Graṣaṇa
Graṣaṇa was one of the ten chief commanders of the daitya army of Tārakāsura in the great war between the devas and the asuras. The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa describes him as a fearsome warrior, as big as a mountain. His body could grow and shrink at will. He could swallow armies, and he could fight with his bare hands (bāhuyuddha) against the greatest devas.
He fought Yama, the deva of death, in a long bāhuyuddha. The fight moved from weapons to wrestling to a test of pure strength that lasted many hours. Graṣaṇa was finally killed by Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s Sudarśana Cakra when he turned to attack Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself. The cakra cut his huge body from his head.
His nature
The name Graṣaṇa comes from a root meaning “to swallow” or “to devour”. The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa’s description of him fits this name. He was huge, as big as a mountain. He had the asura power of changing the size of his body at will. He could grow to fill the battlefield, or shrink to move fast. He was one of the most physically strong of Tārakāsura’s ten great commanders.
Tāraka’s war council and the ten commanders
Tārakāsura called his great war council and announced that he meant to defeat the devas. He named ten of his greatest warriors as the chief commanders of the daitya army:
- Graṣaṇa
- Mahiṣa (the daitya in buffalo form)
- Virūpākṣa
- Śumbha
- Niśumbha
- Kālanemi
- Jambha
- Vātāpi
- Tāmra
- Triguṇa
Graṣaṇa was among the ten for his raw power in combat, not for wisdom in planning. His skill in bāhuyuddha made him the best close-combat warrior of the army.
The fight against Yama
In the great battle between the armies of the devas and the daityas, Graṣaṇa was matched against Yama, the deva of death and dharma, himself a very powerful warrior. Their fight went through three stages.
Stage 1, weapons. Graṣaṇa and Yama exchanged the fire of their astras (divine weapons). Yama used his own weapons, including his fearsome daṇḍa (staff) and various astras. Graṣaṇa answered with astra-power of his own. The exchange went on for a long time, and neither gained a clear lead.
Stage 2, bāhuyuddha. The weapons cancelled each other. Both warriors put them aside and began bāhuyuddha, fighting with bare hands. The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa gives much detail about this stage. They seized and threw each other, twisted limbs and tried holds. Each time one got a grip, the other broke free. The fight went on long because Graṣaṇa could expand his body, which made some holds impossible, and Yama’s divine strength matched his growth.
Stage 3, a test of pure strength. The fight settled into a grinding contest of force. Each pressed against the other and tried to win by strength alone. This stage lasted many hours, and neither gave way. The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa describes it as one of the longest single fights of the war. In this form, neither Yama nor Graṣaṇa could win a clear victory over the other.
Death by the Sudarśana
In the later stages of the war, the forces of the devas were pressed harder, and the great daitya commanders fell one by one. Graṣaṇa turned his great power against Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself. The meeting was short and final. Bhagavān Viṣṇu had already shown that he could wound the greatest daityas, while sparing those whose deaths were fated for other hands. Mahiṣa would die by a woman, and Śumbha and Niśumbha would die by a woman. Now he used his Sudarśana Cakra against Graṣaṇa.
Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s discus cut Graṣaṇa’s huge head from his body in one stroke. The one who had nearly matched Yama in bare-handed combat fell at once.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16–20