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In Hindu mythology, Keshi ((サンスクリット:केशी); ', nominative singular masculine from the root , literally "long haired") is the horse-demon, killed by Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu. The demon was dispatched by Krishna's evil uncle Kamsa, who was destined to die at Krishna's hands. The tale of the slaying of Keshi is told in the Hindu scriptures of ''Bhagavata Purana'', ''Vishnu Purana'' and ''Harivamsa''. Krishna is often praised as Keshava - the slayer of Keshi - in scriptures. Theories suggested about Keshi's origins range from his being a demon of childhood diseases to the story's being inspired by the Greek Herculean labour of slaying the horses of Diomedes. ==Legend== Keshi's legend is recounted in the tenth Book of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' (between 500 CE - 1000 CE). Kamsa, the evil king of Mathura and the maternal uncle of Krishna, is destined to be killed by Krishna. In an attempt to avoid his death, Kamsa sends a series of demons to Gokula, where Krishna is staying with his foster-parents. After Krishna kills the bull demon Arishta, the divine sage Narada confirms to Kamsa that Krishna is his sister Devaki's child and that the girl-child that Kamsa had killed, mistaking her for the child of Devaki, was in fact the daughter of Yashoda, Krishna's foster-mother. Infuriated at hearing this, Kamsa calls the demon Keshi and orders him to kill Krishna and his brother Balarama.〔Bryant p. 151 Chapter 35 19-23〕 Keshi assumes the form of a huge horse, who gallops at the speed of thoughts, wears the earth with his hooves and scatters celestial vehicles and clouds in the sky with his mane. His neighing terrifies the people. Krishna challenges Keshi to a duel, as the horse is creating havoc around Gokula. Keshi roars like a lion and charges towards Krishna, striking him with his hooves. Krishna catches hold of Keshi's two legs and tosses him to a great distance. Recovering from the fall, the agitated Keshi opens his mouth and attacks Krishna. As soon as Krishna thrusts his left arm into Keshi's mouth, all of Keshi's teeth fall. Krishna's arm expands, and Keshi chokes to death, as sweat flows from his body, his eyes roll and he struggles kicking his feet. As Keshi falls lifeless on the ground, assuming his true demon form, the gods and Narada extol Krishna. Narada in his panegyric thanks Krishna for easily slaying the horse-demon, whose neighing alone was driving the gods to abandon heaven. He further prophesies the great deeds that Krishna will perform later, including the killing of Kamsa.〔Bryant pp. 153-4 Chapter 36 1-25〕 The fourth Book of the ''Vishnu Purana'' (between the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE) also tells the story. However, Keshi first appears in the episode when Kamsa calls the host of demons to kill all male children, once he realizes Krishna is born.〔Wilson p. 272〕 Chapters 15 and 16 of the fourth Book presents a detailed account of Keshi's death which parallels the ''Bhagavata Purana'' account. The narrative of Arishta's death, Narada's disclosure to Kamsa and the subsequent ordering of Keshi is the same.〔Wilson pp. 335-8 Chapter 15〕 Though the terror by Keshi on earth and sky and Krishna's challenge is the same, the fight starts directly with Keshi attacking Krishna with his opened mouth. The hand of Krishna choking Keshi at the same time, tearing his body into two halves. The splitting of Keshi's body is not told in the ''Bhagavata Purana''. Narada's eulogy and prophesy about Kamsa's death follows the account, where Narada decreed that Krishna would be called Keshava, the slayer of Keshi.〔Wilson pp. 339-42 Chapter 16〕 The ''Harivamsa'' from the epic ''Mahabharata'' also narrates the incident in a similar fashion complete with Narada's praise identifying Krishna as Vishnu. The ''Vishnu Purana'' and the ''Harivamsa'' (1st - 2nd century BCE) tell that Keshi is the last agent sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna, after Keshi's killing, Krishna and Balarama go to Mathura, where Kamsa is killed. However, the ''Bhagavata Purana'' describes the killing of the demon Vyoma sent by Kamsa, before he leaves for Mathura. The first century CE Buddhist writer Ashvaghosa also mentions the killing of Keshi in a passage in his ''Saundarananda''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Keshi (demon)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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