Assam Yatra ~ Guwahati and Tezpur
Chandan Yatra Das
Assam Yatra ~ Guwahati and Tezpur
Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna - ISKCON Guwahati, Assam
Assam is in North-East India. Situated amidst mighty Brahmaputra river, Guwahati is a major city and is called "Gateway to North East" especially to Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya & Nagaland. Many parts of Assam practice Vaishnava tradition since hundreds of years, especially the eastern parts: Majuli, Jorhat and Dibrugarh. There are several Vaishnava ashrams where devotees practice Krishna bhakti. Great saint Srimanta Sankardev inspired the Vaishnava movement in Assam during the 15th century.
There are few Temples in and around Guwahati related to pastimes of Lord Krishna and His devotees. About 14 km from Guwahati is ancient Basistha Muni Ashram where Basistha Muni performed penance. Tributary of Ganges flows here. Beautiful, Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna ISKCON Guwahati is on Hare Krishna Hill in the heart of city. Popular Kamakhya Temple is related to Sati, Daksha & Lord Siva pastime as mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4. This temple is also connected to Naraka’s pastime with Lord Krishna. Sri Umananda Temple is on an island in the middle of Brahmaputra river which forms a rivulet. Lotus Footprints of Lord Krishna when He came here are nearby on another rock in the middle of Brahmaputra river at a place called Asvakranta. Asvakranta literally means ‘ascended by horses’. It is here that Sri Krishna camped with his army before he defeated and killed Naraka. World famous Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, which hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceros, is 200km from Guwahati in Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam. Kaziranga also boasts the highest density of tigers among the protected areas in the world. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo and swamp deer. Cherrapunji in Meghalaya state, which receives highest density of rainfall in a year is 150km from Guwahati.
Agnigarh, connected to Lord Krishna, Banasura and Lord Siva’s pastime, in the city of Tezpur, which lies north of Brahmaputra river, at a distance of 198 km (via Nagaon) and 181 km (via Mangaldoi) from Guwahati. This is the place where Lord Krishna and Lord Siva had a great fight, and Lord Krishna cut off Banasura’s thousand arms. The name ‘Tezpur’ is derived from the Sanskrit words 'teza' (meaning blood) and 'pura' (meaning town or city). The original name of this place was 'Sonitapura' ("sonit" in Sanskrit also means blood). There was so much bloodshed that the place was stained red. This led to the name of the place becoming Tezpur. Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10 chapters 62 & 63 mentions: The meeting of Aniruddha and Usa, which caused a great fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Siva, is very mysterious and interesting. Bali Maharaja, a great devotee who gave away in charity all that he had - the whole world - to Lord Vamana, had 100 sons, and the eldest of all of them was Banasura. Banasura was a great devotee of Lord Siva and was always ready to render service unto him. Because of his devotion, Banasura achieved a great position in society, and he was honoured in every respect. He was very intelligent and liberal, and his activities are all praiseworthy because he never deviated from his promise and word of honour; he was very truthful and fixed in his vow. He was ruling over the city of Sonitapura (now Tezpur). By the grace of Lord Siva, Banasura had one thousand arms, and he became so powerful that even demigods like King Indra were serving him most obediently.
Long ago, when Lord Siva was dancing in his celebrated fashion, called tandava-nrtya, for which he is known as Nataraja, Banasura helped Siva in his dancing by rhythmically beating drums with his one thousand hands. In response, Siva offered Bana whatever benediction he chose, and Bana asked Siva to become the guardian of his city. One day when Bana was feeling an urge to do battle, he told Lord Siva: “Except for you, in the whole world there is no warrior strong enough to fight me. Therefore these thousand arms you’ve given me are merely a heavy burden.” Angered by these words, Lord Siva replied, “Your pride will be crushed in battle when you meet my equal. Indeed, your chariot flag will fall to the ground, broken.”
Banasura’s daughter, Usa, once had an encounter with a lover in her sleep. Several nights in a row this occurred, until one night she failed to see Him in her dreams. She suddenly awoke, speaking aloud to Him in a state of agitation, but when she noticed her maidservants around her, she felt embarrassed. Usa’s companion Citralekha asked her who she had been addressing, and Usa told her everything. Hearing of Usa’s dream-lover, Citralekha tried to relieve her friend’s distress by drawing pictures of Gandharvas and other celestial personalities, as well as various men of the Vrsni dynasty. Citralekha asked Usa to pick out the man she had seen in her dreams, and Usa pointed to the picture of Aniruddha. Citralekha, who had mystic powers, knew at once that the young man her friend had pointed out was Lord Krishna’s grandson Aniruddha. Then, using her mystic powers, Citralekha flew through the sky to Dwarka, found Aniruddha and brought Him back with her to Sonitapura, Banasura’s capital. There she presented Him to Usa.
Having obtained the man of her desires, Usa began serving Him very affectionately within her private quarters, which were supposed to be strictly off limits to men. After some time the female guards of the inner palace noticed symptoms of sexual activity on Usa’s person, and they went to Banasura to inform him. Greatly disturbed, Banasura rushed to his daughter’s apartments with many armed guards and, to his great surprise, saw Aniruddha there. As the guards attacked Him, Aniruddha took up His club and succeeded in killing a few before the powerful Bana could capture Him with his mystic naga-pasa ropes, filling Usa with lamentation.
When Aniruddha did not return from Sonitapura, His family and friends passed the four months of the rainy season in extreme distress. When they finally heard from Narada Muni how Aniruddha had been captured, a large army of the best Yadava warriors, under Krishna’s protection, set off for Banasura’s capital and laid siege to it. Banasura fiercely opposed them with his own army of equal size. To help Banasura, Lord Siva, accompanied by Kartikeya and a horde of mystic sages, took up arms against Balarama and Krishna. Bana began fighting against Satyaki, and Bana’s son fought against Samba. All the demigods assembled in the sky to witness the battle. With His arrows Lord Krishna harassed the followers of Lord Siva, and by putting Lord Siva into a state of confusion He was able to destroy Banasura’s army. Kartikeya was so strongly beaten by Pradyumna that he fled the battlefield, while the remnants of Banasura’s army, harried by the blows of Lord Balarama’s club, scattered in all directions.
Enraged to see his army’s destruction, Banasura rushed Krishna to attack Him. But the Lord immediately killed Bana’s chariot driver and broke his chariot and bow, and then He sounded His Pancajanya conchshell. Next Banasura’s mother, trying to save her son, appeared naked in front of Lord Krishna, who averted His face to avoid looking at her. Seeing his chance, Bana fled into his city. After Lord Krishna had thoroughly defeated the ghosts and hobgoblins fighting under Lord Siva, the Siva-jvara weapon - a personification of fever with three heads and three legs - approached Lord Krishna to fight Him. Seeing the Siva-jvara, Krishna released His Visnu-jvara. The Siva-jvara was overwhelmed by the Visnu-jvara; having nowhere else to turn for shelter, the Siva-jvara began to address Lord Krishna, glorifying Him and asking for mercy. Lord Krishna was pleased with the Siva-jvara, and after the Lord had promised him freedom from fear, the Siva-jvara bowed down to Him and departed.
Next Banasura returned and attacked Lord Sri Krishna again, wielding all kinds of weapons in his thousand hands. But Lord Krishna took His Sudarsana disc and began cutting off all the demon’s arms. Lord Siva approached Krishna to pray for Banasura’s life, and when the Lord agreed to spare him, He spoke as follows to Siva: “Banasura does not deserve to die, since he was born in the family of Prahlada Maharaja. I have severed all but four of Bana’s arms just to destroy his false pride, and I have annihilated his army because they were a burden to the earth. Henceforward he will be free from old age and death, and remaining fearless in all circumstances, he will be one of your principal attendants.”
Assured he had nothing to fear, Banasura then offered his obeisances to Lord Krishna, and had Usa and Aniruddha seated on their wedding chariot and brought before the Lord. Krishna then set off for Dwarka with Aniruddha and His bride leading the procession. When the newlyweds arrived at the Lord’s capital, they were honoured by the citizens, the Lord’s relatives and the brahmanas.
Conclusion: This episode of Banasura’s fighting with Krishna and later being saved by the grace of Lord Siva is confirmation of the statement in the Bhagavad-Gita that the worshipers of demigods cannot achieve any benediction without its being sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. Here in this narration we find that although Banasura was a great devotee of Lord Siva, when he faced death by Krishna, Lord Siva was not able to save him. But Lord Siva appealed to Krishna to save his devotee, and this was sanctioned by the Lord. This is the position of Lord Krishna. The exact words used in this connection in the Bhagavad-Gita are mayaiva vihitan hi tan. This means that without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, no demigod can award any benediction to his worshiper.
Temples in and around Guwahati:
1. Basistha Ashram
2. Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna Temple - ISKCON Guwahati
3. Asvakranta - where there are Lotus Footprints of Lord Krishna when He came here
4. Sri Kamakhya Temple
5. Sri Umananda Temple
6. Agnigarh in Tezpur - connected to Lord Krishna, Banasura and Lord Siva’s pastime
1. Basistha Ashram
Basistha Ashram is the home of famous sage Basistha, also known as "Vasishtha". The ashram is located 14 km from Guwahati on south-eastern side, 5km from NH 37 Basistha crossing, on the outskirts of Garbhanga reserve forest which has an ample population of elephants. This temple was constructed by Ahom King Rajeswar Singha in year 1764 along with gift of land 835 Bighas for the ashram. Temple in the ashram stands on the bank of the mountain streams originating from the hills of Meghalaya, which becomes the rivers Basistha and Bahini/Bharalu flowing through the city. The cave where sage Basistha performed his tapasya is 5 km inside the ashram.
The Kalika Purana has described the Basistha Ashram as one of the seven Shakti pithas. The ashram was founded by sage Basistha. As per the legend, once sage Basistha went to Kamarupa to worship goddess Kamakhya. When king Naraka stopped him from doing so, Basistha cursed him. Basistha built a hermitage at Sandhyachal and led his life meditating on Siva. About 200 km from here is the temple of Arundhati mata, wife of sage Basistha.
Basistha Ashram
Entrance of Basistha Ashram
Basistha Ashram
Basistha Ashram
Tributary of Ganges river at Basistha Ashram
Tributary of Ganges river at Basistha Ashram
Cave where Basistha performed tapsaya
2. Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna Temple - ISKCON Guwahati
Located at the heart of the city on a hillock in Ulubari Chariali area, 2 km from the main railway station, is the beautiful ISKCON Guwahati temple. Exquisitely beautiful, Their Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna are the presiding deities. The stark white exterior of the marble-floored temple makes it a landmark of the locality. Scenic surroundings with abundance of greenery add to its beauty. There is a flight of stairs leading to the temple. Daily routines at ISKCON temple include Arati, chanting, bhajans and Bhagavad Gita discourses. There is a souvenir shop where one can buy transcendental literatures, bhajan CDs, devotional dresses and Tulsi malas. There is Bhaktivedanta Vedic Library at the temple and also there is Govinda’s Prasadam stall. Every Sunday there is Sunday Feast program at the Temple during the afternoon. Everyone is welcome to come and attend!
Address: Mount Hare Krishna, South Sarania, Ulubari Chariali, Guwahati - 781007, Assam
ISKCON Guwahati Temple
Magnificient Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna Temple - ISKCON Guwahati
Their Lordships Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna
Their Lordships Sri Sri Rukmini Krishna
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-acarya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Devotees at ISKCON Guwahati Temple
Bhaktivedanta Vedic Library at ISKCON Guwahati Temple
Govinda’s Maha Prasadam stall at ISKCON Guwahati Temple
Govinda’s Maha Prasadam stall at ISKCON Guwahati Temple
Souvenir shop at ISKCON Guwahati Temple
ISKCON Guwahati Temple
3. Asvakranta
Where there are Lotus Footprints of Lord Krishna when He came here
Lotus Footprints of Lord Krishna when He came here are on a rock in the middle of Brahmaputra river at a place called Asvakranta. Asvakranta literally means ‘ascended by horses’. It is here that Sri Krishna camped with his army before he defeated and killed Naraka. Asvakranta can be reached by motor boats that are available at Suklesvar Ghat in Guwahati.
4. Sri Kamakhya Temple
Sri Kamakhya Temple is the temple of goddess Kamakhya, an incarnation of Sati. It is the most venerated of the 51 shakti-pithas in India. The temple is related to Sati, Daksha & Lord Siva pastime as mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4. This temple is also connected to Naraka’s pastime with Lord Krishna.
Sri Kamakhya Temple
5. Sri Umananda Temple
Umananda is a Lord Siva temple located at the Peacock Island in the middle of river mighty Brahmaputra river. It was built by the Ahom King Gadadhar Singha (1681–1696). The mountain on which the temple has been built is known as Bhasmacala. As per the legend, Lord Siva resided here in the form of Bhayananda. According to the Kalika Purana, in the beginning of the creation Siva sprinkled ashes (bhasma) at this place and imparted knowledge to Parvati (his consort). When Siva was in meditation on this hillock, Kamadeva interrupted his yoga and was therefore burnt to ashes by the fire of Siva’s anger and hence the hillock got the name Bhasmacala. This mountain is also called Bhasmakuta. The Kalika Purana states that Urvasikunda is situated here and here resides the goddess Urvasi who brings Amrit (nectar) for the enjoyment of Kamakhya and hence the island got the name Urvasi Island.
The presiding deity of the temple is Umananda. Nearby Umananda Temple is Hanuman temple. Peacock island is known as smallest inhabited riverine island in the world. The Peacock Island can be accessed from Guwahati and North Guwahati by ferries and steamers. One can hire a ferry from Sukleshwar ghat or Fancy Bazar Ghat.
Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) Canto 12, chapter 13, verse 16 describes:
nimna-ganam yatha ganga devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh purananam idam tatha
“Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.”
Lord Siva is the greatest devotee of Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh). Lord Siva is one of the twelve mahajanas as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) Canto 6, chapter 3, verses 20-21:
svayambhur naradah sambhuh kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo balir vaiyasakir vayam
dvadasaite vijanimo dharmam bhagavatam bhatah
guhyam visuddham durbodham yam jnatvamrtam asnute
“Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Siva, the four Kumaras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahuti], Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhisma, Bali Maharaja, Sukadeva Gosvami and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhagavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.”
Ferries going to Sri Umananda Temple at Peacock Island in the middle of mighty Brahmaputra river
Mighty Brahmaputra river on the way to Sri Umananda Temple
Mighty Brahmaputra river on the way to Sri Umananda Temple
Peacock island in the middle of Brahmaputra river. This is the smallest inhabited riverine island in the world.
Sri Umananda Temple
Devotees at Sri Umananda Temple
Rare species of Golden Langur found on this island
6. Tezpur
Agnigarh, in the city of Tezpur, which lies north of Brahmaputra river, at a distance of 198 km (via Nagaon) and 181 km (via Mangaldoi) from Guwahati, is connected to Lord Krishna, Banasura and Lord Siva’s pastime. This is the place where Lord Krishna and Lord Siva had a great fight, and Lord Krishna cut off Banasura’s thousand arms. The name ‘Tezpur’ is derived from the Sanskrit words 'teza' (meaning blood) and 'pura' (meaning town or city). The original name of this place was 'Sonitapura' ("sonit" in Sanskrit also means blood). There was so much bloodshed that the place was stained red. This led to the name of the place becoming Tezpur. Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10 chapters 62 & 63 mentions describe this pastime.
Present day Agnigarh is a hill on the banks of the Brahmaputra which is one of the big tourist attractions in Tezpur. There is a circular stairway leading up to the crest of the hill where there are now sculptures depicting Usha's abduction of Aniruddha, the grandson of Krishna and the ensuing battle by Krishna to free them. There is a tall viewing platform from where the entire Tezpur town can be seen. We can also see the Kalia- Bhumura bridge which shines like a beautiful necklace over the vast Brahmaputra river.
Banasura Satisfies Lord Siva
Long ago, when Lord Siva was dancing in his celebrated fashion, called tandava-nrtya, for which he is known as Nataraja, Banasura helped Lord Siva in his dancing by rhythmically beating drums with his one thousand hands.
Banasura Finds Aniruddha with Usa
Usa worshiped Aniruddha with faithful service, offering Him priceless garments, along with garlands, fragrances, incense, lamps, sitting places and so on. She also offered Him beverages, all types of food, and sweet words. As He thus remained hidden in the young lady's quarters, Aniruddha did not notice the passing of the days, for His senses were captivated by Usa, whose affection for Him ever increased. The female guards eventually noticed unmistakable symptoms of romantic involvement in Usa, who, having broken her maiden vow, was being enjoyed by the Yadu hero and showing signs of conjugal happiness. The guards went to Banasura and told him, "O King, we have detected in your daughter the kind of improper behaviour that spoils the reputation of a young girl's family. We have been carefully watching over her, never leaving our posts, O master, so we cannot understand how this maiden, whom no man can even see, has been corrupted within this palace." Very agitated to hear of his daughter's corruption, Banasura rushed at once to the maiden's quarters. There he saw the pride of the Yadus, Aniruddha. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.62.24-28)
Banasura's Army Fights Lord Krishna's Army
Agnigarh in Tezpur
Entrance to Agnigarh in Tezpur
Chitralekha making portrait for Usa
Chitralekha carrying sleeping Aniruddha on His bed from Dwarka to Tezpur
Marriage of Aniruddha and Usa
Fight between Banasura and Aniruddha
Transcendental fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Siva at Tezpur
Beautiful views of Brahmaputra river from Agnigarh hillock
Picturesque views of Brahmaputra river from Agnigarh hillock
Lord Siva Temple in Tezpur where Banasura performed his worship
Lord Siva Temple in Tezpur where Banasura performed his worship
Picturesque view of Kolia Bhomora Setu across Brahmaputra river that connects Tezpur
It is named after the Ahom General Kolia Bhomora Phukan. This bridge connects Sonitpur on the north bank with Nagaon District on the south bank. The length of this bridge is 3015 meters. The construction of the bridge took place from 1981 to 1987.
Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary: World famous Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, which hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceros, is 200km from Guwahati in Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam. Kaziranga also boasts the highest density of tigers among the protected areas in the world. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo and swamp deer.
Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary
Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary
Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary
Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary
Cherrapunji in Meghalaya state, which receives highest density of rainfall in a year is 150km from Guwahati.
Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, the wettest place on earth
The Meeting of Usa and Aniruddha
(Krishna book chapter 62: http://www.vedabase.com/en/kb/62 )
The meeting of Aniruddha and Usa, which caused a great fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Siva, is very mysterious and interesting. Maharaja Pariksit was eager to hear the whole story from Sukadeva Gosvami, and thus Sukadeva narrated it. “My dear King, you must have heard the name of King Bali. He was a great devotee who gave away in charity all that he had—namely, the whole world—to Lord Vamana, the incarnation of Visnu as a dwarf brahmana. King Bali had one hundred sons, and the eldest of all of them was Banasura.”
This great hero Banasura, born of Maharaja Bali, was a great devotee of Lord Siva and was always ready to render service unto him. Because of his devotion, Banasura achieved a great position in society, and he was honoured in every respect. Actually, he was very intelligent and liberal also, and his activities are all praiseworthy because he never deviated from his promise and word of honour; he was very truthful and fixed in his vow. In those days, he was ruling over the city of Sonitapura. By the grace of Lord Siva, Banasura had one thousand arms, and he became so powerful that even demigods like King Indra were serving him most obediently.
Long ago, when Lord Siva was dancing in his celebrated fashion, called tandava-nrtya, for which he is known as Nataraja, Banasura helped Lord Siva in his dancing by rhythmically beating drums with his one thousand hands. Lord Siva is well known as Asutosa (“very easily pleased”), and he is also very affectionate to his devotees. He is a great protector for persons who take shelter of him and is the master of all living entities in this material world. Being pleased with Banasura, he said, “Whatever you desire you can have from me, for I am very much pleased with you.” Banasura replied, “My dear lord, if you please, you can remain in my city just to protect me from the hands of my enemies.”
Once upon a time, Banasura came to offer his respects to Lord Siva. By touching the lotus feet of Lord Siva with his helmet, which was shining like the sun globe, he offered his obeisances unto him. While offering his respectful obeisances, Banasura said, “My dear lord, anyone who has not fulfilled his ambition will be able to do so by taking shelter of your lotus feet, which are just like a desire tree, from which one can take anything he desires. My dear lord, you have given me one thousand arms, but I do not know what to do with them. They are simply a burden; I cannot use them properly in fighting, since I cannot find anyone competent to fight with me except your lordship, the original father of the material world. Sometimes I feel a great tendency to fight with my arms, and I go out to find a suitable warrior. Unfortunately, everyone flees, knowing my extraordinary power. Being baffled at not finding a match, I satisfy the itching of my arms by beating them against the mountains. In this way, I tear many great mountains to pieces.”
Lord Siva realized that his benediction had become troublesome for Banasura and addressed him, “You rascal! You are very eager to fight, but since you have no one to fight with, you are distressed. Although you think that there is no one in the world to oppose you except me, I say that you will eventually find such a competent person. At that time your days will come to an end, and your flag of victory will no longer fly. Then you will see your false prestige smashed to pieces!”
After hearing Lord Siva’s statement, Banasura, who was very much puffed up with his power, became elated that he would meet someone able to smash him to pieces. Banasura then returned home with great pleasure, and he always waited for the day when the suitable fighter would come to cut down his strength. He was such a foolish demon. It appears that foolish, demoniac human beings, when unnecessarily overpowered with material opulences, want to exhibit these opulences, and such foolish people feel satisfaction when these opulences are exhausted. The idea is that they do not know how to expend their energy for right causes, being unaware of the benefit of Krishna consciousness. Actually, there are two classes of men—one is Krishna conscious, the other is non-Krishna conscious. The non-Krishna conscious men are generally devoted to the demigods, whereas the Krishna conscious men are devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna conscious persons utilize everything for the service of the Lord. The non-Krishna conscious persons utilize everything for sense gratification, and Banasura is a perfect example of such a person. For his own satisfaction he was very eager to utilize his extraordinary power to fight. Not finding any combatant, he struck his powerful arms against the mountains, breaking them to pieces. In contrast to this, Arjuna also possessed extraordinary powers for fighting, but he utilized them only for Krishna.
Banasura had a very beautiful daughter, whose name was Usa. When she had attained the age of marriage and was sleeping amongst her many girlfriends, she dreamt one night that Aniruddha was by her side and that she was enjoying a conjugal relationship with him, although she had never actually seen him or heard of him before. She awoke from her dream exclaiming very loudly, “My dear beloved, where are you?” Being exposed to her friends in this way, she became a little bit ashamed. One of Usa’s girlfriends was Citralekha, who was the daughter of Banasura’s prime minister. Citralekha and Usa were intimate friends, and out of great curiosity Citralekha asked, “My dear beautiful princess, as of yet you are not married to any young boy, nor have you seen any boys until now; so I am surprised that you are exclaiming like this. Who are you searching after? Who is your suitable match?”
On hearing Citralekha’s inquiries, Usa replied, “My dear friend, in my dream I saw a nice young man who is very, very beautiful. His complexion is swarthy, his eyes are just like lotus petals, and he is dressed in yellow garments. His arms are very long, and his general bodily features are so pleasing that any young girl would be attracted. I feel much pride in saying that this beautiful young man was kissing me, and I was very much enjoying the nectar of his kissing. But I am sorry to inform you that just after this he disappeared, and I have been thrown into the whirlpool of disappointment. My dear friend, I am very anxious to find this wonderful young man, the desired lord of my heart.”
After hearing Usa’s words, Citralekha immediately replied, “I can understand your bereavement, and I assure you that if this boy is within these three worlds—the upper, middle and lower planetary systems—I must find him for your satisfaction. If you can identify him from your dream, I shall bring you peace of mind. Now, let me draw some pictures for you to inspect, and as soon as you find the picture of your desired husband, let me know. It doesn’t matter where he is; I know the art of bringing him here. So, as soon as you identify him, I shall immediately arrange for it.”
Citralekha, while talking, began to draw many pictures of the demigods inhabiting the higher planetary systems, then pictures of the Gandharvas, Siddhas, Caranas, Pannagas, Daityas, Vidyadharas and Yaksas, as well as many pictures of human beings. (The statements of Srimad-Bhagavatam and other Vedic literatures prove definitely that on each and every planet there are living entities of different varieties. Therefore, it is foolish to assert that there are no living entities but those on this earth.) Citralekha drew many pictures. Among the human beings she drew were members of the Vrsni dynasty, including Vasudeva, the father of Krishna; Surasena, the grandfather of Krishna; Sri Balaramaji; Lord Krishna; and many others. When Usa saw the picture of Pradyumna, she became a little bashful, but when she saw the picture of Aniruddha, she became so bashful that she immediately lowered her head and smiled, having found the man she was seeking. She identified the picture to Citralekha as that of the man who had stolen her heart.
Citralekha was a great mystic yogini, and as soon as Usa identified the picture, Citralekha could immediately understand that it was of Aniruddha, a grandson of Krishna’s, although neither she nor Usa had previously known his name or ever seen him. That very night, she travelled in outer space and within a very short time reached the city of Dwarka, which was well protected by Lord Krishna. She entered the palace and found Aniruddha sleeping in his bedroom on a very opulent bed. Citralekha, by her mystic power, immediately brought Aniruddha, in that sleeping condition, to the city of Sonitapura so that Usa might see her desired husband. Usa immediately bloomed in happiness and began to enjoy the company of Aniruddha with great satisfaction.
The palace in which Usa and Citralekha lived was so well fortified that it was impossible for any male to either enter or see inside. Usa and Aniruddha lived together in the palace, and day after day Usa’s love for Aniruddha grew four times upon four. Usa pleased Aniruddha with valuable garments, flowers, garlands, scents and incense. By his bedside sitting place were other paraphernalia for residential purposes—nice drinks such as milk and sherbet and nice eatables which could be chewed or swallowed. Above all, she pleased him with sweet words and very obliging service. Usa worshiped Aniruddha as if he were the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By her excellent service, Usa made Aniruddha forget all other things and was able to draw his attention and love to her without deviation. In such an atmosphere of love and service, Aniruddha practically forgot himself and could not recall how many days he had been away from his real home.
In due course of time, Usa exhibited some bodily symptoms by which it could be understood that she was having intercourse with a male friend. The symptoms were so prominent that her actions could no longer be concealed from anyone. Usa was always cheerful in the association of Aniruddha, and she did not know the bounds of her satisfaction. The housekeeper and the guards of the palace could guess very easily that she was having relations with a male friend, and without waiting for further developments, all of them informed their master, Banasura. In the Vedic culture, an unmarried girl having association with a male is the greatest disgrace to the family, and so the caretakers cautiously informed their master that Usa was showing symptoms indicating a disgraceful association. The servants informed their master that they were not at all neglectful in guarding the house, being alert day and night against any young man who might enter. They were so careful that a male could not even see what was going on there, and so they were surprised that she had become contaminated. Since they could not trace out the reason for it, they submitted the whole situation before their master.
Banasura was shocked to understand that his daughter Usa was no longer a virgin maiden. This weighed heavily on his heart, and without delay he rushed toward the palace where Usa was living. There he saw that Usa and Aniruddha were sitting together and talking. They looked very beautiful together, Aniruddha being the son of Pradyumna, who was Cupid himself. Banasura saw his daughter and Aniruddha as a suitable match, yet for family prestige he did not like the combination at all. Banasura could not understand who the boy actually was. He appreciated the fact that Usa could not have selected anyone in the three worlds more beautiful. Aniruddha’s complexion was brilliant and swarthy. He was dressed in yellow garments and had eyes just like lotus petals. His arms were very long, and he had nice, curling, bluish hair. The glaring rays of his glittering earrings and the beautiful smile on his lips were certainly captivating. Still, Banasura was very angry.
When Banasura saw him, Aniruddha was engaged in playing with Usa. Aniruddha was nicely dressed, and Usa had garlanded him with various beautiful flowers. The reddish kunkuma powder put on the breasts of women was spotted here and there on the garland, indicating that Usa had embraced him. Banasura was struck with wonder that, even in his presence, Aniruddha was peacefully sitting in front of Usa. Aniruddha knew, however, that his would-be father-in-law was not at all pleased and that he was gathering many soldiers in the palace to attack him.
Thus, not finding any other weapon, Aniruddha took hold of a big iron rod and stood up before Banasura and his soldiers. He firmly took a posture indicating that if attacked he would strike all of the soldiers down to the ground with the iron rod. Banasura and his company of soldiers saw that the boy was standing before them just like the superintendent of death with his invincible rod. Now, under the order of Banasura, the soldiers from all sides attempted to capture and arrest him. When they dared to come before him, Aniruddha struck them with the rod, breaking their heads, legs, arms and thighs, and one after another they fell to the ground. He killed them just as the leader of a pack of boars kills barking dogs, one after another. In this way, Aniruddha was able to escape the palace.
Banasura knew various arts of fighting, and by the grace of Lord Siva he knew how to arrest his enemy by the use of a naga-pasa, snake-noose, and thus he seized Aniruddha as he came out of the palace. When Usa received the news that her father had arrested Aniruddha, she was overwhelmed with grief and confusion. Tears glided down from her eyes, and being unable to check herself, she began to cry very loudly.
Lord Krishna Fights with Banasura
(Krishna book chapter 63: http://www.vedabase.com/en/kb/63 )
When the four months of the rainy season passed and Aniruddha had still not returned home, all the members of the Yadu family became much perturbed. They could not understand how the boy was missing. Fortunately, one day the great sage Narada came and informed the family about Aniruddha’s disappearance from the palace. He explained how Aniruddha had been carried to the city of Sonitapura, the capital of Banasura’s empire, and how Banasura had arrested him with the naga-pasa, even though Aniruddha had defeated his soldiers. This news was given in detail by Narada, and the whole story was disclosed. Then the members of the Yadu dynasty, all of whom had great affection for Krishna, prepared to attack the city of Sonitapura. Practically all the leaders of the family, including Pradyumna, Satyaki, Gada, Samba, Sarana, Nanda, Upananda and Bhadra, combined together and gathered twelve aksauhini military divisions into phalanxes. Then they all went to Sonitapura and surrounded it with soldiers, elephants, horses and chariots.
Banasura heard that the soldiers of the Yadu dynasty were attacking the whole city, tearing down various walls, gates and nearby gardens. Becoming very angry, he immediately ordered his soldiers, who were of equal caliber, to go and face them. Lord Siva was so kind to Banasura that he personally came as the commander in chief of the military force, assisted by his heroic sons Karttikeya and Ganapati. Nandisvara, Lord Siva, seated on his favourite bull, led the fighting against Lord Krishna and Balarama. We can simply imagine how fierce the fighting was - Lord Siva with his valiant sons on one side, and Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His elder brother, Sri Balaramaji, on the other. The fighting was so fierce that those who saw the battle were struck with wonder, and the hairs on their bodies stood up. Lord Siva was engaged in fighting directly with Lord Krishna, Pradyumna was engaged with Karttikeya, and Lord Balarama was engaged with Banasura’s commander in chief, Kumbhanda, who was assisted by Kupakarna. Samba, the son of Krishna, fought the son of Banasura, and Banasura fought Satyaki, commander in chief of the Yadu dynasty. In this way the fighting was waged.
News of the fighting spread all over the universe. Demigods such as Lord Brahma, from higher planetary systems, along with great sages and saintly persons, Siddhas, Caranas and Gandharvas, all being very curious to see the fight between Lord Siva and Lord Krishna and their assistants, hovered over the battlefield in their airplanes. Lord Siva is called Bhuta-natha because he is assisted by various types of powerful ghosts and denizens of the inferno - Bhutas, Pretas, Pramathas, Guhyakas, Dakinis, Pisacas, Kusmandas, Vetalas, Vinayakas and Brahma-raksasas. (Of all kinds of ghosts, the Brahma-raksasas are very powerful. They are brahmanas who after death have entered the ghostly species of life.)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, simply drove all these ghosts away from the battlefield with the arrows from His celebrated bow, Sarnga-dhanur. Lord Siva then began to release all his selected weapons against the Personality of Godhead. Lord Sri Krishna, without any difficulty, counteracted all these weapons with counter weapons. He counteracted the brahmastra, similar to the atomic bomb, with another brahmastra, and an air weapon with a mountain weapon. When Lord Siva released a particular weapon bringing about a violent hurricane on the battlefield, Lord Krishna presented just the opposing element, a mountain weapon, which checked the hurricane on the spot. Similarly, when Lord Siva released his weapon of devastating fire, Krishna counteracted it with torrents of rain.
At last, when Lord Siva released his personal weapon, the Pasupata-astra, Krishna immediately counteracted it with the Narayana-astra. Lord Siva then became exasperated in fighting with Lord Krishna. Krishna then took the opportunity to release His yawning weapon. When this weapon is released, the opposing party becomes tired, stops fighting and begins to yawn. Consequently, Lord Siva became so fatigued that he refused to fight anymore and began yawning. Krishna was now able to turn His attention from the attack of Lord Siva to the efforts of Banasura, and He began to kill Banasura’s personal soldiers with swords and clubs. Meanwhile, Lord Krishna’s son Pradyumna was fighting fiercely with Karttikeya, the commander in chief of the demigods. Karttikeya was wounded, and his body was bleeding profusely. In this condition, he left the battlefield and, without fighting anymore, rode away on the back of his peacock carrier. Similarly, Lord Balarama smashed Banasura’s commander in chief, Kumbhanda, with the strokes of His club. Kupakarna was also wounded in this way, and both he and Kumbhanda fell on the battlefield, Kumbhanda being fatally wounded. Without guidance, all of Banasura’s soldiers scattered here and there.
When Banasura saw that his soldiers and commanders had been defeated, his anger only increased. He thought it wise to stop fighting with Satyaki, Krishna’s commander in chief, and instead directly attack Lord Krishna. Now having the opportunity to use his one thousand arms, he rushed toward Krna, simultaneously working five hundred bows and two thousand arrows. Such a foolish person could never measure Krishna’s strength. Immediately, without difficulty, Krishna cut each of Banasura’s bows into two pieces and, to check him from going further, made the horses of his chariot lie on the ground so that the chariot broke to pieces. After doing this, Krishna blew His conchshell, Pancajanya.
There was a demigoddess named Kotara who was worshiped by Banasura, and their relationship was as mother and son. Mother Kotara was upset that Banasura’s life was in danger, so she appeared on the scene. With naked body and scattered hair, she stood before Lord Krishna. Sri Krishna did not like the sight of this naked woman, and to avoid seeing her He turned His face. Banasura, getting this chance to escape Krishna’s attack, left the battlefield. All the strings of his bows had been broken, and there was no chariot or driver, so he had no alternative but to return to his city. He lost everything in the battle.
Being greatly harassed by the arrows of Krishna, all the associates of Lord Siva - the hobgoblins and ghostly Bhutas, Pretas and ksatriyas - left the battlefield. Lord Siva then took to his last resort. He released his greatest death weapon, known as Siva-jvara, which destroys by excessive heat. It is said that at the end of creation the sun becomes twelve times more scorching than usual. This twelve-times-hotter temperature is called Siva-jvara. When the Siva-jvara personified was released, he had three heads and three legs, and as he came toward Krishna it appeared that he was burning everything to ashes. He was so powerful that he made blazing fire appear in all directions, and Krishna observed that he was specifically coming toward Him.
As there is a Siva-jvara weapon, there is also a Narayana-jvara weapon, which is represented by excessive cold. When there is excessive heat, one can somehow or other tolerate it, but when there is excessive cold, everything collapses. This is actually experienced by a person at the time of death. At the time of death, the temperature of the body first of all increases to 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and then the whole body collapses and immediately becomes as cold as ice. To counteract the scorching heat of the Siva-jvara, there is no other weapon but the Narayana-jvara.
Therefore, when Lord Krishna saw that the Siva-jvara had been released by Lord Siva, He had no recourse other than to release the Narayana-jvara. Lord Sri Krishna is the original Narayana and the controller of the Narayana-jvara weapon. When the Narayana-jvara was released, there was a great fight between the two jvaras. When excessive heat is counteracted by extreme cold, it is natural for the hot temperature to gradually reduce, and this is what occurred in the fight between the Siva-jvara and the Narayana-jvara. Gradually, the Siva-jvara’s temperature diminished, and the Siva-jvara began to cry for help from Lord Siva, but Lord Siva was unable to help him in the presence of the Narayana-jvara. Unable to get any help from Lord Siva, the Siva-jvara could understand that he had no means of escape outside of surrendering unto Narayana, Lord Krishna Himself. Lord Siva, the greatest of the demigods, could not help him, what to speak of the lesser demigods, and therefore the Siva-jvara ultimately surrendered unto Krishna, bowing before Him and offering a prayer so that the Lord might be pleased and give him protection.
This incident of the fight between the ultimate weapons of Lord Siva and Lord Krishna proves that if Krishna gives someone protection no one can kill him and if Krishna does not give one protection no one can save him. Lord Siva is called Mahadeva, the greatest of all the demigods, although sometimes Lord Brahma is considered the greatest of all the demigods because he can create. However, Lord Siva can annihilate the creations of Brahma. Still, both Lord Brahma and Lord Siva act only in one capacity: Lord Brahma can create, and Lord Siva can annihilate. But neither of them can maintain. Lord Visnu, however, not only maintains but creates and annihilates also. Factually, the creation is not effected by Brahma, because Brahma himself is created by Lord Visnu. And Lord Siva is created, or born, of Brahma. The Siva-jvara thus understood that without Krishna, or Narayana, no one could help him. He therefore rightly took shelter of Lord Krishna and, with folded hands, began to pray as follows.
“My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You have unlimited potencies. No one can surpass Your potencies, and thus You are the Lord of everyone. Generally people consider Lord Siva the most powerful personality in the material world, but Lord Siva is not all-powerful; You are all-powerful. This is factual. You are the original consciousness, or knowledge. Without knowledge, or consciousness, nothing can be powerful. A material thing may be very powerful, but without the touch of consciousness it cannot act. A material machine may be gigantic and wonderful, but without the touch of someone conscious and in knowledge, the material machine is useless for all purposes. My Lord, You are complete knowledge, and there is not a pinch of material contamination in Your personality. Lord Siva may be a powerful demigod because of his specific power to annihilate the whole creation, and, similarly, Lord Brahma may be very powerful because he can create the entire universe, but actually neither Brahma nor Lord Siva is the original cause of this cosmic manifestation. You are the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Brahman, and You are the original cause. The original cause of the cosmic manifestation is not the impersonal Brahman effulgence. That impersonal Brahman effulgence rests on Your personality.” As confirmed in the Bhagavad-Gita, the cause of the impersonal Brahman is Lord Krishna. This Brahman effulgence is likened to the sunshine, which emanates from the sun globe. Therefore, impersonal Brahman is not the ultimate cause. The ultimate cause of everything is the supreme eternal form of Krishna. All material actions and reactions take place in the impersonal Brahman, but in the personal Brahman, the eternal form of Krishna, there is no action and reaction.
The Siva-jvara continued: “Therefore, my Lord, Your body is completely peaceful, completely blissful and devoid of material contamination. In the material body there are actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. The time factor is the most important element, above all others, because the material manifestation is effected by the agitation of time. Thus natural phenomena come into existence, and as soon as phenomena appear, fruitive activities are visible. As the result of these fruitive activities, a living entity takes his form. He acquires a particular nature packed up in a subtle body and gross body formed by the life air, the ego, the ten sense organs, the mind and the five gross elements. These then create the type of body which later becomes the root cause of various other bodies, which are acquired one after another by means of the transmigration of the soul. All these phenomenal manifestations are the combined actions of Your material energy. You, however, are the cause of this external energy, and thus You remain unaffected by the action and reaction of the different elements. And because You are transcendental to such compulsions of material energy, You are the supreme tranquillity. You are the last word in freedom from material contamination. I therefore take shelter at Your lotus feet, giving up all other shelter.
“My dear Lord, Your appearance as the son of Vasudeva in Your role as a human being is one of the pastimes of Your complete freedom. To benefit Your devotees and vanquish the non-devotees, You appear in multi-incarnations. All such incarnations descend in fulfilment of Your promise in the Bhagavad-Gita that You appear as soon as there are discrepancies in the system of progressive life. When there are disturbances by irregular principles, my dear Lord, You appear by Your internal potency. Your main business is to protect and maintain the demigods and spiritually inclined persons and to maintain the standard of material law and order. Considering Your mission of maintaining such law and order, Your violence toward the miscreants and demons is quite befitting. This is not the first time You have incarnated; it is to be understood that You have done so many, many times before.
“My dear Lord, I beg to submit that I have been very greatly chastised by the release of Your Narayana-jvara, which is certainly very cooling yet at the same time severely dangerous and unbearable for all of us. My dear Lord, as long as one is forgetful of Krishna consciousness, driven by the spell of material desires and ignorant of the ultimate shelter at Your lotus feet, one who has accepted this material body becomes disturbed by the three miserable conditions of material nature. Because one does not surrender unto You, he continues to suffer perpetually.”
After hearing the Siva-jvara, Lord Krishna replied, “O three-headed one, I am pleased with your statement. Be assured that there will be no more suffering for you from the Narayana-jvara. Not only are you now free from fear of the Narayana-jvara, but anyone in the future who simply recollects this fight between you and the Narayana-jvara will also be freed from all kinds of fear.” After hearing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Siva-jvara offered respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and left.
In the meantime, Banasura somehow or other recovered from his setbacks and, with rejuvenated energy, returned to fight. This time Banasura appeared before Lord Krishna, who was seated on His chariot, with different kinds of weapons in his one thousand hands. Very much agitated, Banasura splashed his different weapons upon the body of Lord Krishna like torrents of rain. When Lord Krishna saw the weapons of Banasura coming at Him, like water coming out of a strainer, He took His sharp-edged Sudarsana disc and began to cut off the demon’s one thousand arms, one after another, just as a gardener trims the twigs of a tree with sharp cutters. When Lord Siva saw that his devotee Banasura could not be saved even in his presence, he came to his senses and personally came before Lord Krishna and began to pacify Him by offering the following prayers.
Lord Siva said, “My dear Lord, You are the worshipable object of the Vedic hymns. One who does not know You considers the impersonal brahma-jyotir to be the ultimate Supreme Absolute Truth, without knowledge that You exist behind Your spiritual effulgence in Your eternal abode. My dear Lord, You are therefore called Para-brahman. Indeed, the words param brahman have been used in the Bhagavad-Gita to identify You. Saintly persons who have completely cleansed their hearts of all material contamination can realize Your transcendental form, although You are all-pervading like the sky, unaffected by any material thing. Only the devotees can realize You, and no one else. In the impersonalists’ conception of Your supreme existence, the sky is just like Your navel, fire is Your mouth, and water is Your semen. The heavenly planets are Your head, all the directions are Your ears, the earth (Urvi) is Your lotus feet, the moon is Your mind, and the sun is Your eye. As far as I am concerned, I act as Your ego. The ocean is Your abdomen, and the King of heaven, Indra, is Your arm. Trees and plants are the hairs on Your body, the clouds are the hair on Your head, and Lord Brahma is Your intelligence. All the great progenitors, known as Prajapatis, are Your symbolic representatives. And religion is Your heart. The impersonal feature of Your supreme body is conceived of in this way, but You are ultimately the Supreme Person. The impersonal feature of Your supreme body is only a small expansion of Your energy. You are likened to the original fire, and Your expansions are its light and heat.”
Lord Siva continued: “My dear Lord, since You are manifested universally, the different parts of the universe are the different parts of Your body, and by Your inconceivable potency You can simultaneously be both localized and universal. In the Brahma-samhita we also find it stated that although You always remain in Your abode, Goloka Vrindavana, You are present everywhere. As stated in the Bhagavad-Gita, You appear in order to protect the devotees, and thus Your appearance indicates good fortune for all the universe. All of the demigods are directing different affairs of the universe by Your grace only. Thus the seven upper planetary systems are maintained by Your grace. At the end of this creation, all manifestations of Your energies, whether in the shape of demigods, human beings or lower animals, enter into You, and all immediate and remote causes of the cosmic manifestation rest in You without distinctive features of existence. Ultimately, there is no possibility of distinction between You and any other thing on an equal level with You or subordinate to You. You are simultaneously the cause of this cosmic manifestation and its ingredients as well. You are the Supreme Whole, one without a second. In the phenomenal manifestation there are three stages: the stage of consciousness, the stage of semiconsciousness in dreaming, and the stage of unconsciousness. But Your Lordship is transcendental to all these different material stages of existence. You exist, therefore, in a fourth dimension, and Your appearance and disappearance do not depend on anything beyond Yourself. You are the supreme cause of everything, but of You there is no cause. You Yourself cause Your own appearance and disappearance. Despite Your transcendental position, my Lord, in order to show Your six opulences and advertise Your transcendental qualities, You have appeared in Your different incarnations - fish, tortoise, boar, Nrsimha, Kesava and others - by Your personal manifestation; and You have appeared as different living entities by Your separated manifestations. By Your internal potency You appear as the different incarnations of Visnu, and by Your external potency You appear as the phenomenal world.
“On a cloudy day, to the common man’s eyes the sun appears to be covered. But the fact is that because the sunshine creates the cloud, the sun can never actually be covered, even though the whole sky may be cloudy. Similarly, less intelligent men claim that there is no God, but when the manifestation of different living entities and their activities is visible, enlightened persons see You present in every atom through the medium of Your external and marginal energies. Your unlimitedly potent activities are experienced by the most enlightened devotees, but those who are bewildered by the spell of Your external energy identify themselves with this material world and become attached to society, friendship and love. Thus they embrace the threefold miseries of material existence and are subjected to the dualities of pain and pleasure, sometimes drowning in the ocean of attachment and sometimes being taken out of it.
“My dear Lord, only by Your mercy and grace can the living entity get the human form of life, which is a chance to get out of the miserable condition of material existence. However, a person who possesses a human body but who cannot bring his senses under control is carried away by the waves of sensual enjoyment. As such, he cannot take shelter of Your lotus feet and thus engage in Your devotional service. The life of such a person is very unfortunate, and anyone living such a life of darkness is certainly cheating himself and thus cheating others also. Therefore, human society without Krishna consciousness is a society of cheaters and the cheated.
“My Lord, You are actually the dear-most Supersoul of all living entities and the supreme controller of everything. The human being who is always illumined is afraid of ultimate death. A man who is simply attached to sensual enjoyment voluntarily accepts the miserable material existence and thus wanders after the will-o’-the-wisp of sense pleasure. He is certainly the most foolish man, for he drinks poison and puts aside the nectar. My dear Lord, all the demigods, including myself and Lord Brahma, as well as great saintly persons and sages who have cleansed their hearts of material attachment, have, by Your grace, wholeheartedly taken shelter of Your lotus feet. We have all taken shelter of You because we have accepted You as the Supreme Lord and the dear-most life and soul of all of us. You are the original cause of this cosmic manifestation, You are its supreme maintainer, and You are the cause of its dissolution also. You are equal to everyone, the most peaceful supreme friend of every living entity. You are the supreme worshipable object for every one of us. My dear Lord, let us always be engaged in Your transcendental loving service so that we may get free from this material entanglement.
“Finally, my Lord, I may inform You that this Banasura is very dear to me. He has rendered valuable service unto me; therefore I want to see him always happy. Being pleased with him, I have assured him safety. I pray to You, my Lord, that as You were pleased with his forefathers King Prahlada and Bali Maharaja, You will also be pleased with him.”
After hearing Lord Siva’s prayer, Lord Krishna replied, “My dear Lord Siva, I accept your statements, and I also accept your desire for Banasura. I know that this Banasura is the son of Bali Maharaja, and as such I cannot kill him, for that is My promise. I gave a benediction to King Prahlada that the demons who would appear in his family would never be killed by Me. Therefore, without killing this Banasura, I have simply cut off his arms to deprive him of his false prestige. The large number of soldiers he was maintaining became a burden on this earth, and I have killed them all to minimize the burden. Now he has four remaining arms, and he will remain immortal, unaffected by material pains and pleasures. I know that he is one of the chief devotees of Your Lordship, so you can now rest assured that henceforward he need have no fear of anything.”
When Banasura was blessed by Lord Krishna in this way, he came before the Lord and bowed down before Him, touching his head to the earth. Banasura immediately arranged to have his daughter Usa seated with Aniruddha on a nice chariot, and then he presented them before Lord Krishna. After this, Lord Krishna took charge of Aniruddha and Usa, who had become very opulent materially because of the blessings of Lord Siva. Thus, keeping forward a division of one aksauhini of soldiers, Krishna proceeded toward Dwarka. In the meantime, all the people of Dwarka, having received the news that Lord Krishna was returning with Aniruddha and Usa in great opulence, decorated every corner of the city with flags, festoons and garlands. All the big roads and crossings were carefully cleansed and sprinkled with sandalwood pulp mixed with water. Everywhere was the fragrance of sandalwood. All the citizens joined with their friends and relatives to welcome Lord Krishna with great pomp and jubilation, and a tumultuous vibration of conchshells, drums and bugles received the Lord. In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, entered His capital, Dwarka.
Sukadeva Gosvami assured King Pariksit that the narration of the fight between Lord Siva and Lord Krishna is not at all inauspicious, like ordinary fights. On the contrary, if one remembers in the morning the narration of this fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Siva and takes pleasure in the victory of Lord Krishna, he will never experience defeat anywhere in his struggle of life.
This episode of Banasura’s fighting with Krishna and later being saved by the grace of Lord Siva is confirmation of the statement in the Bhagavad-Gita that the worshipers of demigods cannot achieve any benediction without its being sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna. Here in this narration we find that although Banasura was a great devotee of Lord Siva, when he faced death by Krishna, Lord Siva was not able to save him. But Lord Siva appealed to Krishna to save his devotee, and this was sanctioned by the Lord. This is the position of Lord Krishna. The exact words used in this connection in the Bhagavad-Gita are mayaiva vihitan hi tan. This means that without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, no demigod can award any benediction to his worshiper.
Directions to reach Guwahati:
Guwahati is one of the major cities in India, and is well connected by flights and railway from all parts of India. From Guwahati one can easily travel to other parts of North-East India by regular flights or buses services.
North-East India Map
Useful resources:
Meeting of Usa and Aniruddha: http://www.vedabase.com/en/kb/62
Lord Krishna Fights with Banasura: http://www.vedabase.com/en/kb/63
Mayapur TV: http://Mayapur.tv / Vrindavana TV: http://Vrindavana.tv
Holy Pilgrimages: www.Holy-Pilgrimages.com / Facebook: www.facebook.com/HolyPilgrimages
Holy Dham: www.HolyDham.com
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