Babhru of the Vṛshṇis

Babhru was a great hero of the Vṛshṇi line and a close companion of Kṛshṇa at Dvārakā. He was at the fateful drinking festival at Prabhāsa. Kṛshṇa told him to guard the women. Then a fragment of the iron musala (pestle) that had lodged in a hunter’s club struck him down. In this way the curse of the brāhmaṇas reached him too.

This Babhru is not Babhruvāhana, the son of Arjuna and Citrāṅgadā and king of Maṇipūra.

Who he was

Babhru was a warrior of great tejas (radiance) among the Vṛshṇis. When King Āhuka forbade liquor after the iron pestle appeared, the order was made known to Kṛshṇa, Balarāma and the mahātmā (great soul) Babhru alike. At the drinking festival at the tīrtha (holy place) of Prabhāsa, Babhru drank with Balarāma, Kṛtavarmā, Sātyaki and Gada. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 1 and 3)

His death

The Vṛshṇis and Andhakas fought and killed one another, and Kṛshṇa’s sons lay slain. Babhru went with Dāruka to Kṛshṇa and urged him to look for Balarāma. Kṛshṇa found the trail that led toward his brother. He then told Babhru to go at once and guard the women, so that the robbers who were plundering, greedy for wealth, would not harm them.

Babhru set out. He was still near Kṛshṇa, dazed by wine and by grief for his kinsmen. A leftover fragment of the iron musala, lodged in the iron-bound club of a hunter, struck him down. The śāpa (curse) of the brāhmaṇas reached him as well. Seeing Babhru dead, Kṛshṇa asked Balarāma to wait for him, and went on to place the women in the care of their kinsfolk. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 3 and 4)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 1–8 (especially Chapters 1, 3 and 4)