Balarāma Brahmahatyā

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa tells why Balarāma, the great haladhara (the bearer of the plough), took on brahmahatyā (the killing of a brahmin) while he was on a tīrtha-yātrā (a journey to holy places). The one he killed was Sūta Maharshi, who sat on the brahma-āsana and recited the Purāṇas.

This is the fourth question that Jaimini puts to the dharma-birds. It covers the śāpa-karma (the act that brought the curse) and its prāyaścitta (the act of purification).

The meeting in the forest

During the Mahābhārata war, Balarāma went on a tīrtha-yātrā and did not take a side in the battle. On his journey he came to a forest region of āśramas (hermitages).

There he found an assembly of ṛshis seated in contemplation and recitation. Some sat on deer skins, some on grass mats, some on kuśāsanas (seats of kuśa grass) and some on darbhāsanas (seats of darbha grass).

Among them, on the central brahma-āsana, sat Sūta Maharshi. The brahma-āsana is the seat of the highest sacred authority, the seat from which the Purāṇas are told. Sūta Maharshi was reciting the auspicious narratives of the devas and the mahārshis.

The act

Balarāma did not recognise or respect the brahma-āsana. In this moment of adharma he killed Sūta Maharshi in anger.

The moment he did so, the assembled mahārshis, all of them wearing kṛshṇājina (black antelope skin), rose and left the āśrama.

Then Balarāma saw the brahmahatyā-pāpa (the sin of killing a brahmin) enter his own body and spread through it. He cried out in grief: “I have committed a great pāpa. This Sūta Maharshi had gone up to the brahma-āsana. Such a one I have killed. How shall I be purified?”

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 6