Stories of Krishna and Prahlad
Seven tales for children from Sister Nivedita's Cradle Tales of Hinduism: baby Krishna carried through the storm to Gokool, the naughty little butter-thief no rope can tie, the snake Kaliya, the mountain lifted on one finger, and brave little Prahlad, who would not stop loving God even for a king. By Sister Nivedita (1907). A public-domain classic, from Cradle Tales of Hinduism.
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हिन्दी में पढ़ेंकृष्ण और प्रह्लाद की कथाएँ · वही कहानी How it begins Kansa, the tyrant king of Mathura, was wicked and oppressive beyond the power of men to bear. The very earth cried out against his injustice and evil deeds. And then, for the comforting of those who could endure no more, a prophecy began to be whispered about, regarding the slaying of the tyrant. And the origin of this prophecy was indeed most strange.Kansa had a great love for his sister Devaki and also for Vasudeva, one of his nobles, and his friend. He exerted himself, therefore, to bring about a marriage between the two, and when the wedding was over, he himself acted as charioteer, to drive them both to the home of Vasudeva. But lo! on the way, a voice spoke to him from heaven, saying, “The eighth child of this couple, O Tyrant, shall be a boy, who in his twelfth year shall slay thee with his own hands!” At these words, all Kansa's love for the bride and bridegroom turned to hatred. Swiftly he turned the horses' heads, and driving back to Mathura, whence they had come, cast Devaki and Vasudeva into the dungeons underneath his palace, there to endure imprisonment for life, that he might the more easily slay each child of theirs at birth. And now this had happened seven times, that a child had been born, and Kansa had destroyed it—save indeed once. For one child, the boy Bolarama, had been carried away secretly, and the King had been told that he was already dead. Now, however, had the time come for the fulfilment of the prophecy. And Devaki and her husband waited in their prison for the coming of that child who should be the deliverer of His people. Keep reading →About this story
Seven tales for children from Cradle Tales of Hinduism: baby Krishna carried through the storm to Gokool, the naughty little butter-thief no rope can tie, the snake Kaliya, the mountain lifted on one finger, and brave little Prahlad, who would not stop loving God even for a king.
Sister Nivedita, an Irish-born teacher and writer named Margaret Noble who came to India in 1898 and became a follower of Swami Vivekananda, published them in 1907. She told the stories as they are told to Indian children, simply and warmly, for readers who did not know them.
- Themes
- Devotion, a mischievous god-child, courage and faith
- Good for
- Reading aloud; readers new to Hindu stories
- Worth noticing
- How the young Krishna’s mischief and his divinity are shown together.
