Sāmba and the Kauravas

Sāmba was a son of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavatī. At the svayaṃvara (the bride’s own choice of husband) of Lakshmaṇā, Duryodhana’s daughter, he carried her off. The Kauravas captured him. Balarāma went alone to Hastināpura to ask for his release. When the Kauravas answered him with proud and insulting words, he put his plough under the city and began to drag it toward the Gaṅgā. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa and the Vishṇu Purāṇa both tell the episode.

Sāmba carries off Lakshmaṇā

Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī and Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, was used to winning in battle. He came to the svayaṃvara of Lakshmaṇā, the daughter of Duryodhana. There, before the assembled kings, he seized the princess and took her away by force.

The Kauravas were furious. They said: “This insolent boy has ignored all of us and taken a girl who did not choose him! What can the Yādavas do to us? They enjoy the kingdom we gave them. Let them see our power!”

Karṇa, Śala, Bhūriśravas, Yajñaketu and Duryodhana got ready to chase Sāmba and take him prisoner.

Sāmba stood alone against them all, like a lion. He shot arrows at all six warriors at once. With one arrow each, he broke each man’s chariot, and his skill amazed them all. But together the six at last left him without horses and without a chariot. Duryodhana’s forces took Sāmba prisoner and brought him and Lakshmaṇā back to Hastināpura.

Balarāma goes to Hastināpura

Nārada brought the news that Sāmba had been captured. The Yādavas were angry, and at Ugrasena’s urging they got ready for war. But Balarāma did not want a fight between the Kauravas and the Yādavas. He calmed them and went to Hastināpura alone.

He stayed in a garden outside the city and sent Uddhava to tell the Kauravas that he had come. Dhṛtarāshṭra, Bhīshma, Droṇa, Bāhlika and Duryodhana were very glad to hear it. They came out with gifts and honoured Balarāma with the proper courtesies: a cow, water and bows of respect. After kind questions on both sides, Balarāma spoke calmly and with dignity:

“Ugrasena Mahārāja, the ruler of the Bhoja, Vṛshṇi and Andhaka clans, commands you to free Sāmba at once. You took him unfairly, many against one. What Sāmba did, carrying off a princess at a *svayaṃvara, was fully within kshatriya-dharma. Out of a wish for peace in the family, I have not pressed the matter further.”*

The Kauravas answer proudly

The Kauravas were swollen with pride in their ancestry, their wealth and the great warriors in their ranks. They answered rudely:

“What strange times these are! Now even the sandal paste wants to sit on the head. The Yādavas came into relation with us through the marriage with Kuntī. We let them sit with us, eat with us and sleep with us. We gave them their kingdom and raised them to our level. And now they give us orders?

They enjoy the parasol, the fly-whisks, the royal seat and the royal bed, which are royal honours, only because we allow it. Like snakes fed on milk, they have turned on those who fed them and dare to command us. Can a jackal eat what the lion has killed? Can anyone enjoy what Bhīshma, Droṇa, Arjuna and Karṇa have not allowed?”

Balarāma drags Hastināpura toward the Gaṅgā

Balarāma heard these base words with blazing anger. He laughed loudly several times. Then he spoke with terrible resolve:

“Wicked men full of pride will not accept peace. That is certain. Only punishment will tame their arrogance. I came here as a peace envoy. I calmed the angry Yādavas and even the wrathful Kṛshṇa. And these proud men have insulted me again and again!”

He spoke of the glories of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa: the Sudharmā assembly hall, the Pārijāta tree, and Lakshmī herself worshipping at his feet. Balarāma declared that it was not the Yādavas who were lesser but the Kauravas, who were blind with pride in their wealth.

Then he said: “Today I will make this earth free of Kauravas!” In blazing fury he took up his plough. He drove it into the foundations of the city of Hastināpura and began to drag the city toward the Gaṅgā. The city shook like a boat in a flood and began to slide toward the river.

The Kauravas surrender

The Kauravas ran to him in terror with their families. They brought Sāmba and Lakshmaṇā before Balarāma and fell at his feet. They said: “O Balarāma! O Rāma! You are the support of all that exists. We were foolish and did not know your greatness. Forgive our offence. You are our only refuge.”

Balarāma was now calm and gave them abhaya (freedom from fear). Duryodhana’s love for his daughter overflowed. He gave as her dowry twelve hundred elephants sixty years old, ten thousand horses, six thousand chariots decorated with gold, and a thousand maidservants adorned with gold.

Balarāma accepted all of this. He returned to Dvārakā with Sāmba and his bride, and the grateful Yādavas welcomed them.

Even today Hastināpura leans toward the Gaṅgā on its eastern side. It stands as a lasting proof of Balarāma’s unequalled power.

The Vishṇu Purāṇa account

The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa tells the same episode in the Pañcamāmsa, Chapter 35. Sāmba carries off Lakshmaṇā and is captured by the Kauravas. Balarāma goes alone to Hastināpura as a peace envoy. The Kauravas answer with insulting speeches about the low standing of the Yādavas. Balarāma, in anger, drives his plough under the foundations of the city and begins to drag it toward the Gaṅgā. The Kauravas surrender in terror and free Sāmba with Lakshmaṇā, giving generous dowry gifts.

In the Vishṇu Purāṇa, Balarāma’s plough is the instrument of Ādiśesha, the cosmic serpent who holds up the earth. When Balarāma puts his plough under Hastināpura and begins to drag it toward the river, Ādiśesha himself stirs and the earth trembles.

Both the Bhāgavata and the Vishṇu Purāṇa say that Hastināpura leans toward the Gaṅgā to this day because of this event.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 68
• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāmsa, Chapter 35