Episode 12 - PutanaVadh

Recap

The eighth child of Devaki was saved by divine intervention. He is now the child of Yashoda and Nandraj from Gokul village.

Putana

Vidhaata! Bhaagya! Likh!

Synopsis

Realizing that the eighth child is a girl and not a boy, Kansa tries to kill her, but the child flies away from his hand and screams from the sky that his destroyer is already born. Kansa sets on the search to find the real eighth child of Devaki while Gokul celebrates the birth of Krishna. A spy informs him that the eighth child is in Gokul village. Kansa sends Putana, his childhood nanny and a demoness to kill all the children born on the same night as the eighth child. She applies poison on her breast and then breastfeeds the infants, killing them. One by one as days pass, Putana kills all the children born on that night until only Krishna is left. Finding the right moment, she steals the infant Krishna and tries to breastfeed him. Krishna does so, but in the process also suckles the life out of her. Nandraj and Yashoda find little Krishna playing on the dead body of the demoness. Kansa, due to misinformation assumes that the child has died.

Discussion

The next few episodes are going to be focused on adventures and childhood of Shri Krishna, so do not expect very insightful discussions.

As a child when I watched this show, this episode made me have nightmares. They took the word “demon” too seriously for Putana. She is just one big blob of ugliness, disgust and evil. In looks, and in motive.

Some aspects of this story that this show did not touch upon:

• Putana is considered to be a second mother to Krishna, since she breastfed him.
• While the show portrayed her as a demon cronie sent to kill Krishna and nothing else, in some stories she is known to have been released from a curse when killed by Krishna.
• Putana is also prayed to as a goddess in many parts of India.

Also, shoutout to the grandpa in green! That man has an amazing screen presence! Very energetic and hoping to see more of this guy.

A pained Devaki is seen in the end, taking care of a bundle of clothes(?) as her own child. It is unclear but it is clear that she is in pain, waiting for her child to rescue her from the clutches of demon Kansa.

Notable dialogue:

Yaha ka utsav Mathura ke dwaar khatkhataa rahi thi

Anand ka swar thoda dheema hona chahiye tha

To be continued