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THE RETURN TO MATHURA 197 In that moment, all that Krishna had already done rose up before the minds of those who looked upon Him. All the fame of the demons He had destroyed, from Putana the Vampire-Nurse to Arishta the great black bull, came before them. The stories of how Indra and Brahma had done Him homage w^ere remembered. And his great labours for the protection of men, the lifting of the mountain, the defeating of the serpent, and a dozen others — were whispered from mouth to mouth. Thus, summing up in that one instant the past and the present, Krishna stood on the threshold of the lists, awaiting the challenge.

Chanura, chief of the King's wrestlers, came forward and sounded it. It was, he announced, the royal command that the two brothers who stood before them should offer an exhibition of the famous wrestling of Brindaban cowherds, and, to gratify their sovereign in this matter, he himself was willing to give them battle.

Now Krishna well understood the trap that was laid for Himself and His brother, in the smooth and honeyed words of the challenge thus delivered. They were to make a spectacular display only, for the amusement of the onlookers, of the strange ways of wrestling in vogue amongst the cowherds. But their adversaries would have secret orders from Kansa, to put forth full strength at