Lavaṇāsura

Lavaṇāsura was the son of Madhu and the king of Madhupurī, also called Madhurā or Madhu-vana, the great forest on the banks of the Yamunā. He held an invincible śūla (trident) that Bhagavān Śiva had given to his father Madhu. He troubled the ṛṣis, broke their yajñas (fire rituals) and made the land unsafe for the practice of dharma. Bhagavān Rāma sent his brother Śatrughna to kill him. The place of his death, and the forest of his father Madhu, later became the holy city of Mathurā.

Lineage

The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa says that the father of Lavaṇāsura was the ancient asura Madhu, one of the great asuras of an earlier age. Madhu had performed tapas (austerity) and received from Bhagavān Śiva a magnificent śūla of divine power. This śūla was the source of Madhu’s strength in battle and of his power to hold a vast land. Madhu made his home in Madhupurī (Madhu-vana, Madhu’s forest) on the banks of the Yamunā. It was a land of great natural beauty, and it would later become the holy place of the birth of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa and one of the seven cities of liberation. When Madhu died, Lavaṇāsura inherited both the land and the śūla. This is told in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 242.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa (Chapter 81), says that Madhu was a powerful rākṣasa who had performed tapas and pleased Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva gave Madhu the divine śūla with a vara (a boon): while Madhu carried it, he could not be beaten in battle. The mother of Lavaṇāsura was Kumbhīnasī, the daughter of the rākṣasa chief Sumāli and the sister of Rāvaṇa. Through her, Lavaṇāsura was the nephew of Rāvaṇa. He belonged both to the line of the rākṣasa Madhu and to the line of Sumāli, and the divine śūla of his father was his greatest strength.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa (Chapters 9–10), gives the lineage differently. When the court of Rāma discussed how to answer the plea of the ṛṣis for relief from Lavaṇāsura, it was Vibhīṣaṇa who told the full story of the origin of the rākṣasa and how to defeat him. In the words of Vibhīṣaṇa, the mother of Lavaṇāsura was Kumbhīnasā, the daughter of the step-mother of Rāvaṇa (savauti talli), who had married Madhu. This makes Lavaṇāsura the son of Rāvaṇa’s step-niece, a relative through the step-family. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa and the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa both say that his father was Madhu and that he received the divine śūla from him.

The śūla of Madhu

The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa says that the divine fire of the śūla given by Bhagavān Śiva made its holder unbeatable in fight against any enemy. As long as Lavaṇāsura held the śūla, no one could overcome him. But Lavaṇāsura trusted his own natural strength so much that he left the śūla inside his house when he went out on his morning hunts. He hunted without it. The ṛṣi Cyavana saw this weak point and told it to Rāma. This is in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 242.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 81) says that when Madhu or his heir carried the śūla into battle, nothing in the three worlds could defeat him. The weapon itself held the power of Bhagavān Śiva. Lavaṇāsura inherited it and made it the base of his strength. The protection did not hold if Lavaṇāsura left his home without the śūla, whether to hunt or for any other reason. He was then still a powerful rākṣasa, but a strong enough opponent could kill him.

Terror in the land

The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa says that Lavaṇāsura terrorised the ṛṣis, the ascetics and the peaceful people of the land of Madhupurī. He broke yajñas, attacked āśramas, and ate brāhmaṇas and wandering ṛṣis. The ṛṣis could not safely do their duties or travel through the land. The ṛṣi Cyavana brought this trouble to Rāma himself. This is in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 242.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 82) says that Lavaṇāsura made his home at Madhurā on the banks of the Yamunā and filled the land with fear. He chased ṛṣis, ate brāhmaṇas and made the forest around unfit to live in. The ṛṣis of the land could not do their tapas, and their āśramas were always in danger. At last they went to Rāma in Ayodhyā.

His death

In the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Rāma sent Śatrughna with an army and with his own special arrow, the Rāmāstra. Śatrughna stood at the doorway of Lavaṇāsura before dawn with the arrow ready. At dawn Lavaṇāsura came out for his morning hunt, unarmed and without the śūla. Śatrughna loosed the arrow of Rāma. No one could withstand it, and Lavaṇāsura was killed on the spot at his own threshold. The devas came down from the sky and showered flowers. They celebrated the end of the asura and the freedom of the ṛṣis from his rule. This is in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 247.

In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Śatrughna was sent with a clear plan: wait until Lavaṇāsura has left his home without the śūla, then challenge him. Śatrughna waited a full year outside Madhurā. Then he challenged Lavaṇāsura as he came back from a hunt without the weapon. The fight was fierce, but Śatrughna killed him. With his death the terror over the land of Madhurā ended. This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 85–87.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa (Chapters 9–10), adds that Śatrughna also killed the asura Kaiṭabha, as well as Lavaṇāsura himself.

After his death: the founding of Mathurā

The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa says that the place of the death of Lavaṇāsura was Madhu-vana, the old forest of his father Madhu on the Yamunā. The victory of Śatrughna made the place holy, and it was founded again as the city of Mathurā. The land that had been stained by the rule of the asura was made pure by the killing, and it was set apart again as a city of dharma. Mathurā became one of the holiest cities of Bhārata. It is one of the seven cities of liberation (sapta-mokṣa-purī) and the birthplace of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in the Dvāpara age. This is in the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 247.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa says that Śatrughna afterwards founded the great city of Madhurā and ruled it for twelve years.

The Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva

In the Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva (Chapter 14), Upamanyu tells Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa about the triśūla (trident) of Bhagavān Śiva. He says that Lavaṇāsura once took up this triśūla to wield it. He was destroyed with his army by Māndhātā, the cakravartin (universal king), son of Yuvanāśva.

The Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, in its account of Māndhātā, says that Māndhātā was killed by the śūla of Lavaṇāsura when the protecting Vaiṣṇava tejas (radiance) left him.

Sources

• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 242–247
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 81–87
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Lava Kuśa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–10
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 14