Pauṇḍraka and Daṇḍapāṇi in the Padma Purāṇa

The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells how Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva, king of Kāśī, gained a form that looked like Kṛshṇa’s in every detail: four arms, disc, conch, mace, the Kaustubha gem and yellow garments. At Nārada’s urging he challenged Kṛshṇa and was killed. His son Daṇḍapāṇi wanted revenge. He won a Kṛtyā (a fierce female power of destruction) from Śiva and sent her to kill Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana disc drove her back, chased her to Vārāṇasī, and burned the whole city together with Daṇḍapāṇi.

Pauṇḍraka’s twelve years of worship of Śiva

Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva was the king of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī). He was proud and full of ambition. He wanted to become another Vāsudeva, to equal or even rise above Kṛshṇa. He went to a lonely place, fasted, and for twelve years did ārādhanā of Śiva by repeating the Pañcākshari mantra. At the high point of his worship he offered one of his own eyes to Śiva.

Śiva was pleased with this great offering. He appeared and told Pauṇḍraka to ask for a vara (a boon). Pauṇḍraka said: “Give me a form exactly like Vāsudeva (Kṛshṇa).”

Śiva gave him a form with four arms, holding a disc, a conch, a mace and a lotus. It had lotus-petal eyes, a crown of lovely hair, and the look of Kṛshṇa. Pauṇḍraka then asked for the marks as well: yellow garments and ornaments such as the Kaustubha gem. Śiva gave him all of these.

With this divine form, Pauṇḍraka went about telling everyone: “I am Vāsudeva.”

Nārada’s challenge

Nārada, the devarshi (divine seer), came to Pauṇḍraka in Kāśī. He said: “You cannot have the true place of Vāsudeva until you have defeated the real Vāsudeva, Kṛshṇa.”

These words fired Pauṇḍraka’s pride. At once he climbed into a chariot with a Garuḍa banner and set out for Dvārakā with an army of four divisions, one akshauhiṇī in all. He sent a messenger ahead to Kṛshṇa with these words: “I, Vāsudeva, stand at the gate of your city with my golden chariot. Until you have defeated me, you cannot claim the place of Vāsudeva. Come and fight.”

Kṛshṇa kills Pauṇḍraka

Kṛshṇa heard the message, mounted Garuḍa, and rode out to fight. He saw Pauṇḍraka standing there with his false weapons, the conch, disc, mace and lotus, dressed in yellow garments.

Kṛshṇa took up his Śārṅga bow. In a short time he destroyed the whole akshauhiṇī with arrows that blazed like the fire of dissolution. Then with one arrow he cut away all the weapons from Pauṇḍraka’s hands. Last, with his pure Sudarśana disc, he cut off Pauṇḍraka’s head, still wearing its crown. The head fell into Pauṇḍraka’s own women’s quarters in Vārāṇasī. The people of Kāśī saw the crowned head fall there and were filled with fear and wonder.

Daṇḍapāṇi’s revenge and the Kṛtyā

Pauṇḍraka’s son Daṇḍapāṇi heard that Kṛshṇa had killed his father. He was full of the wish for revenge. His mother told him what to do and his priest urged him on. He performed a great yajña to Śiva called the Māheśvara.

Śiva was pleased with this yajña and gave Daṇḍapāṇi a Kṛtyā. She was a fierce female power of destruction, skilled in magic, who belonged to Maheśvara. Her body blazed with fire. Her hair was a mass of flames, and her eyes were tawny and fiery. She held a trident, her body was smeared with ash, and she wore a garland of human heads. She was able to kill Kṛshṇa together with his sons, his wives and all his relatives. Even the devas feared her. Daṇḍapāṇi sent her to Dvārakā to destroy Kṛshṇa.

Sudarśana drives back the Kṛtyā and burns Vārāṇasī

The Kṛtyā came toward Dvārakā. Her blazing body scorched the earth, and she roared like the fire of dissolution. The people of Dvārakā saw her and ran in panic to tell Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa told them not to be afraid. Then he let go of his Sudarśana disc. It is a wheel of a thousand spokes, made of gold, shining with the light of a crore of Suns. It can bring the world to dissolution, and all the devas bow to it.

The Kṛtyā saw the terrible Sudarśana shooting a hundred yojanas upward with its thousand blazing weapons. She lost all her own shine and was overcome by fear. She ran back toward Vārāṇasī, crying out. Sudarśana chased her without rest. She entered the city of Kāśī. Sudarśana followed her in and burned Daṇḍapāṇi together with his servants, his army and his elephants. The whole city of Vārāṇasī, with its many palaces, mansions, chariots, elephants, and all its men and women, was burned to ash by the disc.

Then Sudarśana came back, its power not at all spent, into Kṛshṇa’s soft hand.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 251