Ālhā and Udal

The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, in its third khaṇḍa (section), holds the sacred beginning of the great warrior cycle of the Kali Yuga known as the Ālhā-khaṇḍa. It explains how the souls of the Pāṇḍavas, the Kauravas, Śrī Kṛshṇa and other great heroes of the Kurukshetra war were born again in Kali Yuga as the warriors Ālhā, Udal, Malkhan, Pṛthvīrāja Chauhāna and their comrades.

The account opens on the last night of the Kurukshetra war. Śrī Kṛshṇa prays to Mahādeva. Bhagavān Śiva places a śāpa (a curse) on three warriors. Kṛshṇa then shows Śiva the whole plan of rebirth that will play out in Kali Yuga. The cycle is kept alive in the oral traditions of Bundelkhand and Bhojpur, and it rests on this Purāṇic account.

The last night of Kurukshetra

On the night before the Mahābhārata war ended, Śrī Kṛshṇa knew that the dark Kali Yuga was coming. He stayed awake. In the quiet of that last war-night he turned his mind inward to the sanātana deva (the eternal deva), Śiva. He prayed to Mahādeva with full surrender:

“O Śāntasvarūpa! O Master of all beings! I bow to you, protector of all. Grace me with your *darśana, for tonight the age turns.”*

Śiva appeared, riding Nandī, with his triśūla (trident) in hand, moving unseen through the Pāṇḍava camp. Kṛshṇa saw him and was deeply pleased.

Śiva’s curse on three warriors

That same night Aśvatthāmā, Kṛtavarman and Kṛpācārya, the three warriors still alive on the Kaurava side, came to the Pāṇḍava camp to make a last attack. Aśvatthāmā was a brahma-jñānin (knower of Brahman), and the other two were also great men, so Śiva could see them even in his unseen form. They bowed before Śiva.

But Śiva knew what they meant to do in the camp. He said: “You are devotees of Śrī Kṛshṇa. That is why you have lived. Otherwise I would have destroyed you. But for the wrong you are about to do, you must be born in the Kali Yuga and bear its results there.”

He pronounced a śāpa that all three would be born again in the Kali Yuga.

Then Kṛshṇa came before Śiva with a smile and offered his apologies: “O Mahādeva! I understand. At that moment you were moved by dharma alone. But may I tell you what will unfold?” He then revealed the whole divine plan.

The plan of rebirth: warriors of the Kali Yuga

Kṛshṇa told Mahādeva who the warriors would be when born again.

  • Dharmarāja (Yudhishṭhira) will be born as the son of Vatsarāja, named Balkhāni (Malkhan), lord of Śirīsha city.
  • Bhīma will be born as Vīraṇa, king of the Vanarasa (Varanasi) region.
  • Arjuna will be born as the very wise Parimal.
  • Dhṛtarāshṭra’s amśa (portion) will be born as Pṛthvīrāja in Ajmer.
  • Draupadī will be born as Velā, daughter of Pṛthvīrāja.
  • Karṇa will be born as Tāraka.
  • Raktabīja’s amśa will also be born on earth at that time.

Kṛshṇa himself said: “In that age I too will be born, in Mahāvatī-pura, as the son of Deśarāja, with the name Udayasiṃha, again born of Mother Devakī herself. In another amśa of mine, Āhlāduḍa (Ālhā) will take form, and he will help the Pāṇḍavas again.”

So the great warrior cycle of the Kali Yuga was set by divine will.

Pṛthvīrāja and the end of an era

The third khaṇḍa then tells how events went in the Kali Yuga. Pṛthvīrāja Chauhāna was born in Ajmer as Dhṛtarāshṭra’s amśa and was a great warrior king. Sahābbuddīna (Muḥammad Ghori) defeated him, and Quṭbuddīna was then set up as ruler of Delhi. This marked a turning point in the history of the land. Pṛthvīrāja reached vīra-svarga (the warrior’s heaven) in that last battle.

The Purāṇa mourns this change. With Pṛthvīrāja gone, the age of great warriors of dharma came to a close, and foreign rule grew stronger across Bhārata.

The oral tradition

The Purāṇa says plainly that the Ālhā-khaṇḍa cycle is kept in the works of Jagaṇika-bhaṭṭa and in the oral bardic traditions of Bundelkhand, Bhojpur and nearby regions. The Pratisarga Parva names itself as the Purāṇic root of this wide body of narrative. It reaches across the Ālhā-Udal heroic cycle, the accounts of Malkhan, Pṛthvīrāja and the Cāmuṇḍa warriors, and the many battles and acts of devotion kept in regional oral tradition.

The Purāṇa also says that the Ālhā-khaṇḍa tradition draws on several languages and oral lineages, including Bundelkhandi and Bhojpuri. Even among the written texts, the Bhavishya Purāṇa’s account is the foundation that gives the whole cycle its sacred meaning.

Sources

  • Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3 (including its introduction)