva is put in prison by Kamsa. A wrestling bout is arranged; 5000 years ago, they apparently also enjoyed this type of spectacle.
Like any mad king, Kamsa makes plans to murder all opposition and steal everything, and to do so calls in his friends, who are of similar insanity. Things have not changed so much in 5000 years among humans!