Greatly alarmed by the unexpected frustration of his plans, Kansa collects his friends, and, addressing them, said: "The vile and contemptible denizens of heaven are assiduously plotting against my life; they dreading my prowess, I hold them of no account. Have I not seen the king of the gods, when he had ventured into the conflict, receiving my shafts upon his back, and not bravely upon his breast? Now, it is my determination to inflict still deeper degradation upon these evil-minded and unprincipled gods. Let therefore every man who is notorious for liberality (in gifts to gods and Brahmans), every man who is remarkable for his celebration of sacrifices, be put to death; that thus the gods shall be deprived of the means by which they subsist. The goddess who has been born as the infant child of Devaki has announced to me that he is again alive who in a former being was .my death. Let therefore active search be made for whatever young children there may be upon earth, and let every boy in whom there are signs of unusual vigour be slain without remorse." Soon after this, as he feared nothing more from them, he released Vasudeva and Devaki from their confinement, and, in dread of meeting his great enemy, withdrew into the inner apartments of his house.

On regaining his liberty, Vasudeva speedily sought out Nanda, who of course was unaware of the change of children effected by Vasudeva, and, after congratulating him on the birth of a son, suggested the advisability of his returning home; as, having paid his taxes, there was nothing to detain him in the city. He feared

lest the spies of Kansa should notice the peculiar excellences of the child, and destroy him according to Kansa's order. At the same time he took his other child by Rohini (Balarama), and placed him under the care of Nanda to be brought up as his own child. By this means, as Rama and Lakshman were inseparable companions in the previous incarnation, Krishna and Balarama were as intimately connected in this.

The herdsman Nanda and his family had not been long settled at Gokula before efforts were made to destroy the infant Krishna. A female fiend named Putana, the sucking of whose breast was instant death to an infant, came by night, and, taking the child in her arms, offered him her breast. Krishna seized it with both hands, and sucked with such violence that the hideous being roared with pain, and giving way in every joint fell down dead. The villagers hearing the shrieks rushed into the house to see what was the matter. Yasoda waved a cow's tail brush over him, whilst Nanda put dried cow-dung upon his head, and, placing an amulet on his arm, besought Vishnu to protect the child.