Nikumbha
Nikumbha is the name of an asura who appears in two texts. In the Mahābhārata he is the father of the brothers Sunda and Upasunda. In the Harivaṃśa he is the chief of the Shaṭpura asuras, the brother of the asura Vajranābha, and Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana cakra kills him twice, once in each of two bodies.
Nikumbha, father of Sunda and Upasunda
The Mahābhārata, in the Ādi Parva, calls Nikumbha an asura of great power. His two sons were Sunda and Upasunda. They were never apart from birth. They ate from the same plate and slept in the same bed. They shared every act of life, and their love for each other was complete.
Their father was an asura of great power, and the two brothers took up the asura nature and the wish to do tapas (austerity) that would make them unbeatable.
Nikumbha takes no part in the account beyond being their father. The Sunda-Upasunda Upākhyāna tells what came next. Sunda and Upasunda did hard tapas on the Vindhya mountain. This alarmed the devas. Brahmā then gave them a vara (a boon) that made them almost impossible to defeat. Together they conquered the three worlds. Then they destroyed each other because both wanted the apsarā Tilottamā. Nārada told this account to the Pāṇḍavas.
Nikumbha in the Harivaṃśa
The Harivaṃśa, in the Vishṇu Parva, spells his name Nikuṃbha. He is linked with the underground cities called Shaṭpura and with Vajrapura. He appears in two episodes. In both, Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana cakra kills him. He was the brother of the asura Vajranābha.
In the chapters leading up to chapter 90, Janamejaya asks about Nikumbha’s second body. The two episodes are:
- The first Nikumbha (chapters 84–87), the leader of the Shaṭpura asuras, who was slain by Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana at Shaṭpura after Śiva told Kṛshṇa to use it.
- The second Nikumbha (chapters 90–92), who comes back in a new body, takes away Bhānumatī, and is slain again by the Sudarśana.
The Shaṭpura episode
Nikumbha was the chief of the asuras who lived in the six underground cities called Shaṭpura. These lay beneath the earth along the Āvarta river. The asuras were survivors of the war of Tripurāsura. They had received varas from Brahmā, which kept the devas from harming them, and from Śiva, who gave special teachings to the devout among them. Nikumbha himself had done tapas at Uttara Kuru for one hundred lakh years. Śiva gave him a special vara of invincibility.
The brahmin Brahmadhatta performed an Aśvamedha yajña (a horse sacrifice) on the Āvarta river. Nikumbha and the Shaṭpura asuras came and made two demands. They asked for a share of the offerings of the yajña. They also asked for Brahmadhatta’s daughters in marriage. Brahmadhatta refused. The asuras broke up the yajña and took away some of the daughters.
Nārada then urged Nikumbha to seek an alliance with Jarāsaṃdha, Śiśupāla, Rukmī and the Kauravas against the Yādavas.
Kṛshṇa sent Pradyumna first. Pradyumna took the allied kings captive by means of a māyā (illusion) cave. Then Kṛshṇa came and offered pūjā to Śiva at Bilvodeakeśvara. Śiva told him, “Use the Sudarśana.” The Sudarśana cakra slew Nikumbha.
The abduction of Bhānumatī
The Yādavas were taken up with the jala-krīḍā (water-sports) festival at Piṇḍāraka. Kṛshṇa was in the ocean with his sixteen thousand wives. Balarāma and Revatī were apart from them. All the Yādava heroes and the apsarasas were taking part in the festival.
Nikumbha used this moment. He took away Bhānumatī, the daughter of Bhānu. Bhānu was one of Kṛshṇa’s sons by Satyabhāmā. The text states his reason. Pradyumna had earlier slain Vajranābha, Nikumbha’s brother, and had taken away Vajranābha’s daughter Prabhāvatī. Nikumbha’s act was revenge.
The chase
News of the abduction came to Kṛshṇa. He set out on Garuḍa with Arjuna, and told Pradyumna to follow by ratha (chariot). They caught up with Nikumbha as he was entering Vajrapura with Bhānumatī. Nikumbha made three bodies and fought Kṛshṇa, Arjuna and Pradyumna all at once. His māyā was strong. Pradyumna managed to separate Bhānumatī and send her back to Dvārakā. Nikumbha escaped to Shaṭpura.
The final battle
The next day the battle began again at Shaṭpura. Nikumbha made ten thousand bodies to confuse his enemies. Arjuna was knocked senseless. Pradyumna was knocked senseless. Kṛshṇa and Nikumbha fought face to face with gadās (maces) until both fell for a moment in mūrcchā (a swoon). Indra brought Kṛshṇa round with sacred water from the Gaṅgā of the devas.
When Nikumbha rose again in his second body, Kṛshṇa saw through the māyā by his divya-jñāna (divine knowledge). He picked out the true Nikumbha among the ten thousand false forms and let go the Sudarśana cakra. It cut off Nikumbha’s head before everyone’s eyes.
The marriage of Bhānumatī
After the battle, Nārada told Bhānu that what had happened came from a śāpa (a curse). He said the right course was to give Bhānumatī to Sahadeva, one of the Pāṇḍavas. Kṛshṇa called Sahadeva from Hastināpura, and Bhānu gave his daughter to him in marriage. Sahadeva went back to Hastināpura with his new wife.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapters 210–211
- Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapters 84–87, 90–92