Krishna and Bhaumasura
Bhaumasura was a powerful demon. He was very fond of young girls and
travelled from one kingdom to the other kidnapping young maidens. In
this way he had captured sixteen thousand one
hundred women and made them his slaves. The girls prayed to Indra for
help. Indra went to Krishna and asked him to free the girls from
Bhaumasura.
Vishnu's Garuda transported Krishna to Bhaumasura's capital city,
Pragiyotisapura. There, Krishna found that the city was heavily
fortified with gigantic walls, barbed wire, weapons, and soldiers.
Fearless Krishna sounded his arrival by blowing his conch shell. He
fired his Sudarshan chakra at the walls and his arrows at the soldiers.
When Maura, the demon who had built the city, came to see the damage
caused by Krishna, he too was killed. The news of Krishna's arrival
spread like wildfire. Next, Maura's seven sons came charging, but
Krishna defeated them all.
Finally, Bhaumasura himself came forward. He fired the sataghni,
which could demolish a huge army at once. Krishna retaliated with his
feathered arrow and stopped the sataghni midway. Meanwhile, Garuda too
had launched his attack. Bhaumasura shot a series of arrows at the bird,
but they broke as soon as they hit his strong body.
Frustrated, Bhaumasura finally decided to attack with the trident,
but before he could even lay his hands on it, Krishna cut off his head
with the Sudarshan Chakra. The girls fell in love with their saviour and
wished to marry him. Krishna returned with them to Dwarka and fulfilled
their wishes.
|