Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/203

 who is regarded as Vishn[)u] himself, and distinct from the ten avatars. For the history of this god I refer you to page 118, in which, under the title of Krishn[)u], or Kaniya, is given the history of his life, up to the time that he disappeared from amidst the gopīs, and left them mourning for his absence.

Here, it may be as well to remark, in consequence of an error in that part of my journal, that Dewarkī, the mother of Krishn[)u], was the daughter of the tyrant Kansa; and that Vasudeva, who carried him across the Jumna, was his father.

The death of Krishna, which happened some time afterwards, and his ascension to the heavens, is thus related:—"Balhadur met his fate on the banks of the Jumna, and when Krishna saw that his spirit had finally departed, he became exceedingly sorrowful. Near where he stood there was a jungle or brake, into which he entered; and leaning his head on his knees, sat absorbed in the deepest melancholy. He reflected within himself that all the effect of Kanharee's curse had now fully taken place on the Yadavas, and he now called to remembrance these prophetic words, which Doorsava had once uttered to him:—'O Krishna! take care of the sole of thy foot; for if any evil come upon thee, it will happen in that place.' Krishna then said to himself, 'Since all the Kooroos and the whole of the Yadavas are now dead and perished, it is time for me also to quit the world.' Then, leaning on one side, and placing his feet over his thighs, he summoned up the whole force of his mental and corporeal powers, while his hovering spirit stood ready to depart. At that time, there came thither a hunter, with his bow and arrow in his hand; and seeing from a distance Krishna's foot, which he had laid over his thigh, and which was partly obscured by the trees, he suspected it to be some animal sitting there: applying, therefore, to his bow and arrow, the point of the latter of which was formed from the very iron of that club which had issued from Sateebe's body, he took aim, and struck Krishna in the sole of his foot. Then, thinking he had secured the animal, he ran up to seize it; when, to his astonishment, he beheld Krishna there, with four hands, and drest in yellow habiliments. When the hunter saw that the wounded object