Syamantaka Maṇi (Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa)

The Syamantaka maṇi is a gem of great brilliance. Bhagavān Sūrya gave it to Satrājit of the Yādava clan. The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa tells how Prasena, Satrājit’s brother, was killed while wearing it, how Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was falsely blamed, and how Kṛshṇa found the gem in the cave of Jāmbavān. The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa tells the same events and adds more about Akrūra.

Sūrya gives the Syamantaka to Satrājit

Satrājit was a great Yādava noble and a devotee of Bhagavān Sūrya. Sūrya was pleased with his devotion. He came before him and gave him the Syamantaka maṇi. The gem shone with the greatest radiance. It gives eight bhāras of gold each day, and it keeps away bad omens, disease and famine wherever it is kept.

Satrājit put it round his neck. He shone so brightly that people at first took him for Sūrya himself. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa saw the gem and asked Satrājit to give it to the royal treasury, for the good of all the Yādavas. Satrājit refused and kept it. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Prasena is killed by a lion

One day Satrājit’s brother Prasena wore the Syamantaka gem and went into the forest to hunt. A lion attacked him and killed him. The brilliance of the gem drew the lion, and it took the gem.

Satrājit was crushed by his brother’s death and by the loss of the gem. He began to spread a suspicion, which went all through the Yādavas, that Kṛshṇa had killed Prasena to get the gem. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Jāmbavān kills the lion

The lion carried the gem into a mountain cave. Jāmbavān, the great bear-king, lived in those mountains. He had been a minister of Bhagavān Rāma in the Tretā-yuga. He met the lion, killed it and took the gem. He brought it to his cave and gave it to his children to play with. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Kṛshṇa follows the trail

Kṛshṇa wished to clear his name. He followed the trail from Prasena’s body to the body of the lion. From there he went to the mountain cave, which was the cave of Jāmbavān. He went in alone. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Twenty-one days of battle

Inside the cave Kṛshṇa met Jāmbavān. Jāmbavān did not know him. He saw a stranger in his mountain home and attacked.

Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavān fought for twenty-one days. They fought first with weapons, then with bare arms, and then they wrestled body against body. Jāmbavān was famous for his huge strength. In Rāma’s time he had gone round the earth three times in one stretch. But as the days went by, his strength fell for no reason he could see, while Kṛshṇa’s strength did not fall. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Jāmbavān knows him

On the twenty-first day Jāmbavān was tired and weak. He looked at Kṛshṇa, and his divine sight (dṛshṭi) opened. He saw the qualities, the radiance and the divine marks. He understood that the one before him was Bhagavān Rāma of the Tretā-yuga, born again in this Dvāpara-yuga as Kṛshṇa.

He fell at Kṛshṇa’s feet, full of devotion. He said, “I did not know you, my lord. Forgive me. I have fought with my own master. Take everything that is mine.” (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Jāmbavatī and the gem

Jāmbavān gave Kṛshṇa two gifts. One was the Syamantaka gem. The other was his own daughter Jāmbavatī, who became one of Kṛshṇa’s chief wives. Kṛshṇa took Jāmbavatī in marriage and took the gem.

He came out of the cave and gave the gem to Satrājit in front of the whole assembly of the Yādavas. This cleared his name. Satrājit was overcome with shame for the false charge he had spread. To make amends he offered his daughter Satyabhāmā in marriage, and he offered the gem too. Kṛshṇa accepted Satyabhāmā but gave the gem back to Satrājit. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

Śatadhanvā kills Satrājit

Later a Yādava named Śatadhanvā, working with Akrūra, killed Satrājit in his sleep and took the gem. Kṛshṇa and Balarāma went after Śatadhanvā, who fled on a fast horse. Kṛshṇa caught him and killed him at Mithilā.

The gem was not on Śatadhanvā’s body. He had given it to Akrūra before he fled. Balarāma came to Mithilā and stayed there. During this stay Duryodhana learned gadā (mace) fighting from Balarāma.

The matter ended when Akrūra brought out the gem in front of the whole Yādava assembly. Kṛshṇa, in his generosity, gave the gem back to Akrūra. He saw that in Akrūra’s keeping it gave its full good fruits to the whole community. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71)

The Vishṇu Purāṇa account of Akrūra

The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāmsa, Chapter 13, tells the Syamantaka narrative with the same main events as the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, and gives more about Akrūra.

Śatadhanvā, in league with Akrūra, killed Satrājit and fled with the gem. Kṛshṇa and Balarāma went after Śatadhanvā. Kṛshṇa caught him and killed him at Mithilā, and the gem was not on his body. Balarāma came to Mithilā and stayed there for some time while Kṛshṇa went on searching.

The matter ended at a Yādava assembly. Kṛshṇa called the Yādavas together. In front of them he asked Akrūra, for the good of the community, to bring out the gem if he had it. Akrūra had kept the gem, and while it was near him it had been giving its good effects to the city: daily gold, prosperity and freedom from disease. He came forward and brought it out before the whole assembly. Kṛshṇa gave it back to Akrūra, because in Akrūra’s pure keeping it did the most good for all.

The Vishṇu Purāṇa shows Kṛshṇa acting in open public justice and not in personal accusation. The community is made witness and judge, and Akrūra’s merit is acknowledged. (Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāmsa, Chapter 13)

Sources

• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 71
• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāmsa, Chapter 13