Lord Krishna was born at Mathura as the eighth son to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the Yadavas and the King Kamsa or Kansa who was Devaki’s brother, ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Sage Narada depicted that the king Kansa would be killed by Devaki’s son. Hence, the king locked the couple into a prison. Kansa killed the first six children of Devaki and Vasudeva. The seventh child, Balarama, was secretly transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva’s first wife. When Lord Krishna was born next, Vasudeva believed that Krishna’s life would be in danger. So, he took the child secretly out of the prison to be raised by his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda, in Vrindavana.
At Vrindavana, Krishna was brought up in the cowherd’s family. He played flute to entertain the cows, the milkmaids and the cowherds. Krishna's childhood stories describe how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pranks as a butter thief, and as a protector of the people of Vrindavana. His play with the Gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana, especially Radha, is known as the Rasa Lila.
The King Kamsa, who came to know about Sree Krishna at Vrindavana, sent many demons to kill Krishna. Notable among them were the demon Trinavata, Vatasura, who came in the form of a calf, the giant crane Bakasura, the demon snake Aghasura and the horrible horse, Keshisura. Shri Krishna also killed a demon named Putana, who was sent by Kansa, to poison baby Krishna with her breast milk. The serpent Kaliya, who poisoned the Yamuna River, leading to the death of the cowherds, was also killed by Lord Krishna. Also, Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra, the king of devas, a lesson to protect the people of Vrindavana.
Subsequently, Krishna returned to Mathura as a young man, defeated and killed his maternal uncle, Kansa. He restored Ugrasena as the king of the Yadavas. Lord Krishna then became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom. He took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka and is said to have established his own kingdom there. Lord Krishna married Rukmini, the Vidarbha princess. It is said that Lord Krishna then married 16,100 maidens who were imprisoned by demon Narakasura. Among them, eight were collectively called the Ashta Bharya - including Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravrinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshana.
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