Battle of Kīkaṭapura

This was the first great military campaign of Bhagavān Kalki. His father Vishṇuyaśas decided to perform the Aśvamedha yajña (horse sacrifice). Kalki offered to conquer the kings of the different regions and bring back the wealth the yajña needed. He marched first to Kīkaṭapura, a city that had become a stronghold of Buddhist adharma. Its king was Jina, who ruled with two akshauhiṇī armies.

The march to Kīkaṭapura

Vishṇuyaśas had lived happily in Śambhala for many years. Then he made a saṃkalpa (resolve) to perform an Aśvamedha yajña. When Kalki heard of his father’s wish, he said: “Father, I will go, conquer the kings of all the regions, and bring back the wealth needed for the yajña.” He bowed to Vishṇuyaśas and set out at the head of his army.

Kīkaṭapura was a city marked by adharma. Great Buddhist temples covered it. The people performed no pitṛtarpaṇa (water offerings to the ancestors) and no devapūjā (worship of the devas). They argued that paraloka (the world beyond) did not exist and that the body itself was the ātmā. There were no rules of varṇa or family. All were rich. They gave themselves wholly to women, food and wine, and the whole city was full of nāstikas (those who reject the Veda). Kalki entered such a city with his army. (Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 6)

The battle with Jina

Jina, king of Kīkaṭapura, heard that Kalki had come. He came out with two akshauhiṇī armies. There were elephants, horses and chariots decked with gold, great warriors with weapons, and many mahārathas (great chariot warriors) whose standards filled the field.

The battle began. Kalki called the whole enemy force to war, like a lion calling an elephant to fight. The Buddhist soldiers were covered in wounds, their clothes were soaked in blood and their armour was broken. They screamed and fled. Kalki called after them: “O Bauddhas! Why do you run from the battlefield? Do not run. Come back. Show me your strength with all your power.”

Jina was weakened, but he heard Kalki’s call and came forward again with fresh courage (paurusha). He put on his sword and armour, mounted his bull, and took up many weapons. A fierce fight followed, and the devas watched from the sky in wonder. Jina hurled a spear (śūla) at Kalki’s horse and covered Kalki with a shower of arrows. He even tried to lift Kalki in his arms and throw him, but he could not move him by even a finger’s breadth. Kalki stood unmoved. Frustrated, Jina took Kalki’s armour and weapon and fled. King Viśākhayūpa, always alert, struck Jina with his mace (gadā). At one moment Kalki was stunned by Jina’s attack, and Viśākhayūpa placed him in a chariot until he recovered.

When Kalki came to himself, he leapt from Viśākhayūpa’s chariot and fought Jina again. Meanwhile the divine horse, acting on its own, killed thousands of Buddhist fighters. Its breath alone sent soldiers flying through the air. Kalki’s companions also did great work:

• Gārgya and his soldiers killed six thousand Buddhist heroes.
• Bhārgya’s force killed one koṭi (ten million).
• Viśāla killed twenty-five thousand.
• Prājña killed ten lākhs (one million).
• Sumantraka killed five lākhs (five hundred thousand).

Kalki mocked Jina: “O pāpātmā (sinful one)! Stand before me. Know that I am the one who gives all good and bad fruit (phala). Before you can look on your kinsmen again, my arrows will send you from this world.”

Jina answered with the argument of the Buddhists who accept only what is seen (pratyakshavādin). He said: “You Vedics believe in a divinity you cannot see and a fate you cannot see. We Buddhists accept only pratyaksha-pramāṇa, direct perception. Why do you trouble yourself to speak to us about Parameśvara? If you are truly divine, kill us. If you can kill me, do it, and stop talking. I shall kill you instead.” Then Jina covered Kalki with a volley of arrows.

Kalki destroyed them all, as the sun destroys snow. Jina launched the Brahmāstra, Vāyavyāstra, Āgneyāstra and Vāruṇāstra. Each became useless the moment it met Kalki. They were like seeds sown in a desert, like a gift (dāna) given to one who is not a learned brāhmaṇa (śrotriya), and like bhakti to Vishṇu offered while hating his devotees. All were empty of fruit.

Kalki rose into the air and seized Jina by the hair. The two fell to the ground like two birds. Jina took Kalki’s hair in one hand and his arm in the other. They wrestled (malla-yuddha) like Kṛshṇa and Cāṇūra. Kalki seized Jina the same way. Then, with one blow of his fist, like an elephant felling a palm tree, Kalki struck Jina and drove him to the earth. Jina fell and died. The Buddhist soldiers wailed. Kalki’s army and the brāhmaṇas rejoiced. (Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 7)

Śuddhōdhana and Māyādevī

Jina’s brother Śuddhōdhana then came forward with a mace and charged at Kalki. Kavi met him with a storm of arrows, roaring like a lion before a herd of elephants. Kavi then took up his own mace and stood against Śuddhōdhana. In the hard duel that followed, Kavi struck Śuddhōdhana on the chest and knocked him to the ground. Śuddhōdhana got up and struck Kavi, who was left senseless for a moment. Kavi commanded ten thousand chariots, and Śuddhōdhana saw that he was no ordinary warrior. He left the battlefield to bring Māyādevī.

Māyādevī was no ordinary being. No one in the three worlds, whether deva or human, could stay conscious when he stood before her. All became numb and still like dolls. She came to the battlefield with countless millions of mleccha soldiers. She rode a chariot with a lion banner and was surrounded by clouds of crows and vultures. Kāma, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Mātsarya, the six enemies of the jīva (living being), attended and served her. When Kalki’s army saw her, the weapons fell from their hands. The mighty soldiers lost their senses and dropped to the ground like lifeless figures.

But Māyādevī was a part (aṃśa) of Lakshmī. The moment she saw Kalki, who is Śrī Hari himself in human form, she knew him as her beloved lord. As Lakshmī turns to Vishṇu, Māyādevī entered Kalki’s body and merged into it, and all who were present were amazed. The Buddhist monks saw their “mother” vanish, and they wept bitterly, like small children who have lost their mother.

Then Kalki’s glance of grace (kataksha-vīkshaṇa) fell on his army, and every soldier woke and rose. They resolved to kill the mlecchas with their sharp swords. Kalki mounted his horse, put on his armour, filled his quivers with arrows, took up his sword and bow, and stood on the battleground. The bhaktas who saw his form were filled with joy. The Buddhists who followed adharma were filled with fear. The devas in the sky rejoiced that they would again receive their shares of the offerings (havirbhāga). (Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 7)

The end of the battle

The end of the battle at Kīkaṭapura is told in the Tritīyāmśa of the Kalki Purāṇa, Chapter 1.

The battle went on. Viśākhayūpa, Kavi, Prājña, Sumantraka, Gārgya, Bhārgya, Viśāla and other companions of Kalki cut through the mleccha army. Kapotaroma, Kākāksha, Kākakṛshṇa and the forces of Śuddhōdhana fought back. Rain of blood flowed over the field. As Kalki’s forces won, the mleccha warriors fled or begged for water. Their clothes were torn, their hair was loose, and they were covered in ash like wandering ascetics. They could not stand before Kalki’s army.

The mleccha women saw their husbands fall. They mounted horses, elephants, donkeys, camels and oxen and came to the battlefield. They were adorned with ornaments and carried swords, spears (bhalla), bows, tridents (śūla) and tomaras (iron clubs). They were skilled in drawing up battle formations (vyūha-racana). Kalki stopped his army and spoke to the women with respect. He said it was not right for men to make war on women. He praised their beauty at length and asked them to stand down. The mleccha women replied that he had killed their husbands, so they had lost everything, and they attacked.

The weapons they threw turned back into their own hands, and the weapons themselves spoke: “O young women! Know for certain that he from whose power we receive our brilliance (tejas), and through whom we wound living beings, is the Sarveśvara (Lord of all). All of us act only on the command of Parameśvara. Time (kāla), death (mṛtyu), Yama, the sense of ‘I’ (ahaṃkāra) and the devatās, where are they? All are under the māyā of Bhagavān Kalki.” The weapons declared that they were instruments of Parameśvara alone and that no doer stood above his power.

The mleccha women were stunned by these words. They gave up their attachment (snēha-moha) and surrendered to Kalki. He taught them karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga. They became rich in knowledge (jñāna-sampanna), mastered their senses (indriyas), and reached moksha. Kalki then sent all the mleccha warriors to the realms of light (jyotirmaya). (Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 1)

After the battle

After the victory at Kīkaṭapura, Kalki took the jewels and wealth of the defeated city and returned with his army. He came to Cakratīrtha, a sacred lake near Naimishāraṇya, and bathed there according to ritual. At that place he met frightened ṛshis, who told him of new dangers. This led to the next stage of his mission. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 2)

Sources

• Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 6: the march to Kīkaṭapura
• Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapter 7: the battle with Jina, Śuddhōdhana and Māyādevī
• Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 1: the end of the battle
• Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 2: after the battle