Syamantaka Maṇi (Matsya Purāṇa)

The Syamantaka maṇi (gem) was a divine gem that gave its keeper eight bhāras of gold every day and kept his kingdom safe from drought, hunger, plague and all harm. Bhagavān Sūrya gave it to Satrājit of the Yādava clan. The Matsya Purāṇa tells in Chapter 45 how Prasena was killed while wearing it, how Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was wrongly blamed, and how he went into a cave, fought Jāmbavān, and brought the gem back. This account is also told in other scriptures, which have their own pages.

The gem and its powers

Bhagavān Sūrya gave the Syamantaka maṇi to Satrājit of the Yādava clan because Satrājit worshipped Sūrya with devotion. The gem was so bright that when Satrājit wore it around his neck he looked like the sun, and people could not look straight at him. The gem produced eight bhāras of gold every day for its keeper. The kingdom where it stayed was protected from drought, famine, plague and every kind of calamity.

Prasena and the lion

Satrājit’s brother Prasena wore the gem one day and went hunting. A lion killed him in the forest and took the gem. The lion was then killed by Jāmbavān, the great king of the bears, who was a companion of Śrī Rāma in the Tretā Yuga. Jāmbavān took the gem to his cave and gave it to his young son to play with.

When Prasena did not come back, rumours spread among the Yādavas. Prasena had been seen wearing the gem. Now he was dead, and the gem was missing. Many people hinted that Kṛshṇa had killed Prasena to get it. Kṛshṇa had once said that he admired the gem and that such a gem was better suited to a king than to a private person.

Kṛshṇa wanted to clear his name. He gathered a search party and followed the trail from the place where Prasena died into the forest. He found Prasena’s body, then the body of the lion, and then the tracks of Jāmbavān leading into a cave. Kṛshṇa went into the cave alone. Deep inside he found a child of Jāmbavān (a daughter, or a son in some accounts) playing with a shining gem, the Syamantaka.

The fight with Jāmbavān

Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavān fought in the cave. The fight lasted twenty-one days. Jāmbavān, the great devotee and companion of Śrī Rāma, was among the strongest beings alive, and this was a fight of great length and fury. On the twenty-first day Jāmbavān felt the force of Kṛshṇa in a way that woke his deepest memory. He saw that only one being could have this unbeatable strength, and that being was Rāma himself, now come as Kṛshṇa. Jāmbavān bowed deeply and knew Kṛshṇa as the same Bhagavān Rāma who had been his master in the Tretā Yuga.

The return of the gem

Jāmbavān offered Kṛshṇa the Syamantaka maṇi and also gave him his daughter Jāmbavatī in marriage, as a sign that he had given himself wholly to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa accepted both and came out of the cave.

When Kṛshṇa came back to Dvārakā with the gem, the Yādavas were amazed. Satrājit was overcome with shame that he had let suspicion fall on Kṛshṇa. He offered Kṛshṇa the Syamantaka maṇi together with his daughter Satyabhāmā in marriage. Kṛshṇa accepted Satyabhāmā but gave the Syamantaka maṇi back to Satrājit. He said the gem was best kept in a place of pure pūjā, where its daily gold could help many.

The Vṛshṇi vaṃśa

In the Matsya Purāṇa this episode stands inside the Vṛshṇi vaṃśa (lineage), which follows the line from Yadu through the Yādava clans to Kṛshṇa and those near him. Satrājit and Prasena belong to the Yādava nobles.

Sources

  • Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 45