Shri Krishna had decided to leave Mathura quietly to settle down in his newly founded capital of Dwarka. But as He came out of the main gate of Mathura, who waited for him was Kaalyavana. The ferocious Yavana warrior intended to slay him and occupy the kingdom. Shri Krishna was bare-handed. So Kaalyavana, a warrior true to his salt,also decided to fight with him without using any weapon.
Ancients Speak
Suman K Sharma
But Shri Krishna was not going to give his would-be assassin any chance. He became’Rana-chhor’. Coolly turning his face, He ran away from what could have been the arena of a fight to finish. Kaalyavana pursued him, though hard as he tried, he could not catch him. Running breathlessly through dense forest for miles after miles, Shri Krishna reached a dark cave and disappeared into it. In hot pursuit, Kalayavan too entered into the cave and in its inky darkness, his foot hit against someone who lay on the floor. That person stood before Kaalyavana and said in his booming voice, ‘It’s a wretched fool that wakes me up from a deep slumber!’ With that, he stared angrily at the intruder with his flashing eyes and the latter was instantly burnt to ashes. Later, Shri Krishna appeared before the personage and the two introduced themselves to each other after an exchange of greetings.
The mysterious man was King Muchukund of the glorious Ikshvaku lineage and an ancestor of Shri Rama Chandra. He was known for his bravery and skills of warfare. In the remote past, when the Devas did not have a competent general to lead them in their incessant battles with the Rakshasas, Muchukund had fought on their side. It was only after Kartikeya had assumed the command of the Deva forces that Muchukund could be relieved of his arduous duties. He then told Indra of his wish to return to his kingdom on the earth. But the king of the gods told him that he had stayed in deva-loka for so long a time that his kingdom as well as everyone he knew – his wives, children, courtiers and subjects -had long since vanished from the mortal world. Exhausted and dispirited, Muchukund said he still wanted to go back to the Earth to sleep there undisturbed. Lord Indra gave him the boon that he desired: ‘Goback to the Earth, O great king, if such is your wish!’ Indra said to Muchukunda. ‘And should anyone disturb you in your slumber, just look at him. He shall turn to ashes!’
Even Krishna Bhagwan had to flee when the odds were against Him! Or perhaps the Avatar desired to tell warriors by his own example that discretion is the better part of valour. And who might be Kaalyavana? ‘Yavana’ or ‘Yona’ is a generic term that was used by our ancients for the Greek invaders such as Alexander the Great. The prefix ‘Kaal’ could be interpreted as ‘deadly’. There is at least one inscription dating back to 70BCEindicating that Mathura was under some sort of control of the Indo-Greek hegemony. The climax of this tale – Muchukund reducing Kaalyavana to ashes by an angry stare is not much different from the myth of Bhagwan Shiv burning Kamdev with the glare of His third eye. It also reminds one of Medusa. The Greek goddess could turn any man into stone just by looking at him.
So, even though our ancient heroes had to make strategic retreat before the alien invaders, the foreign rulers were eventually thrown out when we Indians had had enough of their intrusion . Of such embellished facts are myths made.
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