Kamsa- Hindu DemonDemon"Tyrant of Mathura"

The Usurper

Kamsa overthrew his own father, King Ugrasena of the Bhoja dynasty, and seized the throne of Mathura. He imprisoned Ugrasena and married the daughters of Jarasandha, the powerful king of Magadha, securing an ally no neighboring kingdom could challenge. The Bhagavata Purana identifies him as a reincarnation of the asura Kalanemi, whom Vishnu had killed in a previous age.

The Prophecy

At the wedding of his cousin Devaki to the nobleman Vasudeva, a celestial voice announced that Devaki's eighth son would be Kamsa's destroyer. Kamsa drew his sword to kill Devaki on the spot. Vasudeva stopped him with a promise: he would surrender every child born to them. Kamsa imprisoned the couple in his palace dungeon and murdered each infant as it was born. Six sons died.

The Demons of Kamsa

The seventh child, Balarama, was mystically transferred to Rohini's womb. The eighth, Krishna, was smuggled to Gokul in the night. Kamsa learned both had escaped and sent demons to hunt the infant: Putana, the poisoner who disguised herself as a wet nurse; Trinavarta, the whirlwind demon who snatched the child into the sky. Krishna destroyed them all. Each failure deepened Kamsa's terror.

Death in the Arena

Kamsa devised a final trap. He invited Krishna and Balarama to Mathura for a wrestling festival, stationing the maddened elephant Kuvalayapida at the arena gate and placing his champion wrestlers Chanura and Mushtika in the ring. Krishna killed the elephant at the gate, broke both wrestlers in the arena, then leaped onto the royal dais. He seized Kamsa by the hair, dragged him from his throne, and struck him dead on the floor. Ugrasena was restored to the throne that afternoon.