Banasura is the son of the great asura king Mahabali. He was born with a thousand arms. He was a devotee of Lord Shiva. Banasura ruled over the kingdom of Sonitpur, in modern-day Assam. Later he also inherited his father’s kingdom, modern-day Kerala. He was married to Kandala and had a beautiful daughter Usha.
Banasura used to worship Raslingam, a shiva lingam or instrument of worship of Lord Shiva, that Lord Vishwakarma gave him. He was an ardent devotee of Shiva. Once he ventured into Mount Kailash the abode of Lord Shiva without seeking an appointment and could not meet him and returned empty-handed. He was upset and initiated himself to even greater penance to please the Lord. At that time, Lord Shiva lost his wife Sati and went into a rage. He performed Rudra Tandav, the dance of destruction. Banasura played the mridanga (a drum-type musical instrument) with his thousand arms to which the Lord danced. Pleased with the asura king’s service, Lord Shiva gave a boon. Banasura asked Shiva to station himself at his palace gate and be his personal guard or chowkidar. The thought at that time was that if the Lord stays close to him at his palace gate, he would be able to be at his service as and when he desired, without an appointment.
Lord Shiva stationed himself at the gates of Sonitpur. As time passed, Banasura became arrogant. With Lord Shiva himself protecting him, he started to misuse his position, conquer more land, and at times even tortured some of the devas. Lord Shiva, also known as Bholanath or innocent one, is the easiest to please and he overlooked these trespasses by his devotee till the time they stayed worshiping Him.
Usha, the beautiful daughter of Banasur was coming of age. Many suitors came asking for her hand, but Banasura refused them all. He had her locked in a fortress called Agnigarh. She had a sakhee (girlfriend) Chitralekha for her company who was the daughter of one of the ministers. They were best of friends. One night Usha dreamt of a prince and could not forget him. Chitralekha was a gifted artist and drew the prince, who happened to be Aniruddha, grandson of Lord Krishna. With her occult power, Chitralekha kidnapped Aniruddha from Dwarka and brought him to Agnigarh. Usha and Aniruddha fell in love. Soon Aniruddha was found and Banasur imprisoned him. This led to a battle. Lord Krishna led the yadava army that charged on Sonitpur kingdom. Lord Shiva fought from the side of Banasura. You can read the Story of Usha here → https://acceleratetofly.blogspot.com/2021/11/Usha.html
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| Banasura on the Battlefield Charging his Opponents |
The fight between Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva was not yielding any results. Lord Krishna attacked Shiva with Jurumnastra, which puts its victim in a deep sleep. With Lord Shiva asleep, Krishna threw Sudarshan Chakra, the divine discus, at Banasura and cut away his thousand arms one after another. It was like cutting the large banyan tree, one branch after another. Banasura cried out to Shiva for help and the Lord woke up from his sleep in time to intervene on his devotee’s behalf to spare his life. Lord Krishna, told that he has no intention to kill Banasura but to make him humble.
After many years of rule, Banasura went to the forest to do penance and meditate. Pleased with his devotion, Lord Brahma gave him a boon. He asked that he be only killed by an adolescent unmarried girl.
With this powerful boon, he again became fearless and wreaked havoc on the entire world. He went on to conquer heaven and threw Lord Indra and devas out. Thrown out of their abode the pancha bhoota, the gods of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Akash were left wild, ungoverned. There was chaos in the universe.
It is believed that Bhagavati, the unbiased Prakriti, can only bring order because she is the nature within which everyone lives and hence is unbiased. Bhagavati took birth as a human girl in the southern peninsula of Bharatkhanda. The gods planned such that Prakriti herself will kill Banasura to bring back the balance of nature. As an adolescent, she had immense devotion towards Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva, then decided to marry her. All arrangements were made for the marriage. Lord Shiva started the journey to Shuchindram, near modern-day Kanyakumari, for the marriage. The marriage muhurat, the auspicious time, was in the Brahma muhurtam or early in the morning before sunrise. Narada, the celestial bard, made the sound of a crowing cock in the night indicating it was sunrise and the auspicious time had passed. The marriage procession returned. Sage Narada realized Banasura could only be killed by an unmarried young girl and thus interrupted Shiva’s marriage with Bhagavati.
Devi Bhagavati waited for Lord Shiva. Finally, she realized to have been cheated upon. This was an unbearable insult. With pain, grief, and anger she destroyed everything she saw. When she finally gained her composure, she undertook penance. Ages later Banasura, saw this beautiful girl in tapasya in the forest and approached her to be his consort. The infuriated Bhagavati, who was the Bhadrakali herself, slaughtered Banasura at once. Moments before his death the asura king Banasura realized that the one before him was Shakti, the Almighty itself. He prayed to her to absolve him of his sins.
With the death of Banasura, peace returned to the world. Indra was reinstated to his throne and the gods returned. The pancha bhoota were governed and balance was restored in nature.
You can read the Story of Sati here → https://acceleratetofly.blogspot.com/2021/12/Sati.html
You can read the Story of Tandav here → https://acceleratetofly.blogspot.com/2021/12/tandav.html
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| Battle Between Banasura and Krishna Begins (Source) |
A painting from the Bhagavata Purana: Battle between Banasura and Krishna Begins
Nepal, circa 1775
Depicting Agnigarh (the fortress of flame) on the left while a battle ensues, with multi-armed Banasura at the top center facing Balarama, blue-skinned Krishna with his four arms at center astride Garuda in red, and multi-headed Shiva atop Kartikeya at lower left facing Pradyumna, surrounded by flying arrows, various warriors and battle animals, in red borders with an inscription at the bottom
Opaque pigments on wasli.
13½ x 20¼ in. (34.2 x 51.4 cm.)
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| Krishna Rescue Aniruddha from Banasura |
An illustration from Bhagavata Purana: Krishna rescues Aniruddha From Banasura
NEPAL, CIRCA 1775
Lord Krishna, together with his brother Balarama and retinue, attacks the palace of Banasura at Agnigarh to rescue his captive grandson Aniruddha, depicted at the center constricted by a large snake. Blue-skinned Aniruddha has fallen deeply in love with Usha, the beautiful daughter of the multi-headed Banasura, who has forbidden the marriage of the young lovers.
Opaque watercolor on paper
Image 13 ¼ x 20 1/8 in. (33.8 x 51 cm.)
This was in the collection of Christie’s New York