KRISHNA CORIOLIS#6: Fortress of Dwarka (33 page)

Balarama reached him and caught hold of his brother’s shoulder. “Why did you do that?”
 

Krishna turned and looked at him. Balarama lurched involuntarily. He had rarely seen Krishna so angry, so dark before.
 

“I could have done far worse,” Krishna said. “He gave me just cause. It was your mother and father and people he insulted as well, Sankarshan.” The voice that spoke was Krishna’s and yet not Krishna’s. Balarama remembered that voice from another time, another age, another incarnation, deep within a haunted forest, surrounded by corpses of hybrid monsters, and he remembered this Krishna, this being, this brother.
 

Balarama looked into Krishna’s eyes for a moment, seeing that brother across all lifetimes, past, present and future. “You should not have disfigured him in that manner, bhraatr,” he said gently, admonishingly, as only an elder brother can admonish, “For one like he, it is worse than dying on the battlefield. You may as well have killed him.”
 

Krishna looked back at him, hearing his words but as if from a distant and remote corner of Creation, one where the laws of mortals did not matter. “He wanted to die. I granted his wish. Yet I also upheld my oath to Rukmini. There is only so much even a god can do, Sankarshan. Now leave me be.”
 

And he climbed aboard the pushpak.
 

Balarama stood for a moment, looking around. The kings and chiefs still watched, as did their army.
 

In the distance, he could hear the sound of the conch shell sequence that signalled retreat and withdrawal of the Yadava forces. They were pulling back and starting the long journey back to the staging point. Krishna and he were to meet them there and arrange for the transport back to Dwarka, using the usual precautions to ensure they were not followed and their desination remained unknown.
 

It seemed that Jarasandha was dead and the day was won. Once again, the sons of Vasudeva had triumphed. It was time to go home. Yet he could not help feeling that something vital remained to be done. That the victory was a hollow and fleeting one. That the real threat still lay at large, looming, ominous, approaching when one least expected it.
 

From the chariot, he heard the sound of Rukmi’s voice, speaking softly to Krishna. He could not hear Krishna’s voice replying. He knew that although his brother had gained the bride he desired in this lifetime, he had paid a dear price for it. But then again, nothing came without a price, not even love.
 

Balarama boarded the chariot and watched as the ground fell away at blinding speed and the pushpak carried them home to Dwarka.
 

Also in the Krishna Coriolis Series

Violating the peace accord sealed by his father, King Ugrasena’s renegade son Prince Kamsa embarks on a rampage of destruction…until he meets his nemesis King Vasudeva who is supernaturally immune to any attack from Kamsa! So Kamsa allies with the evil Jarasandha, emperor of Magadha, to awaken his own demoniac powers. Returning to Mathura as a rakshasa in human form, Kamsa wrests control by force, imprisoning his new brother-in-law Vasudeva and wife because of the prophecy that foretells that their Eighth Child will be his destruction. But even in the womb, the unborn Krishna uses powerful magic to cast a spell across the entire kingdom on the night of his own birth! Now, the stage is set for the epic clash of the child-god and the terrible forces of evil with the birth of Krishna…Slayer of Kamsa!

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The prophesied Slayer of Kamsa has been born and smuggled out of Mathura in the dead of night. Kamsa finds that his nephew has escaped and flies into a demoniac rage. Meanwhile, Jarasandha of Magadha arrives in Mathura with his coterie of powerful supporters to ensure that Kamsa stays loyal to him. But Kamsa is not to be crushed. With the help of Putana, a powerful demoness living incognito among humans, he slowly regains his strength and acquires new powers. Packed with surprising insights into the characters of Kamsa and Putana, Dance of Govinda is a brilliant interpretation of the nature of evil in a world that teeters on the edge of violence.

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Infant Krishna and his half-brother Balarama are the most mischievous children in all of Gokuldham, getting up to all sorts of pranks, raiding neighbours’ dahi handis and letting the calves run free. But disciplining God Incarnate is no easy task. It slowly dawns on Mother Yashoda that the babe she is trying to protect is in fact the protector of the entire world! As Krishna survives one horrific asura attack after the other, she comes to terms with the true identity of her adopted son. Meanwhile, Kamsa despatches a team of otherworldly assassins to slay his nemesis. Harried by Kamsa’s forces, Krishna’s adoptive father, the peace-loving Nanda Maharaja, is forced to lead his people into exile. They find safe haven in idyllic Vrindavan. But even in this paradise, deadly demons lurk…

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Also in the Krishna Coriolis Series

As Krishna grows into youthful manhood, Kamsa grows ever more desperate to kill his nemesis. With Jarasandha’s aid, the rakshasa-king launches a relentless campaign of demonic assault against Krishna–and his fellow Vrishnis. Young gopi Radha learns to her sadness that Krishna cannot return her love when he has the fate of all humankind in his hands. Finally the day of the prophecy arrives and the stage is set for the final showdown between Krishna the boy-god and Kamsa, lord of Mathura.

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