Figure in the Hindu festival stories
Kansa
The tyrant king of Mathura
Also known as Kamsa.
In short
Kansa (Kamsa) is the tyrant king of Mathura and the antagonist of the Krishna birth story. In popular tradition Devaki's brother, he seizes the throne, is warned that Devaki's eighth child will kill him, and imprisons her and Vasudeva. His cruelty sets the entire Janmashtami narrative in motion; Krishna ultimately slays him.
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Kansa’s story and role
In the Bhagavata Purana, Kansa is the son of King Ugrasena of Mathura. Ambitious and cruel, he deposes and imprisons his own father to usurp the throne, ruling as a tyrant allied with demonic forces. He is devoted to his sister (or cousin, in some tellings) Devaki, until a voice from the sky at her wedding declares that her eighth son will be his killer.
Consumed by fear, Kansa turns on Devaki and Vasudeva, imprisoning them and killing their newborn children one after another to cheat the prophecy. When the eighth child is born and Krishna survives in Gokul, Kansa dispatches a series of demons and assassins — among them the wet-nurse ogress Putana, and the demons Trinavarta, Aghasura and Keshi — to find and kill the child, all of whom Krishna destroys.
For the festival narrative, Kansa is the embodiment of adharma (unrighteousness) whose evil necessitates the Divine's descent. He finally lures the grown Krishna and Balarama to Mathura for a wrestling match meant to kill them; instead Krishna drags him from his throne and slays him, ending his reign, freeing Devaki and Vasudeva, and restoring Ugrasena as king.
What Kansa represents
Kansa symbolises tyranny, fear-driven cruelty, and adharma — the ego and evil that the Divine incarnates to destroy so that righteousness can be restored.
Festivals with Kansa
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About Kansa
Who is Kansa?
Kansa (also spelled Kamsa) is the tyrant king of Mathura in the Krishna story, and in popular tradition Devaki's brother. Warned that Devaki's eighth child would kill him, he imprisoned her and Vasudeva. He is the chief antagonist of the Janmashtami narrative.
Was Kansa really Devaki's brother?
In the popular tradition he is called Devaki's brother. Classical texts make him the son of King Ugrasena, while Devaki is the daughter of Ugrasena's brother Devaka, making them cousins — but the story treats their bond as brother and sister.
Why did Kansa try to kill Krishna?
A prophecy said Devaki's eighth son would be his death. To escape it, Kansa killed her children and, after Krishna survived in Gokul, sent a stream of demons and assassins to destroy the child.
How did Kansa die?
According to the Bhagavata Purana, Kansa invited Krishna and Balarama to a wrestling contest in Mathura intending to kill them. Instead, Krishna dragged Kansa from his throne and killed him, fulfilling the prophecy.
What happened to Mathura after Kansa's death?
Krishna freed his imprisoned parents Devaki and Vasudeva, and restored Kansa's father, the rightful king Ugrasena, to the throne of Mathura, ending the tyranny.
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