ॐ ह्रीं हरिहर नमः॥
OM Hreem Harihar
Salutations to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu
Banasura was a demon king who ruled over a large kingdom in north-east India.
He was the eldest among the hundred sons of Bali and was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Legend has it that he had a thousand arms with which he played the Mridangam when Lord Shiva performed His famous ‘Tandav’ dance.
Lord Shiva is one of the most easy to please deities. It is said that even an offering of plain water made with devotion can melt His heart. It is therefore not surprising that Lord Shiva was delighted with Banasura as he was completely devoted to Him. Lord Shiva appeared before Banasura and said, “Your prayers have moved me and I wish to grant you a boon. Make your desire known to me and I will fulfil it.”
Banasura bowed in gratitude and said, “There can be no greater boon for me than to have you as my protector always.”
Lord Shiva blessed Banasura and promised to be his protector. With Lord Shiva as his guardian Banasura became invincible. However, with each victory Banasura became more and more arrogant. His ego was so inflated that he began to believe that he was even more powerful than his benefactor Lord Shiva.
Banasura had a beautiful daughter named Usha. One night Usha saw a handsome and charming prince in her dream. She fell in love with this dream prince. Chitralekha was Usha’s maid and her confidant. So when she woke up she narrated her dream to Chitralekha and confided that she wanted to marry this prince. Chitralekha, from the description that Usha gave her, drew a portrait of the prince. When the portrait was completed it was discovered that the prince was none other than Lord Krishna’s grandson, Aniruddha.
Chitralekha had special magical powers. She shut her eyes and chanted some mystical mantras. After a few moments she opened her eyes. There was a puff of smoke and a shower of glitter and then, to Usha’s utter astonishment, there appeared before her the prince of her dream – Aniruddha. The moment Aniruddha set eyes on Usha he too fell deeply in love with her.
Unfortunately Banasura came to know about Usha and Aniruddh’s love for each other. He was furious. He had his guards drag Usha to a fortress that was located high up on a hill. He left her there trapped in a cage and set fire to all the sides of the hillock.
Banasura knew that Aniruddha would definitely try to save his lady love. The asura also knew that as Krishna’s grandson Aniruddha would have special powers which might make it possible for him to escape with Usha. He therefore ordered his guards to apprehend Aniruddha and bring the prince to him. Aniruddha, a valiant warrior, fought and defeated all the guards. However, he could not escape from Banasura, as the demon immediately invoked Lord Shiva and captured Aniruddha. He bound the young prince with snakes and imprisoned him far away from the hillock that held Usha captive.
Narada, the wandering, minstrel sage got to know about all that had taken place. He narrated the entire series of events to Krishna. Hearing the injustice meted out to his grandson and an innocent young girl Krishna was outraged. He along with Balaram, Pradyumna and Satyaki, led twelve Akshauhinis - armies of chariots, elephants, horse and infantry - into Sonitpura the capital city of Banasura’s kingdom. They surrounded the capital from all sides. The fearless Banasura, knowing that he had the protection of Lord Shiva, attacked Krishna’s army with equal might. However, after a while he began to realize that Lord Krishna was too powerful a warrior to defeat. The wily asura immediately began to invoke Lord Shiva and asked for Him to be by his side.
Abiding by the boon he had granted Banasura, Shiva along with his son Kartikeya, came to protect the demon. A ghastly and bloody battle ensued. Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva two of the most powerful Gods were pitted against each other. However even Lord Shiva’s contingent of Bhutas, Pretas, Pishachas, Dakinis and Rakshas, could not defeat Lord Krishna. Lord Shiva attacked Lord Krishna with his arsenal of powerful weapons but Lord Krishna could not be annihilated. Lord Shiva’s celestial missile, the Pashupatastra, was countered by Lord Krishna’s own Narayanastra. The war became even more intense, when Shiva spewed fire in all directions releasing his three headed and three legged form.
Krishna realized that Banasura with Shiva’s support was becoming invincible. He then released his own spirit (Lord Vishnu) to overpower the Rudra spirit (Lord Shiva). The spirit of Lord Vishnu spoke to the spirit of Lord Shiva. It said, “As long as Banasura has you by his side, Krishna will be unable to kill Banasura. The asura is cruel, arrogant and ruthless. He stands for all that is adharmic. If Banasura is allowed to live Dharma will be destroyed.”
Hearing these words the Rudra spirit turned calm. Lord Shiva realized that he needed to restore Dharma. He said to Lord Vishnu, “Our only recourse is for you to fire the Jurumnastra. This weapon has the power to put me to sleep for a while. When I am asleep you can very easily cut off all the thousand arms of Banasura who will then be incapable of fighting.”
As the Jurumnastra struck Lord Shiva, He fell into a deep slumber. Seizing the opportunity Krishna lopped off each of Banasura’s arms one by one just as He would lop off the branches of a giant tree. Thereafter Krishna was about to release his Sudarshan Chakra to sever Banasura’s head and kill him when the asura fervently began to pray and invoke Lord Shiva. The prayers of his devotee aroused Lord Shiva from his virtual slumber. Knowing that his disciple was about to be slain Lord Shiva stopped Lord Krishna and said, “O Lord I surrender to you completely. Banasura is a true devotee of mine. I had granted him the boon of protection from all those who tried to kill him. Therefore, my Lord find it in your heart to grant him mercy so that I may uphold my promise.”
Lord Krishna replied, “O lord Shiva, I will honour the boon you made to your devotee. I will not end his life. I had great love for his fore-father Prahlad and that love too prevents me from killing one of his descendants. It is not necessary that we must kill the body to restore Dharma. It is pride, arrogance and the ego that we carry that needs to be destroyed. These are the true demons that must be annihilated. Banasura will because of your blessing remain immortal but as a reminder of this defeat, and to ensure that his arrogance is kept in check, he will no longer possess a thousand arms but just four.”
Banasura understood that Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna could never ever be pitted against each other. They were one and the same and God in any form would always uphold Dharma. He knew that true victory meant victory over oneself – victory over pride, greed, arrogance and all adharmic tendencies.
Banasura freed both his daughter Usha and Aniruddha from imprisonment. He arranged a grand celebration and a lavish feast for the marriage of Usha to Aniruddha. All around there was immense joy. Following the festivities the Yadava clan and Lord Krishna headed back to Dwarka with the newly-weds’ in an elaborately carved golden chariot leading the way.
Banasura retired to the Himalayas and remains an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.
LIFE LESSONS
1. From Banasura we can learn that a true devotee of the Lord is not one who remains devoted only to obtain something from the Lord.
2. From Lord Shiva we know that God will never forsake his devotees no matter what the circumstances.
3. We learn from this story that righteousness will always prevail.
4. We also learn that our most powerful enemies are not in the outside world but within us in the form of greed, lust, anger and pride.
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