1. How Kans Afflicted the World
There is a great king named Ugrasen. Life is perfect for everyone in his kingdom. One day, the king has a son. All sorts of bad omens indicate that the son's birth should not be celebrated. The king asks wise men to tell him what all of these omens mean. They tell Ugrasen that his son, Kans, will be a mighty ruler, but he'll rob his father of his power, work with the powers of evil, and oppress the followers of Krishna. This quickly became evident when Kans as a child would strangle people he met. He eventually overthrows his father, gathers armies of demons, and becomes a powerful ruler over a terrible wasteland. The gods took action- they went to the strongest of the gods and asked for help in stopping Kans. He tells them to be born as mortals and that he will follow suit in time.
2. How Kans Threw Dewaki into Prison
Dewaki is set to marry Wasudew. Kans throws a great feast to celebrate. During that feast, Kans is told that Dewaki's eighth child will be his downfall. He grabs Dewaki and throws her to the ground, yelling at her. Wasudew acts a voice of reason. He convinces Kans to allow them to continue living but that Kans can do whatever he wishes with any children they have. They have six children. Kans kills them all. Before having a seventh child, Dewaki prays to Wishnu, the mightiest of the gods. She gives birth to the seventh child, and Wishnu takes the child to another house to be raised. Kans comes looking for the seventh child- they tell him the baby died before it was born. He doesn't trust them. The locks up both Dewaki and Wasudew. In time, the gods come and free Dewaki and Wasudew from their prison.
3. How Krishna Was Born
Krishna is born to the Wasudew and Dewaki amid trumpet sounds and nature collectively celebrating. Krishna's godly form is presented to his parents. He tells them that he needs to be taken away to another city so that he can one day put Kans to death. Then he makes Wasudew and Dewaki forget his godly form, but they remembered his message. Krishna puts guards to sleep, opens the door, and frees Wasudew from his handcuffs. They swap Dewaki's eighth child with a baby girl. As Kans goes to kill this baby girl, the gods intervene and inform Kans that Dewaki's eighth child will still kill him.
6. How Indra Worshipped Krishna
Krishna did everything possible to make the people of Brindaban love him. He put out forest fires and defeated evil an evil serpent that plagued the land. In doing this, Krishna became more popular among the people than Indra. Indra became jealous and sent torrential rain to destroy the city. Krishna protected the city by holding a mountain over it. Indra comes down and worships Krishna. The people of the city realize who Krishna truly is. They also worship him. Yet, he wipes their minds so he can continue to live in peace and secrecy.
9. How Krishna Slew Kans
Krishna and Balaram went to the wrestling grounds. A great elephant blocked their path. They tell the rider to move the elephant or it will die. The elephant goes to attack Balaram, who swats away the elephant's trunk. The elephant attacked in pain and fear. His tusks passed right through Krishna. The brothers battled demons, warriors, and wrestlers, defeating all of them. Kans, in fear, told his men to go kill Ugrasen, Wasudew, and Dewaki. Krishna killed his men on the spot. Then he jumps towards the throne. Kans tries to defend himself with his sword, but Krishna ultimately grabs Kans by the hair and splatters him across the ground. He defeats all of Kans' brothers. He then performs funeral rites for Kans with the many widows of Kans.
12. How Rukmini Became the Bride of Krishna
Rukmini was so beautiful that word of her beauty travelled throughout the land. Krishna falls in love with the idea of Rukmini. She then hears great stories of Krishna from a travelling bard. she starts to pray that Krishna may become her husband. Her two brothers each propose husbands. The first proposes Shishupal. The second proposes Krishna. The first brother is outraged and claims that on Shishupal is fit for Rukmini. When Rukmini finds out she is to marry Shishupal, she sends a messenger to Krishna, asking him to come marry her. The older brother and Shishupal plot to get rid of Krishna once he arrives in the city. Their schemes don't work. Yet, when Krishna gets Rukmini into his chariot and he raises his sword, Shishupal flees. In fact, no bloodshed occurs. Krishna and Rukmini are married.
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