Dhundhu (Mahābhārata)

Dhundhu was a mahāsura (great asura). His story is told in the Dhundhumāra Upākhyāna in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata. He was a son of the great asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha. He did terrible tapas (austerity) with the aim of destroying all three worlds.

He lay buried under the Ujjalaka, a great desert of sand. Once a year his breath set the land around him on fire for seven days. The Ikṣvāku king Kuvalāśva killed him with the Āgneyāstra, after Bhagavān Viṣṇu filled Kuvalāśva with his own divine tejas (radiant power).

Identity and origin

Dhundhu was the son of the mahāsuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha. These two asuras were born from the ear-wax of Bhagavān Viṣṇu at the dawn of creation. Viṣṇu killed them in the Hayagrīva or Jiṣṇu form. So Dhundhu came from the line of two of the mightiest asuras of the Kṛta age.

He did extreme tapas for one purpose: to destroy the devas and all three worlds. From Brahmā he received a vara (boon) of invincibility. No deva, dānava, yakṣa, gandharva or nāga would be able to kill him.

His home and the terror he caused

Dhundhu lay buried deep in the Ujjalaka, a vast sea of sand in the desert land (maru-deśa). He lay in a kind of constant yogic sleep under the sand. His huge body gave off great heat inside. Once a year, and only once, Dhundhu drew breath. When he did, the results were terrible.

• The whole earth around him shook hard, and mountains and forests swayed.
• Great amounts of dust, fire and smoke were thrown into the sky and hid the sun.
• The land around the āśrama of Uttaṅka Maharṣi burned with fierce flames for seven days in a row.

This yearly disaster made life near the āśrama unbearable for Uttaṅka and his disciples. For those seven days they could neither practise tapas nor live in peace.

The petition and the divine direction

Uttaṅka Maharṣi had earlier received a vara from Bhagavān Viṣṇu. The one who killed Dhundhu would receive the tejas of Viṣṇu himself to help in the task.

Uttaṅka went to the Ikṣvāku king Bṛhadaśva and asked for protection. Bṛhadaśva had himself retired to practise tapas. He sent Uttaṅka to his son Kuvalāśva, to whom Bhagavān Viṣṇu had given the task of destroying Dhundhu.

Bhagavān Viṣṇu had told Uttaṅka earlier: “A great king named Bṛhadaśva will arise in the Ikṣvāku line. His son Kuvalāśva, filled with the strength of my yoga, will kill Dhundhu and become known as Dhundhumāra.”

The destruction of Dhundhu

Kuvalāśva set out for the Ujjalaka desert with his twenty-one thousand sons. They dug down through the sand to the place where Dhundhu lay.

Dhundhu was woken from his sleep and let loose his terrible power. Fire burst from his body and covered the sands. It killed nearly all of Kuvalāśva’s sons. Only three lived: Kapilāśva, Dṛḍhāśva and Candrāśva.

Kuvalāśva had been filled with the divine tejas of Bhagavān Viṣṇu at the start of the journey, and he stood against Dhundhu’s fire. He hurled the Āgneyāstra at the asura. The weapon carried the power of Viṣṇu himself, and it destroyed Dhundhu completely.

Another Dhundhu

The Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 52) tells of a different Dhundhu. That Dhundhu was a son of Kaśyapa and Danu. He performed a hundred Aśvamedha yajñas to win Brahmaloka, and Bhagavān Viṣṇu defeated him in the Trivikrama avatāra.

The Dhundhu of the Mahābhārata was a son of Madhu and Kaiṭabha. He lay buried in the Ujjalaka desert and was killed by a human king filled with the power of Viṣṇu. The two are separate beings who share a name.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 201–204 (Dhundhumāra Upākhyāna)
• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 52 (the other Dhundhu)