Mura of Prāgjyotiṣa

Mura was a great five-headed asura. He was the chief guardian of Prāgjyotiṣa, the fortified capital of Narakāsura. He had ringed the city with six thousand pāśas (binding ropes of great power), the outermost wall of defence against any attacker.

When Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa came to Prāgjyotiṣa on Garuḍa to slay Narakāsura, Mura was the first great obstacle He met. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa killed him with the Sudarśana Cakra. Mura’s five sons also attacked and were all slain. Because He killed Mura, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa is also called Murāri, the enemy of Mura.

Defences of Prāgjyotiṣa

Narakāsura took great care to make Prāgjyotiṣa safe from attack. The outermost defence was a net of six thousand pāśas, made and ruled by Mura. These were not only physical ropes. They carried an asura power that could bind and hold whole armies still. Beyond the pāśas were mountains, moats and terrible mechanical weapons that Mura commanded. Mura himself was a five-headed asura of vast size and strength, and he oversaw the city’s defences in person.

Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa and Satyabhāmā came down on Garuḍa. The first meeting was with Mura and his defences.

Death and the name Murāri

Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa fought Mura and killed him with the Sudarśana Cakra. The five sons of Mura, each in charge of a part of the defences, also attacked one after another. All of them were destroyed. With Mura dead, the six thousand pāśas lost their guardian and were broken through.

The killing of Mura was one of the great victories of the campaign against Prāgjyotiṣa. In honour of this, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa came to bear the name Murāri, “the destroyer of Mura”. It became one of His best-known and most-used names. It appears often in Vaiṣṇava stotras (hymns of praise) and in worship.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākṣiṇātya prati (southern recension), Chapter 38
• Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Parva