Now having definite news about who was to bring about his death, Kamsa called in a Horse demon called "Kesi". The demon was under direct orders to raze the entire village of Vrindavan and cause as much havoc as possible, in addition to try and kill the dark Krishna.

Kesi angrily trod on the fields of Vrindavan and ran through the fields destroying all the crops, wrecking havoc.

It was said that Kesi was so huge that his hooves ripped the earth and when he neighed it was louder than the roaring of the lions.

The Gopas ran from the fields, as they just could not contain the wild and ferocious horse.

But then Krishna had never been one to watch his village in a mess.

He immediately caught hold of the horse and stopped it.

It was said that Krishna had become so strong that he was able to push Kesi back a hundred bow-lengths.

Krishna and the horse fought long and hard and finally, it is said that Krishna choked the demon and killed it. (One of the most common names besides Krishna, which Yashoda's son is referred to, is that of "Keshava". He derived this name because he was the one who killed Kesi, the horse demon.)

Similar to Pralambhasura, another demon called Vyoma, also disguised himself as one of the Gopas and joined them in the game of hide and seek.

When he had to seek the Gopas, Vyoma kidnapped the Gopa boys and hid the boys inside a cave. Vyoma placed a huge boulder outside the cave, so that the Gopa boys would not escape.

When Krishna came out of his hiding place, he was shocked to find all, other than four of his friends missing.

Naturally, Krishna found Vyoma, killed him and freed his friends from the cave.

********

Kamsa was furious with all this.

He called his generals and most important ones being Mushtika, Chanur, Sala and Tosala and told them what he had in mind.

"I am going to arrange a wrestling match here in the capital." Kamsa told his generals with wild anger in his mind. "And I want all of you to participate it in."

He then looked at his elephant keeper. "And just outside the arena where the match is going to take place, I want you to take my mad elephant – Kuvalapida and wait there." Kamsa said with a angry grimace.

The man nodded as he walked away from there.

Kamsa then set about to put the second part of his plan into action.

He called Akrura.

Akrura was one of the most respected leaders of the Yadu and he was son of Swaphalka and Nandini, who was the princes of Kashi.

Not knowing what to expect, Akrura went to meet the dreaded Kamsa.

Once Akrura was comfortable, Kamsa then spoke to the Yadava chief in soft tones. "Just like how Indra sought refuge in Lord Vishnu, I am seeking help from you."

"What do you want?" Akrura asked wondering why Kamsa wanted him to do this work.

"I am conducting a bow sacrifice here in Mathura. The sons of Vasudeva who are growing up in the house of Nanda should also come to the bow sacrifice and know about the glory of the Yadus. I wish that you bring the two boys here to Mathura in my swiftest chariot."

"Why me, your majesty?" Akrura asked. He was shocked that Kamsa knew about this exchange, but he willed nothing to show on his face as he listened to the king.

"You are the most respected member of our clan, my Lord." Kamsa told Akrura. "No one would ever deny you anything. I think you are the best persons to bring the two boys here."

Akrura looked at Kamsa and then nodded his head as he walked away from there.

(Some Puranas even mention that Kamsa actually discussed his plan of killing Krishna and Balarama with Akrura as he was asking Akrura to bring the two boys to Mathura. And that despite this, Akrura agreed to bring the boys.

And the reason why Kamsa chose Akrura for this work is also obvious. Kamsa would obviously be doubtful about whether Krishna and Balarama would come on his invitation.

Kamsa was planning on staging Krishna and Balarama's deaths such that nothing could be traced back to him. So he wanted Akrura to bring the boys so that no one would be suspicions of him.)

Akrura was well received in the village of Vrindavan.

No one thought much about why Akrura was here.

But then Akrura was a man who knew a lot of things.

In fact, he even knew who Krishna really was of his own accord and he told the Gopas all about Krishna and his mission about why he was here in the village of the Vrindavan.

Those were the very words which broke the hearts of all the Gopas. Because Akrura's words just made them realize something impossible – Krishna was not one of them. Worse, Krishna was now going back to where he belonged.

(The Bhagawat Purana gives a pitiful description of how the Gopas were broken hearted when they learnt that Krishna was going back to Mathura – the place of his birth.)