Bāṇāsura

Bāṇāsura was the eldest and most powerful son of Bali Cakravartī, the asura king whom Bhagavān Vishṇu humbled in the Vāmana avatāra (descent). He was born with one thousand arms and ruled from his strong capital, Śoṇitapura. He was a true devotee of Śiva and the father of Ushā.

He is best known from the story of Aniruddha and Ushā, where he stands against Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa and the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa both tell this story, and each adds its own details.

Lineage and power

Bāṇāsura was the son of Bali Mahārāja, the cakravartī (universal emperor) whose defeat by Bhagavān Vāmana is one of the great teachings of the Purāṇas on ego and surrender. The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa calls him the eldest son of Bali Cakravartī. It says that, despite his asura birth, he was foremost of his generation in tapas (austerity), devotion and skill in war (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 118).

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa says Bāṇa inherited his father’s power and added to it through hard tapas to Śiva. Śiva was so pleased that he became like a father to Bāṇa. He guarded Śoṇitapura with his own presence and promised to give Bāṇa a worthy battle. Bāṇa had one thousand arms, and each could wield a different weapon. Śiva’s own forces stood around him: the eight Bhairavas, the eleven Rudras, Vīrabhadra, Mahākāla, Nandī and Kārttikeya. All of them were bound by their love for Bāṇa’s guru, Śiva (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 114).

Becoming Śiva’s son

The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa tells how Bāṇāsura saw Kārttikeya, Śiva’s son born of Agni, in the forest of Śiva. He was struck by Kārttikeya’s beauty and radiance. He decided to become Śiva’s adopted son through tapas, so that the same favour that Kārttikeya enjoyed would come to him.

He performed hard austerities, and both Śiva and Pārvatī were pleased. Śiva granted him a vara (a boon): “Henceforth you are our son. You shall be a younger brother to Kārttikeya.” Pārvatī embraced Bāṇāsura as she would a son.

Śoṇitapura was the very place where Kārttikeya was born from the sacred fire. It became Bāṇāsura’s capital, and Śiva promised to live there as its protector. Kārttikeya gave Bāṇāsura his fiery banner (agni-prakāśa dhvaja) and the great peacock as his vehicle (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 118).

The thousand arms and the wish for war

With a thousand arms and Śiva’s presence to shield him, Bāṇāsura could not be beaten by any deva, dānava or gandharva. He grew drunk with his power and restless, because he had no worthy opponent. He came before Śiva and said:

“O Prabhu Śiva! Through your grace I have conquered everyone. The devas have gone back to svarga (heaven) in helplessness. My thousand arms serve no purpose when there is no one to fight. Without war, living with a thousand arms is meaningless. When will my hour of battle come?”

Śiva smiled and answered: “When the flag of your chariot falls broken to the earth, then your desired battle will come without effort.”

Bāṇāsura went back full of joy and told his minister Kumbhāṇḍa about the vara. Just then Indra’s vajra (thunderbolt) shattered the flag-mast and it fell. Fearful signs followed: the earth bled, stars fell, and cries were heard in the cremation grounds. Bāṇāsura, blinded by eagerness, did not see them as warnings. Kumbhāṇḍa, a man of good judgment, quietly decided that the kingdom was about to meet its end (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 118).

Ushā and Aniruddha

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa says that Bāṇāsura’s daughter Ushā was Śūrpaṇakhā born again through tapas. Ushā dreamed of Aniruddha, the grandson of Kṛshṇa, and fell in love with him. The yoginī Citralekhā brought Aniruddha to Śoṇitapura by yogic power. When Ushā became pregnant and the matter was found out, Bāṇa was furious. He felt his daughter’s honour had been broken.

He challenged Aniruddha: “Who are you to enter my daughter’s chambers?” Aniruddha answered with a full philosophical account of Kṛshṇa’s nature and his own. The talk grew into battle. Bāṇa fought with great skill and used the most powerful astras (divine weapons). Aniruddha was joined by Sātyaki, Pradyumna, Balarāma and Arjuna, and finally by Kṛshṇa himself with the Sudarśana Cakra (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 114–116).

The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa says the palace guards found that a young man of great beauty and warrior bearing had been living secretly in the antaḥpura (inner women’s quarters) of Ushā. Bāṇāsura was furious: “He has brought dishonour to my house. My daughter’s purity has been harmed. What insolence, to enter my city and my own palace!”

He sent soldiers in waves, and Aniruddha drove them all back. Aniruddha fought alone with a parigha (iron club) and scattered thousands. Then Bāṇāsura himself came out on his great chariot, with his thousand arms bearing many weapons, and challenged Aniruddha.

Aniruddha fought him fiercely. He destroyed Bāṇāsura’s chariot, killed his horses, and matched him weapon for weapon. When Bāṇāsura could not win in open combat, he turned to unseen warfare through māyā (illusion). At last he used the nāgāstra, which wrapped Aniruddha in serpent bonds and left him unable to move.

Kumbhāṇḍa then advised him to be wise: “Do not kill him. He has the courage of Indra. He fights as though at play. He is very handsome and learned in all the śāstras. Your daughter has already taken him as her husband by gāndharva-vivāha (a marriage by mutual consent). Killing him would be pāpa (sin). Honouring him would be the auspicious path.” Bāṇāsura accepted this advice. He kept Aniruddha a prisoner in the serpent bonds and did not kill him (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 121).

The great battle with Kṛshṇa in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa

Nārada brought news to Dvārakā that Aniruddha was a prisoner in Śoṇitapura. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa mounted Garuḍa and flew to Śoṇitapura with Balarāma and Pradyumna. The battle that followed was vast:

• Kṛshṇa put out the sacred fire that guarded the city, using the waters of the Ākāśagaṅgā.
• He defeated the fire-hosts (agni-gaṇas) of Śiva with divine astras.
• The Śiva-jvara, a terrible fever sent by Śiva, was overcome by Kṛshṇa’s Vaishṇava-jvara. Kṛshṇa then offered it a vara.
• Śiva himself entered the field and fought Kṛshṇa with fearsome astras, including the Brahmāstra. Kṛshṇa answered with the Jṛmbhaṇāstra, which held Śiva still.
• Brahmā stepped in. Śiva then knew the truth that he and Kṛshṇa are not different, and the two embraced.
• Kārttikeya fought the three Yādava heroes but was outmatched. The devī Koṭavī carried him away to safety.

When Bāṇāsura came to fight Kṛshṇa directly, he used all his thousand arms with every weapon he had. Kṛshṇa let loose the Sudarśana Cakra, the disc that nothing can stop. It began to cut off Bāṇāsura’s arms one after another. Nine hundred and ninety-eight arms fell, and only two were left.

Even then Kṛshṇa raised the cakra to finish the work. Śiva stepped forward and said: “O Purushottama! I promised him my protection. Do not make my vara empty.” Kṛshṇa agreed at once: “He shall live. I have done what I came to do” (Vishṇu Parva, Chapters 124–130).

The great battle in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa describes the war with Bāṇāsura at great length. Bāṇa used the Añjanāstra, Āgneyāstra, Vāyubāṇa, Nārāyaṇāstra, Māheśvarāstra, Brahmāstra and Nāgāstra against Sātyaki. Each was met and stopped.

Kālāgnirudra sent the Māheśvara-jvara, a terrible fever, against the Yādava forces. Kṛshṇa sent the Vaishṇava-jvara, which overcame it. Finally Arjuna used the Sudarśana Cakra, which cut off 996 of Bāṇa’s arms and left him four.

Bāṇa fell. Śiva came and carried him to Kṛshṇa, and placed him at Kṛshṇa’s lotus feet. Bali, Bāṇa’s father, also came. He recited a great stotra (hymn of praise) to Kṛshṇa, called Kṛshṇa the Parabrahman, and begged for his son’s life (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 119–120).

Kṛshṇa’s grace in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

Kṛshṇa was moved by Śiva’s plea and by Bali’s stotra. He gave Bāṇa great grace:

• Mṛtyuñjaya-jñāna, the knowledge that conquers death.
• Immortality. Bāṇa was made deathless, with four arms.
• The phala (fruit) of Bali’s stotra was given to Bāṇa as well.

In gratitude, Bāṇa gave Kṛshṇa a rich dowry for Ushā. It was five lakh elephants, four times as many horses, one thousand dāsīs (maidservants), one thousand kāmadhenus (wish-fulfilling cows), and one crore each of maṇi (gems), ratna (jewels), mukta (pearls), vajra (diamonds), māṇikya (rubies) and gold vessels. Ushā was taken to Dvārakā and placed in the care of Rukmiṇī and Devakī (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 120).

Boons from Śiva in the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa

After the battle, Nandīśvara brought Bāṇāsura before Śiva. His body was streaming with blood from the wounds of the cakra. Śiva was moved with compassion as he watched Bāṇāsura dance (nāṭya) before him even in that broken state. Śiva offered him varas, and Bāṇāsura asked for five:

1. Freedom from old age and death.
2. The fruit of his tapas: sons born to those who dance before him fasting, with patience and satya (truth).
3. Freedom from the pain of the cakra’s wounds.
4. To be the chief of Śiva’s pramatha-gaṇas (attendant host) with the name Mahākāla, famous in the three worlds.
5. Beauty of form even with only two arms.

Śiva granted all five. He said: “You will have no pain from these wounds. You will be healthy and strong. And you are my greatest devotee.” Bāṇāsura was restored to beauty and splendour and went away with Śiva (Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 131).

Kumbhāṇḍa and Kṛshṇa’s mercy

Throughout the account of the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, the minister Kumbhāṇḍa speaks the voice of good judgment. He advised against killing Aniruddha. After the war, Kṛshṇa gave Kumbhāṇḍa rule over Śoṇitapura as a reward for his wisdom.

When Kṛshṇa spared Bāṇāsura and left him with two arms, he spoke no harsh word. He kept Śiva’s vara and honoured the asura’s devotion. The Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa also says that Bāṇāsura was spared by Kṛshṇa’s own compassion, and not only by the plea of Śiva.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 114–120
• Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapters 118–134
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākshiṇātya pratī, Chapter 38