Shloka 66
कुब्जानुग्रहः, धनुर्भङ्गः, कुवलयापीडवधः, मल्लयुद्धं, कंसवधः, स्तुतयः
सो ऽप्य् एनं मुष्टिना मूर्ध्नि वक्षस्य् आहत्य जानुना पातयित्वा धरापृष्ठे निष्पिपेष गतायुषम्
so 'py enaṃ muṣṭinā mūrdhni vakṣasy āhatya jānunā pātayitvā dharāpṛṣṭhe niṣpipeṣa gatāyuṣam
He too struck him—first with a clenched fist upon the head and the chest—then, driving him down with his knee, he hurled him onto the earth’s surface and crushed him there, until his span of life was spent.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: To end Kaṃsa’s violent spectacle by the decisive defeat of Muṣṭika through Balarāma’s irresistible divine strength, aiding the restoration of dharma.
Leela: Yuddha
Dharma Restored: Protection of the innocent and cessation of tyrannical violence
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
It frames death as the completion of an allotted lifespan, aligning violent events within a larger cosmic order rather than treating them as merely accidental.
He narrates combat in direct, physical detail while keeping it embedded in lineage history—events propel succession and reveal the consequences of power and adharma.
In the Vishnu Purana’s worldview, Vishnu sustains ṛta/dharma and the measured course of time and lifespan; even royal violence unfolds within that sovereign cosmic governance.