The Appearance of Krishna Krishna was born at the stroke of midnight in His four-armed Vishnu form, dressed in silk and jewels, carrying the four weapons: the conch, disc, club and lotus. His parents prayed for Him to turn Himself into an ordinary baby so they could hide Him from Kamsa. The Lord advised Vasudeva to take him to Vrindavana and exchange him with a girl that had just been born there. Then He turned Himself into a baby. Magically, the guards in Kamsa's prison fell asleep, and all the iron shackles, chains and locks automatically opened. Without questioning this, Vasudeva took the child and departed for Vrindavana. Like the story of Moses, the story of Krishna also includes a parting of the waters, allowing Vasudeva to carry Krishna across the Jamuna River to Vrindavana. When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda, all the cowherds were asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of Yasoda, picked up her newborn girl and returned to the prison of Kamsa. There was a chance Kamsa would spare the child because the omen said it would be the eighth son that would kill him. Devaki pleaded with him, but Kamsa pulled the baby girl from her arms and dashed her against a stone. The girl slipped from his hands and rose above his head as the eight-armed form of Goddess Durga, dressed in fine garments and jewels. She said, "The enemy you contemplate is living somewhere else. You are a fool to hurt innocent children. Krishna will kill you." Kamsa became remorseful and begged Devaki and Vasudeva to forgive him for his sins. He released them from their shackles and fell down on their feet, crying tears of regret. The next day, however, Kamsa's ministers advised him to give up his sentimental attitude and take action to kill all newborn children in the region. They also advised him to disturb the demigods and saintly people. There is a parallel to this story in the New Testament. When Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod killed all newborn children in the area, in what is known as the Massacre of the Innocents. Based on a dream, Joseph took the baby Jesus to Egypt, and returned only after Herod was dead. Krishna's Childhood in Vrindavana When Yasoda and Nanda found Krishna as their son, they performed all the religious ceremonies in secret, to avoid Kamsa's wrath. The family astrologer, Gargamuni, told the family, "Your son Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He will protect you from Kamsa's persecutions, and by His grace only, you will surpass all difficulties. Therefore raise Him carefully, because many demons will try to attack him." This warning proved true because throughout His childhood, Krishna fought Kamsa's demons, along with all the other demons and jealous and misguided demigods who approached Him. Krishna Kills the Witch Putana Kamsa enlisted a demon named Putana to kill newborn babies. The demon dressed as a beautiful woman and flew on her broom to Krishna's nursery, hoping to kill Him with the poison she had smeared on her nipples. Krishna's mother innocently let Putana pick the baby up and put it to her breast. Krishna closed His eyes and sucked out her life air, killing her, without taking her poison. When Putana's soul departed, her body returned to its real form: a gigantic witch that smashed trees as it fell, stretching twelve miles across the landscape. Putana's soul attained liberation due to the benevolent act of offering her breast milk to Krishna and the inhabitants of Vrindavana cremated the body. After Krishna killed Putana, the elder gopis (women of the village) picked Him up and performed auspicious rites for His protection and purification. They bathed Him and chanted religious mantras to prevent further attacks. Srila Prabhuapda explains in Krishna Book: "The elderly gopis of Vrindavana were so absorbed in affection for Krishna that they wanted to save Him, although there was no need to, for He had already protected Himself. They could not understand that Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a child." (p. 47) Krishna's parents treated children lovingly, celebrating their birthdays and other rites of passage. They acted in a kindly way to correct their children when they got into mischief, for example sometimes Krishna and Balarama would get into the cow shed, catch the tail of a calf and stand up. The calves would drag them around and they would be covered with mud. Rather than become angry, the mothers would call their friends to watch the fun. Mother Yasoda never hit Krishna, but once tied Him to a grinding mortar when He stole butter and fed it to the monkeys. The scriptures explain that as she tried to tie him, the rope was too short. She kept using a longer rope, but it always came up too short. Srila Prabhupada explains that "Krishna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes." (Krishna Book, p. 66)