Shloka 68
कुब्जानुग्रहः, धनुर्भङ्गः, कुवलयापीडवधः, मल्लयुद्धं, कंसवधः, स्तुतयः
चाणूरे निहते मल्ले मुष्टिके विनिपातिते नीते क्षयं तोशलके सर्वे मल्लाः प्रदुद्रुवुः
cāṇūre nihate malle muṣṭike vinipātite nīte kṣayaṃ tośalake sarve mallāḥ pradudruvuḥ
When the wrestler Cāṇūra had been slain, when Muṣṭika had been struck down, and when Tośalaka had been brought to his end, all the remaining wrestlers fled in panic.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Kṛṣṇa manifests to destroy tyrannical forces in Mathurā and relieve the earth’s burden while protecting dharma and his devotees.
Leela: Yuddha
Dharma Restored: Protection of the innocent and the re-establishment of righteous kingship against adharma in public order
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
It marks the sudden breaking of Kamsa’s oppressive power-structure: once his champions fall, the rest lose courage and the arena’s adharma-driven order collapses.
As a narrative turning-point where violence and arrogance are decisively checked—showing how dharma reasserts itself when the Lord’s purpose operates through the avatāra.
Even in a seemingly physical contest, the Purana implies the supremacy of Vishnu’s will: the avatāra’s act becomes the instrument by which adharma is removed and cosmic order is rebalanced.