Pralambāsura Vadha

Pralambāsura Vadha is the killing of the asura Pralambāsura by Balarāma. It is told in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 18. Pralambāsura took the form of a young gopa (cowherd boy) and joined the friends of Kṛshṇa. His plan was to carry Balarāma away. Balarāma struck him dead with his fist. The Vishṇu Purāṇa adds what Kṛshṇa then told the gopa boys about who Balarāma truly is.

The asura joins the boys

Pralambāsura was a powerful asura. He took the form of a young gopa and joined the group of Kṛshṇa’s friends as if he were an ordinary playmate. He fitted in so well that the other boys saw nothing wrong. His plan was to wait for a chance to take Balarāma away from Kṛshṇa’s protecting presence.

The game and the chance

The gopa boys were playing a game of carrying. They formed two groups. The losers of each round had to carry the winners on their backs through the forest to a set place and back. In this game Pralambāsura was matched against Balarāma and lost. He had to carry Balarāma on his back.

Pralambāsura began to carry Balarāma. But he did not stop at the turning point and come back. He went past it and ran deeper into the forest, faster and faster. His body began to swell into his true asura form, huge and strong and moving with unnatural speed. He meant to carry Balarāma away to his death.

Balarāma’s victory

Balarāma sat on the back of the asura. He felt the unnatural speed and the growing body under him, and he understood at once what was happening. He gathered his full divine strength, the power of the great serpent Ādiśesha, whose aṃśa (part) he is. He struck the asura on the head with his fist, with the force of a thunderbolt. The blow ended it. Pralambāsura’s skull was broken by Balarāma’s hand. He cried out and fell dead, and his huge body crashed to the forest floor.

The gopa boys had watched in fear. When they saw Balarāma standing safe over the dead asura, they cheered. Kṛshṇa embraced Balarāma with great joy.

The Vishṇu Purāṇa account: who Balarāma is

The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, in its Pañcamāṃśa, Chapter 9, adds a second episode after the death of Pralambāsura. The gopa boys saw Balarāma standing alive and victorious over the huge dead body of Pralambāsura. They had seen the asura carry Balarāma through the sky at fearful, unnatural speed, and they were struck dumb with wonder. They had played with Balarāma since childhood. They knew him as their companion and elder friend. Yet what they had just seen was not possible for a human being.

Kṛshṇa took this chance to speak to the boys about the true nature of Balarāma, gently but clearly. He said: “The one you see as your friend Rāma is Ādiśesha, the great serpent on whom Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa rests. He holds up the fourteen worlds on his thousand hoods, and his strength holds the universe together. He has come among you in this form out of his endless love for you all.”

The gopa boys listened in wonder. Then they gathered around Balarāma and saw him with new eyes. They embraced him not only as their friend but as the cosmic being in the form of their friend. Balarāma answered in his gentle way. He calmed their wonder and turned them back to the play of the afternoon, as if nothing unusual had happened.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 18
• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāṃśa, Chapter 9