Narakāsura Vadha (Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa)

Narakāsura was an asura who ruled at Prāgjyotishapura. He troubled the three worlds, stole the divine kuṇḍalas (earrings) of Aditi, and shut thousands of women in a cave. Indra came to Dvārakā and asked Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for help. Kṛshṇa went with his queen Satyabhāmā, broke the defences of the city, and cut down Narakāsura with the Sudarśana cakra. The Harivaṃśa tells this in the Vishṇu Parva.

Indra asks Kṛshṇa for help

Indra came down from svarga (heaven) to Dvārakā and asked Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for protection. He told how Narakāsura, the daitya lord who sat on the throne of Prāgjyotishapura, had grown so bold in his conquests that he now troubled all three worlds without restraint. The worst of his offences was the theft of the divine kuṇḍalas of Aditi, the mother of the devas. Indra begged Kṛshṇa to win back the earrings and to put an end to Narakāsura’s terror.

Departure on Garuḍa

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa mounted the divine eagle Garuḍa together with his queen Satyabhāmā. The two flew swiftly through the sky toward Prāgjyotishapura. Satyabhāmā was as brave as she was devoted, and she went with Kṛshṇa as his companion in this war.

The fall of Narakāsura’s defences

Prāgjyotishapura was guarded by strong fortifications and many mighty generals. As Kṛshṇa came near, he first met the asura Mura. Mura had ringed the city with six thousand pāśas (ropes of mystic power). Kṛshṇa destroyed Mura and broke through these enchanted bonds.

He then slew the general Niśunda, and the horse-headed Hayagrīva, together with eight thousand rākshasas who guarded the approaches at Lohitagaṅgā. So the outer defences of Prāgjyotishapura fell before Kṛshṇa.

The battle with Narakāsura

Narakāsura himself rode out against Kṛshṇa in a great divine chariot, with celestial weapons. The fight was fierce. Kṛshṇa met each of Narakāsura’s weapons with his own arrows. One by one he destroyed the asura’s chariot, killed his horses and broke his weapons. Narakāsura was left without a chariot and without weapons, standing open before Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa then let fly his Sudarśana cakra. It cut down Narakāsura and ended his rule of adharma.

Bhūdevī appears

As soon as Narakāsura fell, Bhūdevī (Bhūmī Devī), the devī of the earth and Narakāsura’s own mother, came before Kṛshṇa. She carried Aditi’s stolen kuṇḍalas. She spoke to Kṛshṇa:

“O Govinda! Through you alone this son was born; you alone have taken him.”

Bhūdevī gave the kuṇḍalas to Kṛshṇa.

The treasury and the captive women

After the battle Kṛshṇa looked over Narakāsura’s great treasury, which was full of wealth gathered by conquest. Next to the city stood a mountain called Maṇiparvata, and in it was a great cave that Narakāsura had sealed. Inside, Narakāsura had shut up thousands of women, daughters of gandharvas, asuras and other beings, taken captive in his wars. Kṛshṇa opened the cave and freed them all. These women had learned from the ṛshi Nārada that Kṛshṇa would one day be their refuge, and they welcomed him with devotion.

The kuṇḍalas return to Aditi

Kṛshṇa flew with Satyabhāmā to svarga and gave the recovered kuṇḍalas to Indra and to Aditi. Aditi received her divine earrings and blessed Kṛshṇa. Before he left Nandanavana, Kṛshṇa also took with him the famous Pārijāta tree. It later became the cause of a quarrel with Indra, and so led to the Pārijāta Haraṇa.

Sources

• Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapter 65 (Indra’s request, the departure, the defences, the battle, Bhūdevī)
• Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapter 66 (the treasury, the captive women, the return of the kuṇḍalas)