From assassin to hero: A leitmotif in the biographies of Kṛṣṇa
Abstract
Assassination is a recurrent motif in the biographies of Kṛṣṇa. Kaṃsa, Jarāsaṃdha and Śiśupāla were connected not only by their hatred for Kṛṣṇa, but also by the fact that they were all victims of assassination. In this article I intend to examine these three stories of assassination and, based on the parallels between them, try to give a possible explanation for the formation of the present Kṛṣṇa-cycle.
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