The prevalent belief about lightning seems to be that it is the girl whom Kansa tried to dash against a stone,…
- Date of account
- Published 1914
- Source
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat
- Reference
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat · selected passage 11
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
The prevalent belief about lightning seems to be that it is the girl whom Kansa tried to dash against a stone, but who escaped and went up to the sky
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyThe prevalent belief about lightning seems to be that it is the girl whom Kansa tried to dash against a stone, but who escaped and went up to the sky. Kansa, the tyrant king of Mathura, was informed by a heavenly voice, by way of prophecy, that a son would be born to his sister who would cause his destruction. Kansa thereupon confined his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in prison, loaded them with fetters, and kept the strictest watch over them. He took from Devaki, and slew, every child of hers as soon as it was born. In this way he disposed of her first six children. On the seventh occasion, however, on which Devaki gave birth to a son named Krishna, a girl was born at the same hour to Nanda in Mathura; and Vasudeva secretly interchanged the two children in spite of the vigilance of Kansa. When Kansa knew of his sister having been delivered, he seized the infant girl and tried to dash her against a stone. The little one immediately flew away to the skies, where she still dwells in the form of Vijli or lightning.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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