Free KRISHNA CORIOLIS#1: Slayer of Kamsa by Ashok K. Banker

people. And of all the Yadava clans, even among the three largest nations of clans, the Vrishnis were the most independent, idealistic and individualistic. As the old saying went: Easier to draw milk from a bull daily than to convince a Vrishni Yadav.
    Vasudeva was as much a Vrishni as Akrur. None of his friends or allies had been able to talk him out of this impossible mission. He was determined to take his petition to Kamsa in the sanctity of the latter’s camp and risk his neck.
    And he was adamant that he would do it alone and unarmed, with just Akrur to drive the cart.‘One cannot petition for peace with a sword in hand,’ he had said, and had then joined both palms together to demonstrate,‘when you join your hands in namaskar, you would cut your own hands with the blade!’
    Nobody had smiled at his wit. They were all too anxious that he would lose his life.
    ‘You are putting your head in the lion’s jaws,’they said.
    And Vasudeva had smiled his good-natured smile and said,‘I shall check for rotten teeth while I am in there!’
    Now, the uks-drawn cart trundled around the long, curving marg that led through the thickly wooded area towards the Andhaka camp. After running amok across several border villages and towns, Kamsa and his marauders had set up camp here. Nobody was quite sure why, but the theory was that the Andhakas had ruffled too many local feathers and realized that were they to continue further into Sura territory, they might have to bear the consequences.
    Kamsa was notorious for his lightning raids, often undertaken under the cover of foul weather, at night or during festivals. He preferred these to risking full- frontal confrontations and, in the past, when things got too hot for him to handle, he went scampering back across the river. Vasudeva prayed that this camp was only a temporary show of bravado before Kamsa retired from the current campaign of ‘patrolling the borders’ – which was the official excuse, even though this spot was yojanas within Sura Yadava territory. It was on the verge of Vrishni territory, in fact, and the Council believed that Kamsa lacked the guts to risk facing the wrath of the heartland farmers who were now forewarned and enraged by the reports of his atrocities on their countrymen further south and west.
    He frowned as the cart turned around the final curveandtheroaddippedsharply.AsAkrurhandled theuksan,Vasudevastaredwithconsternationatthe field ahead. This was not merely a clearing housing Kamsa’s hundred-odd marauders. The Andhakas had obviously cleared a much larger space in the centre of this thickly wooded region, creating a clearing large enough to house a small army.
    Indeed, from the rows upon rows of horses, tents, and even large makeshift shacks, and the hustle and bustle everywhere, it was quite apparent that there was a small army residing here!
    From the far end of the egg-shaped clearing, sounds of timber being felled and axes chopping away furiously meant that they were widening the field even further. Already, the length of it was at least three hundred yards, and almost every inch of it was bustling with Andhakas.
    Vasudeva glanced sideways to see Akrur gaping open mouthed at the same sight.
    His friend’s eyes met Vasudeva’s with an expression of horror.‘They’re mobilizing an army! They mean to invade us, Vasu!’
    Vasudeva struggled to find an alternative explanation.‘Perhaps they’re setting up a cantonment to house a border brigade.’
    Akrur made a sound of disgust. ‘Look at them! They’re clearing more area. And there, at the south end, that’s a marg they’re making, broad enough to carry a dozen horses abreast. That way lies the pass across the ranges into Vrishni territory. They’re planning to invade the heartland, Vasu.’
    Akrur clicked his tongue furiously at the uksan, working the reins frantically. The cart began to turn slowly back to the direction which it had come from.
    ‘What are you doing?’ Vasudeva