The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago c19.10

c19.10

The shepherd races worshipped their national hero Krishna and his elder brother Balarâma. Shepherd lasses amused themselves by acting in their houses plays representing the chief events of his life, such as: his childish pranks in stealing butter, and hiding the clothes of shepherd girls who were sporting in the river Yamuna: his charming play on the pipe while grazing cattle: his amour with Pinnai a shepherdess: his victory over the cunning Kansa and his embassy to Duryôdhana for the Pandavas. Krishna was popularly known as Mâyavan or "the dissembler" a title very appropriate to his character as portrayed in the great epic Mahâbhârata. His elder brother Balarâma was famous for his extraordinary physical strength.¹