Dhundhumāra Upākhyāna

Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi tells this upākhyāna (episode) to Yudhishṭhira in the Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 201 to 204. It is about Kuvalāśva, a king of the Ikshvāku line, who killed the asura Dhundhu, who lay buried in the sand. After this Kuvalāśva was known as Dhundhumāra, the Killer of Dhundhu. The account begins with Uttaṅka Maharshi, whose āśrama (hermitage) was troubled by Dhundhu’s fiery breath, and who asked king Bṛhadaśva for protection.

How the account begins

Mārkaṇḍeya tells this account to Yudhishṭhira at Dvaitavana, in the time of the Pāṇḍavas’ exile. Yudhishṭhira was in anguish at the suffering of the brāhmaṇas and dependants who had followed the Pāṇḍavas into the forest. He asked Mārkaṇḍeya whether any king had borne a greater suffering than his.

Mārkaṇḍeya named several kings, Rāma among them. Then he told the account of Kuvalāśva, to show how righteous kings do deeds of the highest difficulty to protect the innocent. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 201)

The asura Dhundhu

Dhundhu was the son of Madhu and Kaiṭabha. These two great asuras were born from the earwax of Bhagavān Vishṇu at the start of creation, and Bhagavān Vishṇu killed them after a great battle.

Dhundhu did very hard tapas (austerity) in order to win the three worlds and take away Bhagavān Brahmā’s rule over creation. His tapas was so strong that Bhagavān Brahmā himself gave him a great vara (a boon). No being could kill him, except one particular human warrior who carried the power of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Dhundhu hid himself in a vast sea of sand, the Ujjalaka desert, and lay buried under the dunes at the foot of the Ujjalaka mountain. He lay there in a deep sleep, as if dead, and did his tapas in that stillness.

Once every year he breathed out. That one breath sent up a flood of fire and smoke from the sand. It shook the earth, darkened the sky with ash and made the whole region hot for seven days. The holy trees dried up, the waters of the rivers were disturbed, and the āśramas of the ṛshis nearby could no longer be lived in. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 201)

Uttaṅka’s request to Bṛhadaśva

Uttaṅka Maharshi’s āśrama was near the Ujjalaka desert. Each year, when Dhundhu’s breath burned the land, Uttaṅka and his disciples were driven out. They could not do their tapas and yajñas (fire rituals) in peace. The Maharshi decided to look for a kshatriya who could destroy the asura for good.

Uttaṅka went to Bṛhadaśva, the great and righteous king of the Ikshvāku line, and made his request. He said: “O king, the asura Dhundhu sleeps under the Ujjalaka desert. Every year he torments our āśrama with his fire. The devas cannot kill him, because of the vara given by Bhagavān Brahmā. But a human king of tapas and virtue can kill him. I ask you to take up this task.”

Bṛhadaśva was moved, but he said he could not do it himself. He had given up active war and had already handed his kingdom and its duties to his son Kuvalāśva. He sent Uttaṅka to his son. He told the Maharshi that Kuvalāśva was his equal in every way and greater than he in active courage. Bṛhadaśva added that Bhagavān Vishṇu himself had shown that the killing of Dhundhu was Kuvalāśva’s own dharma. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 201)

Kuvalāśva’s march

Kuvalāśva heard Uttaṅka’s request and took up the task without delay. He gathered a great army and marched to the Ujjalaka desert with his twenty-one thousand sons, all of them skilled warriors of great strength.

Good signs went with the march. A divine light surrounded Kuvalāśva, and the ṛshis who had gathered gave him their blessings. Bhagavān Vishṇu entered Kuvalāśva with his own tejas (radiant power) for as long as the campaign lasted.

The army dug into the great sea of sand, layer after layer, toward the place where Dhundhu lay buried. The work was heavy, for the desert was deep and Dhundhu lay at the very bottom. When the diggers broke into his resting place, Dhundhu woke in fury. He now breathed out against the diggers, and the result was terrible. Fire and poisonous smoke poured out in every direction and killed most of Kuvalāśva’s sons where they stood. The text records that all but three of them died. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 202)

The killing of Dhundhu

Kuvalāśva himself pressed on through the fire. Bhagavān Vishṇu’s tejas was in him. He called up the Āgneyāstra, the fire-weapon, and loosed it straight at Dhundhu. The weapon burned away the asura’s last strength and killed him. The Ujjalaka desert was free at last of its yearly terror.

The devas, led by Indra, showered flowers on Kuvalāśva. Uttaṅka Maharshi gave him the name by which he would be known for ever: Dhundhumāra, the Killer of Dhundhu. The ṛshis spoke great blessings over him. Indra declared that his puṇya (merit) was equal to that of one who performs the Aśvamedha.

The three sons of Kuvalāśva who lived became the founders of later royal lines and carried on the Ikshvāku family.

Kuvalāśva’s grief

The loss of twenty-one thousand sons was Kuvalāśva’s great personal sorrow. He bore it with the dignity of a dharmarāja (a king who upholds dharma). Mārkaṇḍeya said that this grief was like Yudhishṭhira’s own, and in some ways greater. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 204)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 201 to 204 (references given for Chapters 201, 202 and 204)