Alambusha the Kaurava Warrior
Alambusha was a rākshasa who fought on the side of the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war. In the Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna, Bhīshma’s list of the warriors on both sides, he is named as a ratha, a full chariot-warrior of real strength. He is a different person from the apsarā Alambusā of the Setu Māhātmya.
Alambusha’s place on the Kaurava side shows how wide the army of Duryodhana was. It held not only human kings but also rākshasas who could fight.
Identity and lineage
The Droṇa Parva names Alambusha as the son of Śālakaṭaṃkaṭā, a rākshasa mother. He was a rākshasa warrior of known descent on the Kaurava side.
Battles in the Droṇa Parva
Alambusha appears again and again as a fighter in the battles of the Droṇa Parva, in Chapters 108–109, 165, 167 and 174. He fought many Pāṇḍava warriors and held his ground in the long fighting of Days 14 and 15.
His last battle was against Ghaṭotkaca, the great rākshasa son of Bhīmasena. In Chapter 174 Ghaṭotkaca killed him.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna Parva, Chapters 165–172
- Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 108–109, 165, 167, 174