Mushala

The Mushala is a fierce iron pestle. It was born from the body of Sāmba through the śāpa (curse) of the ṛshis. It gives the Mausala Parva its name. It was the appointed instrument for the destruction of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas.

King Āhuka had it ground to powder and cast into the sea. Yet the filings came back as Eraka grass. In the hands of the doomed warriors this grass turned into clubs as hard as adamant. A leftover fragment of the pestle, set in a hunter’s weapon, killed Babhru of the Vṛshṇis. The Mushala was a weapon born of a curse. It could not be turned aside.

Origin from a curse

Some reckless young Vṛshṇi men, led by Sāraṇa, tricked the ṛshis Viśvāmitra, Kaṇva and Nārada. They dressed Sāmba as a pregnant woman. The angry ṛshis said that Sāmba would give birth to a terrible iron pestle for the ruin of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas.

The very next day Sāmba brought forth the iron Mushala. It was dreadful, like a great servant of Yama made for the death of the clan. The news was brought to the king. King Āhuka had his men grind it to fine powder and throw it into the sea. He also forbade the making of all liquor in the realm, on pain of impalement. The Mausala Parva, Chapter 1, tells this.

Return as the Eraka grass

Grinding the pestle did not undo the curse. The Eraka grass grew on the shore at Prabhāsa from the filings thrown into the sea. At the drinking festival a fight broke out. Kṛshṇa, in anger, took a handful of the eraka reeds. In his grasp they turned into an adamantine, iron-like pestle. In the hand of every angry man, the grass likewise became a club hard as the vajra (thunderbolt). Even a single blade of grass, thrown at someone who should not be struck, became a deadly pestle. So the whole race, driven by Kāla (Time), struck one another down with these weapons born of the curse. The Mausala Parva, Chapter 3, tells this.

The surviving fragment

A leftover piece of the ground pestle had lodged in the iron-bound club of a hunter. Kṛshṇa sent Babhru of the Vṛshṇis to guard the women. This same fragment still carried the force of the brahmins’ curse. It struck Babhru down as he set out. So not one of the appointed victims escaped it. The Mausala Parva, Chapter 4, tells this.

Its nature and meaning

The Mushala is no ordinary weapon. It is the very form of the brahmins’ curse and of the will of Kāla. A curse made it from the body of a mortal. It could be neither destroyed nor escaped. Ground to dust, it came back as grass. Scattered in the sea, it came back as reeds. A mere splinter of it was enough to kill.

It is a sign that the word of the ṛshis and the decree of Time cannot be turned back. Even Kṛshṇa, who could have prevented it, chose to let it do its appointed work.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 1, 3, 4