Prasena (brother of Satrājit)
Prasena
Prasena has other meanings too: see all meanings of Prasena.
Prasena is a Yādava prince, the son of Nighna and the younger brother of Satrājit. Satrājit gave him the divine gem Syamantaka, which Sūrya had given Satrājit, and Prasena wore it when he went out hunting. A lion, seeing the gem, sprang on him and killed him. His death brought a false charge on Śrī Kṛshṇa, and Śrī Kṛshṇa, following Prasena’s tracks, found the gem in the cave of Jāmbavant and cleared himself.
His family
The Brahma Purāṇa gives the line of Kroshṭu, son of Yadu. Kroshṭu’s wife Gāndhārī bore the mighty Anamitra, and Anamitra, conqueror of enemies, had a son Nighna. Nighna had two sons, Prasena and Satrājit, who conquered enemy armies. The two brothers lived in Dvāravatī.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 16
The gem Syamantaka
Satrājit worshipped Sūrya, and Sūrya was his friend, dear as his own life. One day at dawn, as Satrājit stood in pūjā by a lake, Bhagavān Sūrya appeared before him and, at his request, gave him the divine gem Syamantaka, which lights up all the worlds. Wearing it, Satrājit entered the city, and the citizens ran to him crying, “Here is Sūrya coming down to earth!” In his inner palace Satrājit gave the gem with affection to his younger brother Prasena. The gem rained gold in the house of the Vṛshṇi-Andhakas; the clouds rained in season, and nowhere was there fear of disease. Govinda had asked for the gem, yet, though able to take it from Prasena, he did not take it.
The hunt and the lion
Once Prasena, wearing the gem, went hunting. A lion saw the gem, sprang on him in alarm, and Prasena died in the lion’s mouth. As the lion fled, the king of the bears killed it, took the jewel and went into his cave.
When the Vṛshṇi-Andhakas heard that Prasena had been killed, they suspected Kṛshṇa, because he had earlier asked for the gem. Śrī Hari, though he had not done it, resolved to remove the false charge (apavāda), vowed “I shall bring back the gem”, and went into the forest.
Śrī Kṛshṇa follows Prasena’s tracks
Śrī Kṛshṇa learned from trusted people the place where Prasena had hunted, knew his footprints and followed them. He searched the mountain Ṛkshavanta and the Vindhya again and again, and at last found Prasena lying felled together with his horse, but no gem. Near Prasena’s body lay the lion, killed by a bear. A little further on was a cave, and from it came the voice of a nurse who was showing the Syamantaka to Jāmbavant’s little son and playing with him: “The lion felled Prasena. That lion was felled by Jāmbavant. O tender one, do not cry! This Syamantaka is yours!”
Following that voice, Śrī Kṛshṇa entered the cave, fought Jāmbavant hand to hand for twenty-one days and overcame him, received Jāmbavant’s daughter Jāmbavatī, and brought the gem back. In the assembly of all the Sātvatas he gave it to Satrājit, and so cleared himself of the false charge.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 16
Later, when Śatadhanvā of the Bhoja line had killed Satrājit and taken the gem, Śrī Kṛshṇa said to Balarāma: “The lion killed Prasena; Śatadhanvā killed Satrājit. The Syamantaka must come to me.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 17
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 16–17