Āchārya took a brief pause, and resumed.

‘Kaṃsa was dumbfounded by the action. His generals had all become transfixed in their places.
Nobody was moving.

The crowd was going delirious. Every guard of the arena had fled.

No Magadha soldier was to be seen except his bodyguard retinue.

Even they were trembling with fear. Prabala had receded and was

protecting the entrance to the inner quarter as if the Magadha

princesses were the only ones that mattered to him. Kaṃsa spat in

disgust, “If I get through this, I will send these Maagadh packing,

he thought”.

‘Kaṃsa shouted for Chāṇūra to come out. The massive hulk

came out to the arena with Mushṭika in tow. The boys had melted

into the crowd and were being carried aloft around the gallery in a

victory procession when Kaṃsa shouted for his guards to pull the

boys into the arena forcibly.

‘There was none to obey Kaṃsa’s command.

‘A deathly silence fell on Kaṃsa’s entourage. Even half of his

Magadha bodyguards went missing. Kaṃsa was becoming delirious.

‘Then the unthinkable happened. The boys jumped into

the arena without being compelled. They had, believe it or not,

accepted the challenge of battling men twice and thrice their size. That was so because they were
confident of their ability to beat

anyone in combat. Krishṇa joked to Balarāma, “Dāu, the elephant

is gone and now we have two baby elephants”.

‘Even Chāṇūra was petrified at the sight of Kuvalyapiḍa lying

dead in the middle of the arena. His fat brain was giving him