Murāsura Vadha

Murāsura was a dānava (a son of Danu) born to Kaśyapa and Danu. Brahmā gave him a terrible vara (a boon): anyone he touched with his hand would die. With this vara he conquered the three worlds and drove out the devas, until Bhagavān Vishṇu slew him with the cakra and took the name Murāri, the enemy of Murā.

Chapters 34 and 35 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tell this account. Inside it are Nārada’s teaching to Sanatkumāra and Brahmā’s teaching on the narakas and the sons recognised in dharmaśāstra.

Murāsura’s origin

Murāsura was born to Kaśyapa and Danu, the first line of dānavas. Brahmā gave him the vara that whoever Murā touched with his hand would die at once. No being could come near him, strike him or grapple with him without dying. (Chapter 34)

Murā conquers the three worlds

With his deadly touch Murāsura conquered one realm after another. He defeated all the devas and entered Amarāvatī, the capital of Indra. He took Indra’s throne and the celestial elephant Airāvata. Indra and all the devas were driven out of svarga and left without a home. Murā made himself master of the three worlds.

The devas could not fight a being whose touch kills. They built a new temporary city near the river Yamunā and lived there in exile. (Chapter 34)

Vasishṭha sends Murā to Yama

Near the Yamunā, Murā met the great ṛshi Vasishṭha. Vasishṭha was serving as family priest to a king of the Raghu-vaṃśa (the Sūryavaṃśa, the solar line) during a royal yajña. He advised Murā to challenge Yama, the ruler of dharma and death, if he truly wanted to test the limit of his power. Murā took the advice and went to Yama. (Chapter 34)

Yama points to Vishṇu

Murā came before Yama and challenged him to a contest. Yama sent Murā to Bhagavān Vishṇu, who rests in the Kshīrasāgara (the Ocean of Milk). If Murā wanted to test his vara against the highest power, Yama said, Bhagavān Vishṇu was there. (Chapter 34)

Nārada’s teaching on the Dvādaśapatra yoga

At this point the text turns to Nārada, who teaches Sanatkumāra about the nature of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Nārada names four cosmic forms:

  • Vāsudeva: of white (śukla) nature, the śānta (peaceful) form.
  • Brahmā: of sattva nature, with four faces, the power of creation.
  • Śesha: of tamas nature, sahasramukha (thousand-faced), the ground that holds all up.
  • Prajāpati: of rajas nature, with four faces, the power of generation.

The teaching on the Dvādaśapatra yoga (the twelve-petal wheel) describes the body of Bhagavān Vishṇu as a cosmic structure. It matches the twelve zones of the body, the twelve rāśis (zodiac signs), the twelve months, and the syllables of the Oṃ-nāma. (Chapter 34)

Brahmā asks for a father-and-son bond

Sanatkumāra went to Brahmā to receive yoga-jñāna (the knowledge of yoga) directly. Brahmā replied that this teaching can be passed on only within a proper guru-śishya (teacher and student) bond, and that this bond must be a formal filial one. The right relationship had to be set up before the yoga-jñāna could be given. (Chapter 34)

The sixteen narakas and the duty of a son

Chapter 35 records Brahmā’s teaching on sixteen narakas (hells) and on putra-dharma, the duty of a son. It covers the duties of sons to their fathers. It explains the word put, the naraka from which a son saves his father by doing śrāddha properly. It also lists twelve kinds of son recognised in dharmaśāstra.

The twelve are in two groups.

Shaḍ dāyāda (the six sons who inherit):

  1. Aurasa: the son of the body, born to the wife in a proper marriage.
  2. Kshetraja: born to the wife through a chosen kinsman (niyoga).
  3. Datta: formally adopted.
  4. Kṛtima: taken into the family by the son himself.
  5. Gūḍhaja: born in secret, of uncertain fatherhood.
  6. Apaviddha: left by his birth parents and taken in by another.

Six further kinds of son:

  1. Kānīna: born to an unmarried young woman before her marriage.
  2. Sahoda: born in the womb (sahodara) at the time of marriage.
  3. Krīta: bought.
  4. Punarbhava: the son of a widow who marries again.
  5. Svayandatta: self-given.
  6. Pārāśava: born to a śūdrā woman by a brāhmaṇa father.

(Chapter 35)

Murā comes to Vishṇu at the Kshīrasāgara

Following Yama’s words, Murā travelled to the Kshīrasāgara and came before Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu was resting on Ādiśesha in the Ocean of Milk, and he received Murā. Here the vara that kills by touch met the supreme Parameśvara. (Chapter 35)

Vishṇu slays Murā and is called Murāri

Bhagavān Vishṇu killed Murāsura with his cakra, the Sudarśana. He sent it through Murā’s chest, and the dānava was slain. The devas rejoiced at their freedom.

From this victory came the famous name Murāri, “the enemy (ari) of Murā.” It is one of the names by which Vishṇu-Kṛshṇa is widely known in the devotional tradition. (Chapter 35)

Sources

  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 34: Murāsura’s vara, his conquest, Vasishṭha, Yama, Nārada’s teaching to Sanatkumāra, Brahmā and Sanatkumāra.
  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 35: the sixteen narakas, the twelve kinds of son, Murā at the Kshīrasāgara, the slaying of Murā.