Narakāsura Vadha (Mahābhārata)

The Mahābhārata’s Sabhā Parva, in the dākshiṇātya prati (the southern version of the text), has Bhīshma praise Kṛshṇa at the Rājasūya, and in that praise it tells how Narakāsura was defeated. Narakāsura was the son of Bhūmī (the Earth) and Varāha-Vishṇu. After he received varas (boons) from Brahmā he oppressed the three worlds. He ruled from Prāgjyotisha in the far east. He had beaten Indra, taken Aditi’s golden kuṇḍalas (earrings), shut sixteen thousand royal women in a prison on Maṇiparvata, and gathered divine treasures. Śrī Kṛshṇa went to Prāgjyotisha on Garuḍa with Satyabhāmā, broke through the defences of the city, and slew Mura and then Narakāsura with the Sudarśana Cakra. The kuṇḍalas were given back to Aditi. The sixteen thousand women were brought to Dvārakā, where Kṛshṇa married them all to protect their honour. (Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākshiṇātya prati, sub-chapters 4–5 of Chapter 38)

Narakāsura’s rise

Narakāsura was the son of Bhūmī and Varāha. Brahmā’s varas made him almost impossible to beat in ordinary battle. With them he made Prāgjyotisha his capital in the east. It was a great city ringed by moats, walls and asura guards.

In time his pride grew past all measure. He made war on Indra and drove the king of the devas from his throne. He took from Aditi herself, the mother of the devas, her famous golden kuṇḍalas, among the most sacred ornaments of the divine world. He built a prison on the rocky height of Maṇiparvata and filled it with sixteen thousand royal women, the daughters and wives of kings he had beaten. He kept them captive there.

The devas came to Kṛshṇa with their complaint: “O Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, Narakāsura has taken Aditi’s kuṇḍalas, shut up sixteen thousand women, and driven the devas from svarga (heaven). Only you can set this right.”

The defences of Prāgjyotisha

Prāgjyotisha was no common city. Naraka had taken every care. The approaches were guarded by:

• Mura, a great asura with five heads, who controlled a network of engines of war and barriers made by māyā (power of illusion).
• Niśumbha, another strong asura commander, not the Niśumbha who is paired with Śumbha in the Devī Māhātmya.
• Hayagrīva, a horse-headed asura of great strength.
• Pāñcajana, an asura who lived in the sea, in the form of a great conch-shell creature. He made the waters around Prāgjyotisha impossible to cross.
• Mountains, moats and weapons made by māyā all around the city.

Kṛshṇa came on Garuḍa with Satyabhāmā. She had asked to go with him because she had her own grievance against Naraka, for wrongs done to her father Satrājit. Kṛshṇa’s weapons were his Sudarśana Cakra, his Pāñcajanya śaṅkha (conch), his Kaumodakī gadā (mace) and his Śārṅga bow.

The battle

Mura was the first great obstacle. He commanded the defending weapons and sent a storm of engine-thrown missiles against Garuḍa and Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa slew Mura with the Sudarśana Cakra. Mura’s five sons also attacked and were all destroyed.

Niśumbha and Hayagrīva were killed in the fighting that followed, as Kṛshṇa cut through the defences of the city layer by layer.

Pāñcajana, the great asura who lived in the ocean near Prāgjyotisha, was also destroyed. From his body Kṛshṇa made the great conch Pāñcajanya. It became his divine śaṅkha, and its blast alone could shake the worlds above and the earth.

At last Kṛshṇa faced Narakāsura himself. The fight was fierce, but Kṛshṇa’s Cakra could not be stopped. Narakāsura was slain.

As he died, Bhūmī, the devī of the Earth and Naraka’s mother, appeared before Kṛshṇa and gave up her son’s treasures. She returned Aditi’s kuṇḍalas. She gave Kṛshṇa the great umbrella called Chatravāpī, which Naraka had taken from Varuṇa. She also brought all the sixteen thousand women to Kṛshṇa for his protection.

The sixteen thousand women

The sixteen thousand women Naraka had held were brought to Dvārakā. Their position was hard. They had been held by an asura, and they faced rejection in their home kingdoms. Kṛshṇa, with his usual generosity and understanding of dharma, married them all. Each had her own palace, her own household and the full standing of a queen of Dvārakā. By his yoga-śakti (power of yoga), Kṛshṇa was present at the same time in all sixteen thousand palaces as the loving husband of each queen.

These sixteen thousand queens joined the eight chief mahishīs (queens): Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Jāmbavatī, Sukeśī, Suprabhā, Lakshmaṇā, Mitravindā and Sudattā.

Aditi’s kuṇḍalas are returned

Kṛshṇa and Satyabhāmā then went to svarga. Kṛshṇa gave Aditi her recovered kuṇḍalas. Aditi blessed them both. Indra received them with every honour. Kṛshṇa stayed for a short time in Nandanodyāna, Indra’s garden. There Satyabhāmā saw the Pārijāta tree, a tree of the devas that bears flowers of divine scent, and said she wished to have it in Dvārakā. This led to the Pārijāta episode, which is told elsewhere.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, dākshiṇātya prati, sub-chapters 4–5 of Chapter 38
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa (a parallel detailed account of Narakāsura’s defeat)