De kindermoord
16. Als Herodes zag, dat hij van de wijzen bedrogen was, toen werd hij zeer toornig, en enigen afgezonden hebbende, heeft omgebracht al de kinderen, die binnen Bethlehem, en in al deszelfs landpalen waren, van twee jaren oud en daaronder, naar den tijd, dien hij van de wijzen naarstiglijk onderzocht had.
Matthëus : 2:16 (Nederlandse Statenvertaling)
Deze tekst wordt niet in Markus, Lukas of Johannes vermeldt.
Dit verhaal komt van de Hindoes, met name uit de legende van Krishna en zijn nonkel Kamsa (Kansa).
Kamsa, Kansa (Sanskrit)
A tyrannical king of Mathura in ancient India, evil uncle of Krishna. When it was foretold that the eighth child of Devaki would kill him, he endeavored to destroy all of her children; so the parents fled with Krishna, their eighth child.
Then Kansa ordered all male children of the land to be killed, but Krishna escaped -- a legend paralleling the massacre of the infants by King Herod of Palestine in the New Testament. In the legends surrounding great religious figures, "everyone of them, whether at their birth or afterwards, is searched for, and threatened with death (yet never killed) by an opposing power (the world of Matter and Illusion), whether it be called a king Kamsa, king Herod, or king Mara (the Evil Power)" (BCW 14:141). Thus Kamsa in one aspect stands for the opposing power in initiation rites. Krishna, as it was predicted, finally killed his persecutor.{SD 2:48, 504n, 604n; BCW 8:378}
In Hinduism, Kamsa is the son of a demon and half-brother of Devaki. He was told that one of Devaki's sons would kill him, so he murdered the first six. The next were the twins Krishna (an avatar of Vishnu) and Balarama, who were saved by moving them to Rohini's move. Krishna was then raised by two peasants, Nanda and Yasoda.
Kansa : A king of the Yâdava line of the Lunar Dynasty, ruler of the Bhojas, reigning at Mathurâ, who deposed his own father, Ugrasena. Ugrasena was the brother of Devaka, the latter being the father of Devakî, mother of Kṛishṇa.
Kansa is usually called the uncle of Kṛishṇa; strictly speaking, however, he is a cousin. In spite of this relationship, he became the avowed enemy of Kṛishṇa because a prophecy had been foretold to him that a son of Devakî would cause his death. In order to prevent this from happening, Kansa imprisoned Devakî and Vasudeva in his palace and commanded that all infants born to them should be put to death. Six children were so slain, but a seventh, Balarâma, was saved through the connivance of his parents.
Then when Kṛishṇa was born, his parents escaped from the palace and fled from the city of Mathurâ, whereupon the enraged Kansa ordered all infant boys in the kingdom put to death; but the parents escaped from the realm with Kṛishṇa and the child was brought up by cowherds in seclusion.
Kansa at length learned that Kṛishṇa had escaped destruction and made several attempts to bring about his death: as an instance, he sent Jarâsandha, the king of Magadha, to battle with the young Kṛishṇa eighteen times, but that monarch was as many times defeated. Kṛishṇa finally slew Kansa as was predicted, restored Ugrasena, but left Mathurâ and established his kingdom at Dvârakâ. (B.G. 121)
