Hiranyaksha
was a very bad demon. He terrorized all the people in earth and
heavens alike. Unable to tolerate him anymore, the people went to
Lord Vishnu to protect him from Hiranyaksha. Lord Vishnu promised to
help them.
When
Hiranyaksha came to know of this, he got about thinking…To
protect the earth and its people, Lord Vishnu has to first find the
earth…I am going to hide the earth itself so that Lord Vishnu would
not be able to find it…Thinking thus,
Hiranyaksha using his powers and might pushed the earth itself off
its axis!
When
Hiranyaksha touched the earth to push her, an asura was created out
of the contact between Bhumadevi, the Mother Earth and Hiranyaksha….
The
earth plummeted deep inside space. Lord Vishnu incarnated as a boar
and held the earth in its horns and pushed her back in her axis. Lord
Vishnu fought Hiranyaksha and defeated and killed him.
After
he had won against Hirayaksha, Bhumadevi told Lord Vishnu about the
asura who was created. Lord Vishnu got about thinking. He told
Bhumadevi, ‘He is your son, Bhumadevi! He will be very powerful and
strong just like Hiranyaksha.’
Bhumadevi
looked at Lord Vishnu and said apprehensively, ‘Would he also be a
terrible demon like Hiranyaksha?’
Lord
Vishnu sadly nodded his head, ‘There is every chance that he may be
like Hiranyaksha….In fact he may be even more powerful than
Hiranyaksha. I think you may
be the only person who may be able to defeat him…’
Bhumadevi
looked at Lord Vishnu without understanding…Lord Vishnu shook his
head. ‘Let us not bother about it now. We will worry about it when
the time comes.’ Still not satisfied Bhumadevi reluctantly nodded
her head, as Lord Vishnu returned to Vaikunta.
Meanwhile
the asura who was created, grew up to be strong and powerful. The
asura was named Narakasura. Banasura who was a powerful asura saw
Narakasura’s strength and decided to use him. Banasura spoke to
Naraksura, ‘Naraka! You are already very strong. I think if you
meditate on Lord Brahma, he will make you more powerful and then, you
can rule the three worlds…not just the earth.’
Narakasura
thought that through and decided that he would worship Lord Brahma.
He performed severe penance and driven by the power of his penance,
Lord Brahma appeared before him.
Lord
Brahma spoke, ‘Narakasura! Your powers of meditation are great! For
that you can ask me any boon…’ Lord Brahma was not very
optimistic about granting Narakasura any boon. He knew that
Narakasura was becoming evil and any boon he asked might result on
great havoc on the earth…But still Lord Brahma could not turn away
from any person who had performed such rigorous penance. He had
to grant whatever it is that Narakasura asked for…
Narakasura
bowed before Lord Brahma and said, ‘My Lord! I will not ask the
boon of immortality, I know you do not grant that boon to anybody…’
Lord Brahma nodded as Narakasura continued, ‘My Lord! I have come
to know that Mother Earth – Bhumadevi herself is my mother. So this
is my wish. If I have to die it has to be in the hands of my mother
and no one else….’
Lord
Brahma smiled inwardly. But he looked at Narakasura and spoke, ‘So
be it! And try to use your powers for good!’ Lord Brahma vanished
from there.
Narakasura
burst out laughing as Lord Brahma vanished. Lord
Brahma was a fool…No mother would kill her own son…no matter who
it is…He had granted me the boon of immortality…Why should he try
to use his powers for good…He could literally rule the
worlds…People everywhere would bow to him and pray to him…He
would make sure of that…
Meanwhile
in Gokul, a beautiful, black child grew up among the cowherds there
as the son of their chief – Nanda and Yashoda…The child was
Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Narakasura
returned to his kingdom – Pragjyotishyapur and made preparations
for war. Armed with the boon, Narakasura attacked all the kingdoms on
earth. He was so ferocious in his strength and power that the other
kings did not even have a chance. All of them went under the rule of
Narakasura. Soon Narakasura was the ruler of all the kingdoms on
earth.
Narakasura
soon eyed the heavens. Indra, the Lord of the Devas was no match for
Narakasura. Narakasura fell upon the heavens and Indra and the other
Devas crumbled and fled from there. Narakasura became more and more
wicked. He became arrogant….He captured 16,000 women in the heavens
and imprisoned them in his palace.
Narakasura
was so arrogant that he did not even let Aditi, the mother of the
Devas alone. Aditi, had some heavenly earrings made for her. The
earrings were so precious that they even glowed in the dark.
Narakasura without a moment’s hesitation tore the earrings from
Aditi, not giving a care in the world….
Narakasura
ruled like a despot and people everywhere were afraid of him. They
were afraid to stand up against him, because he punished people who
stood up against him, very severely…They began to pray for someone
to come and protect them from the Asura.
Meanwhile
Krishna as he grew up among the cowherds, realized about his own
self. He came to know that he was the son of Devaki and Vasudeva.
Devaki was the sister of Kamsa, the wicked ruler of Mathura. After
Devaki and Vasudeva had got married, there was a heavenly voice,
which proclaimed that the eighth child of Devaki would kill Kamsa.
Terrified
Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva. Despite all his measures and
protections, Krishna was born as the eighth child of Vasudeva and
Devaki. Krishna was smuggled to Gokul where he grew up among the
cowherds there.
When
Krishna came to know about Kamsa and what he had done to his parents,
Krishna was furious. He along with his elder brother Balarama killed
Kamsa, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Krishna crowned his grandfather Ugrasena as the king of Mathura and himself ruled Dwaraka.
The
story of Narakasura ends with Krishna and his third wife –
Satyabama.
As
Satyabama was alone in the royal palace gardens, thinking of Krishna she
was visited by Aditi, the mother of the Devas. She broke down in
tears on seeing Satyabama. Satyabama looked at Aditi and calmed her
down, ‘What has happened? What is wrong?...’
Aditi
burst out into tears and showed Satyabama her ears which were
dripping blood. Satyabama gasped as Aditi continued, ‘Narakasura…
He came to the palace…he defeated my son and imprisoned….imprisoned
all the women there and he grabbed the earrings from my ears….I…’
Satyabama
calmed down Aditi, ‘Don’t worry! Please…please don’t cry…’
Satyabama looked at Aditi and was angrily thinking of Narakasura,
‘That man is becoming a menace…I will deal with it myself…’
Satyabama
made sure Aditi was comfortable in her palace and ran to see Krishna.
‘Krishna!’ She called as Krishna appeared before her. Krishna
looked at her and did not say anything. It was very rare for
Satyabama to come to him yelling in the palace. Obviously something
very bad had happened. He looked at her waiting for her to continue.
Satyabama
spoke with barely concealed fury, ‘Krishna! Aditi has come here…’
Krishna
looked at her and asked, ‘Aditi! The mother of the Devas…What
does she want…’
Satyabama
continued angrily, ‘Narakasura! That asura…look what he has
done…’ Satyabama told him everything that Aditi had told him.
Krishna became more and more serious as Satyabama continued speaking.
He finally held up his hands, ‘Satyabama! I am going to fight with
the Narakasura…He has crossed his limits…It is high time he is
taught a lesson…’
Satyabama
spoke up ‘Krishna! I want to come with you…’ Krishna looked
surprised as Satyabama continued, ‘I am going to definitely help
you defeat that evil demon…’ She said angrily looking at Krishna.
Krishna nodded his head and looked at her. ‘Get your weapons ready!
We are going to war! We will go on Garuda! He can take us to
Narakasura’s capital in no time…’ Garuda was the vehicle of
Lord Krishna and could fly very fast…
Satyabama
nodded her head and got ready for battle.
Both
of them sat on Garuda. Garuda flew into the kingdom of
Pragjyotishyapur. Looking at Garuda approaching his kingdom,
Narakasura’s heart missed a beat…The
Dark Lord had come for him…But then
he slowly shook his head…He had a boon that he could be killed only
by his mother…Even Krishna himself could not do anything to him.
Narakasura then ordered the division of his army to attack Garuda and
Krishna.
The
battle between the army of Narakasura and Krishna was ridiculously
short. Krishna and Garuda helped with Satyabama destroyed the army in
no time at all. Narakasura saw all this from inside his palace and
was furious. He called his general Mura. ‘Mura! Take your
battalion…Destroy that man…’
Mura
attacked the dark Lord with his huge army. But he was also destroyed
the same way as the others…[As Lord Krishna had defeated Mura,
Krishna is sometimes called as ‘Murari’]
When
Narakasura saw Mura die in the battlefield, he yelled and ran out and
threw his sataghini [a thunderbolt] at Krishna. Garuda dived and the
weapon missed Krishna altogether.
Krishna
hurled many of his weapons at Narakasura but he was surprised.
Narakasura was easily able to neutralize the weapons which Krishna
threw at him! Satyabama on seeing Narakasura, twanged her bow and let
the arrows fly fast and furiously.
Looking
at the double attack Narakasura furiously pulled out ‘Shakti’ a
powerful weapon and hurled it at Krishna.
Satyabama
watched in horror as the weapon hit Krishna in the chest. The Dark
Lord swooned and fell down!
Satyabama
furiously pulled out a powerful weapon of her own and hurled it at
Narakasura. Her shock at seeing her Krishna fall gave her the
strength to hurl the weapon exactly at Narakasura’s chest, with a
speed which was unmatched. Narakasura blinked for a full minute when
he saw a weapon in his chest…How could
he be defeated…he….He saw Satyabama
go towards Krishna, not even bothering to see whether her weapon had
hit Narakasura or not…
Narakasura
swayed on the spot and looked as the Dark Lord woke up without a
single scratch on his body! Satyabama also looked surprised. Krishna
smiled as they both got down from Garuda and came towards Narakasura.
Narakasura
looked at the two of them. What they had
for each other was love…Krishna had so many wives…he loved each
one of them fully and respected each one of them…Satyabama loved
her husband and was willing to stand up against anybody for
him…Narakasura realized suddenly that
this was what was missing in his life…He had been powerful…very
powerful…but he had never loved anybody…ever…that is what had
made him empty…purposeless…Narakasura felt waves of guilt wash
over him…He had been so powerful…he
could have used the power for good…but he used it for bad
purposes…and now …he could not even properly apologize to the
people he had wronged…
He
lay on the battlefield and looked at the Dark Lord and held his hands
together bowing his head, ‘My Lord!’ He breathed sadly, ‘I am
sorry…I truly am…It is today that I have seen light…I have
lived a life of ignorance…a life of hate…and darkness…I have
spread nothing but fear among people…People who go on to terrify
others would come to this end only…I have seen the error in my
ways…’
Krishna
smiled, ‘Narakasura! I am glad you have repented for your
actions..’
Narakasura
looked around as he saw the body of Dark Lord and Satyabama glowing
in the evening light. ‘I have seen light today, my Lord…I wish
that people would celebrate this day as the day of victory of light
over darkness…’
Satyabama
came forward and touched Narakasura. She nodded her head as she
looked at his pain filled eyes.
Krishna
said. ‘Narakasura! This is Satyabama…She is actually an
incarnation of Bhumadevi…’ Both Satyabama and Narakasura looked
at Krishna with surprise as Krishna continued, ‘She incarnated with
the special purpose of defeating you…I could never have defeated
you…Only Satyabama could…so I pretended to fall unconscious and
the rest was done by her…’ Krishna said looking at Satyabama with
pride.
Satyabama
felt a deep understanding within herself. She realized the truth in
Krishna’s words. She took Narakasura’s head in her lap and cried
out, ‘My son! Why? Why did you have to follow such a dark path…Why
did you…’
Narakasura
stopped Satyabama, ‘No mother! You are not responsible for my
choices…I chose wrongly and you fought me for what you believed as
right…You have done the right thing…I am glad to call you my
mother…’ Narakasura breathed his last….
Even
to this day, Narakasura’s death is celebrated as the victory of
light over darkness…It comes on the second day of Diwali as ‘Naraka
chaturdasi’. Diwali which is a festival of lights actually
celebrates the triumph of right over the wrong…
Satyabama
took Aditi’s earrings and handed them over to Aditi…
-From the Bhagawat Purana
Very well narrated
ReplyDeleteThank You
I used it for my storytelling session
Got to know of the the matter. This Naraka later born as Karna. If possible add something about it.
ReplyDeleteI am so interested to read the stories on this blog.. Very well expalined..Thank You
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your tremendous efforts. My kids enjoyed the story. I have a small suggestion -the names can be in Tamil, like Narakasuran, Krishnan. Or as in Sanskrit/Hindi - Narkasur, Krishn. This, I find missing in many narrations in the internet. My humble opinion is that - when an 'a' is added the names dont become appropriate English and when given the exact Indian name, no damage is done to English grammar. keep it up, good work.
ReplyDeleteThe correct name is 'Natakasura' and 'Krishna' irrespective of whether it is Tamil, English or Sanskrit
DeleteDevaki and vasudeva were incarnations of Kashyapa brahma and adhiti due to curses. This is what you have told in Dark Lord part 1. Now adhiti also exists and Devaki also exists. This is little confusing. Please resolve this confusion.
ReplyDeleteSir,
DeleteFirstly, there is something in Hinduism called as a Partial incarnation and a full incarnation. Rukmini is supposed to be the partial incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. So in a partial incarnation it is not necessary that the original person and the person who has incarnated cannot exist mutually.
Secondly these stories were taken from different Puranas. Different Puranas were written by different sages and rishis or Gods for different reasons. It is definitely possible for some stories to overlap and certain others to be contradictory.
Dear sir,
DeleteWhile we are on the subject of partial and complete incarnation, I should also tell you that one of the Puranas mention the story of Krishna meeting Lord Narayana. Though Krishna was the complete incarnation of Lord Narayana, they still met each other.
This should also tell us that incarnation does not prevent either person to exist at the same time, place or plane of existence.
This is awesome! I was browsing randomly to narrate this Diwali tale to my 2 yr ols daughter... I think I learnt more than what I knew! - Keets
ReplyDeleteVery Nice !!
ReplyDeleteToday Know the story of Narkasur.
ReplyDeleteThanks.....
quite gud...really liked it :)but needs little improvements-_-
ReplyDeleteGood work .naration is simple and understandable ....keep it up
ReplyDeleteVery well narrated..Thanks for uploading this..God bless you..
ReplyDeleteThanks foe taking so much effort my kids are hooked to these stories
ReplyDeleteVery Good Narration Keep up the Good Work......
ReplyDeleteRealy enlightning the unkown part of my knowlendge.
ReplyDeleteVery nice ,great job. Keep the good work.
ReplyDeleteSreeram
Firstly, Shubha Deepavali to all! The narrative is faultless and superb. Eternal stories that will go on till time goes on......! Sanatana Dharma Jayate!
ReplyDeletehare krishna plz read shrimadbhagwatam
ReplyDeleteVery Nice... really you did good job.....keep it up
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU
Thanks for this wonderful opportunity to know the story of narakasur and why we celebrate Diwali. It is told nicely and I am glad to dictate to my children my mother and my maid. I am telling to everyone who is meeting me.God bless you and happy Diwali to one and all. May there be victory of light over darkness. If we celebrate every festival with knowledge and understanding Iam sure wecan feel God and be happy always.....
ReplyDeleteIt was Narakasuran himself who asked Lord Vishnu to grant his last wish that the day of his death to be celebrated as Deepavali/Diwali.
ReplyDeletevery nice
ReplyDeleteVery well narrated
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info narrated. God bless you
ReplyDeleteBeautifully narrated and explained very succinctly.
ReplyDeleteVery wonderful narration.
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