Naraka, also known as Narakāsura, and Bhaumāsura was an asura king, the legendary progenitor of all three dynasties of Kamarupa, and the founding ruler of the legendary Bhauma dynasty of Pragjyotisha.["Pragjyotisha and Pragjyotishapura, which are names of the capital city situated about Guwahati, are mentioned for the first time in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in connection with the mythical kings Naraka, his son Bhagadatta and latter's son Vajradatta all of whom bear Sanskrit names." ]["(I)n the inscriptions issued by the rulers of Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa from the 4th to the 12th century A.D. it has been claimed that the founders of the respective dynasties belong to the Naraka line of kings." ] Though the myths about Naraka are first mentioned in the Mahabharata,["The earlier stage of the myths of Naraka and his son and his grandson is found in the Mahabharata" ] later texts embellish them.["Naraka is not mentioned (in the Mahabharata) as the son of the Earth...so that the said development in other works must be regarded as a later fabrication" ] fathered by the Varaha incarnation of Vishnu.
The 10th/11th-century Kalika Purana embellishes the myths further and he is claimed to have come from Mithila and said to have established the kingdom of Pragjyotisha after overthrowing the last of the Kirata kings, Ghatakasura, of the Danava dynasty.[Kali Prasad Goswami (2000), Devadāsī: Dancing Damsel, p.28 Pragjyotish can be regarded as a Dravida country that was overthrown by the Mongoloid people. Naraka regained this kingdom and drove away from the Mongoloids. According to the Kalika Purana, when Naraka developed demonic qualities Vishnu was invited to kill him. In due course, he came and killed Naraka and enthroned Bhagadatta. This Bhagadatta again introduced the Saiva cult in Pragjyotisha.] It was foretold that he would be destroyed by a later incarnation of Vishnu. His mother, the earth, sought the boon from Vishnu that her son should have a long life, and that he should be all-powerful. Vishnu granted these boons.[George M. Williams (2008), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, p.222]
The legends of Naraka is important in the history of Assam, particularly Kamrup region; since Narakasura is cited as the progenitor of all three dynasties that ruled Kamarupa in historical times. A hill, to the south of Guwahati is named after him.[Siba Pada Sen (1980), Sources of the history of India - Volume 3, p.69] He is also associated with the Hindu belief of the shaktism goddess and place of worship Kamakhya.
Literature
Naraka and his kingdom, Pragjyotisha, find mention in both the
Mahabharata and the
Ramayana, in the sections which were written not before the first century,
where he is not depicted as the son of Bhudevi (earth) and Varaha incarnation of Vishnu.
His son,
Bhagadatta, is said to have fought for the
in the Mahabharata battle. Though the boar
Prajapati finds mention as early as the Satapatha Brahmana and the Taittriya Aranyaka from the mid-first millennium BCE, the avatars were associated with Vishnu later,
and became popular in the Gupta period
(320-550 CE) and that the contact with Bhumi engendered a son is first mentioned in the Book II of the
Harivamsa which is assigned to the fifth century. This theme, that of the son Naraka, is further expanded in the later
Vishnu Purana (5th-9th century). In the 7th-century Nidhanpur copperplate inscription, Naraka is claimed as the originator of the
Varman dynasty and that he lived three thousand years earlier.
["The legendary ancestors of this line of rulers were Naraka, Bhagadatta and Vajradatta. Three thousand years after these legendary ancestors there occurred Pushyavarman..." In the Nidhanpur copperplate inscription, it is mentioned: "When the kings of his (Vajradatta's) family having enjoyed the position (of rulers) for three thousand years had (all) attained the state of gods, Pushyavarman became the lord of the world." ] The
Bhagavata Purana (8th-10th century), which was composed even later, expands the story even further. The Naraka myth gets the most extensive elaboration in the Upapurana called
Kalika Purana (10th century), which was composed in Kamarupa itself. Here, the legend of Janaka of Videha, the father of Sita, is embellished and added to the legend of Naraka.
Legend
Origin
The previous birth of Naraka is described in the
Bhagavata Purana. It is stated that there once lived a king with 16,000 daughters.
Vishnu visited the palace of this king in the guise of a hermit, and all of these damsels surrounded the man. Their father, the king, grew angry with them, and issued a curse upon them all. When his daughters wept and begged their father to be relieved from the curse, he relented and allowed them the prospect of being the wives of the deity in their next birth. It was this king who would become Narakasura in his next birth, and the 16,000 daughters would be the princesses he abducted.
Birth
The birth of Naraka is narrated in various texts. In Kalika Purana and other texts,
Varaha is mentioned as Naraka's adoptive father.
The pious Naraka became evil due to his association with an
asura named
Banasura, and hence the suffix 'asura' (demon) was added to his name.
[Chandra Dhar Tripathi (2008), Kāmarūpa-Kaliga-Mithilā: a politico-cultural alignment in Eastern India : history, art, traditions, p.98, p.p 197]
Staircase story
In Assamese tradition, Naraka, motivated by his desire, wanted to marry the goddess
Kamakhya. When he proposed, the goddess playfully placed a condition before him that if he would be able to build a staircase from the bottom of the Nilachal Hill to the temple within one night before the cock crows to indicate dawn, then She would surely marry him. Naraka took it as a challenge and tried all with his might to do this huge task. He was almost about to accomplish the job before it was dawn. When Kamakhya received this news, She created a cock and made it crow untimely to give the impression of dawn to Naraka. Duped by the trick, Naraka thought that it was a futile job and left it halfway through. Later, he chased the cock and killed it.
According to regional tradition, this site is identified with the village of Kukurakata.
Conquest
Drunk with power, as he considered himself to be unrivaled in prowess, he brought all the kingdoms on earth under his control. Next, he turned his eyes towards
Swarga. Even the mighty
Indra could not withstand the assault of this son of
Vishnu, and had to flee the heavens. Narakasura had become the overlord of both the heavens and earth. Addicted to power, he stole the earrings of
Aditi, the heavenly mother goddess, and usurped some of her territories, while also kidnapping 16000 women.
All the devas, led by
Indra, went to Vishnu to ask him to deliver them from Narakasura. Vishnu promised them that he would attend to this matter, when he would be incarnated as
Krishna.
[B. K. Chaturvedi (2017), Vishnu Puran]
Death
As promised to the earth goddess, Naraka was allowed to enjoy a long reign. At last, Vishnu was born as Krishna. Aditi, who was a relative of Krishna's wife
Satyabhama (believed to be an avatar of
Bhudevi - Narakasura's foster mother), approached Satyabhama for help. When Satyabhama heard of the Narakasura's ill-treatment of women and his behaviour with Aditi, she was enraged. Satyabhama approached Krishna for permission to wage a war against Narakasura. As promised to the devas and Aditi, Krishna attacked the great fortress of Narakasura, riding his mount
Garuda with wife Satyabhama.
Krishna used the Narayanastra and the Agneyastra against the army of Narakasura.
The battle was furiously fought. Narakasura possessed 11
that he unleashed on Krishna. However, the deity slew them all with little effort. Krishna also killed Mura, Narakasura's general. Thus, Krishna is called 'Murāri' (the killer of Mura).
[Dianne M. MacMillan (2008), Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights, p.24]
Narakasura used several divine weapons against Krishna, but the latter easily countered all those weapons. Narakasura employed the Brahmastra against Krishna, but Krishna neutralised it with his own Brahmastra. Narakasura used the Agneyastra against Krishna, but Krishna nullified it with the Varunastra, dismaying Narakasura. Narakasura hurled the Nagapasha against Krishna, but Krishna negated it with the Garudastra. In desperation, Narakasura launched the Vaishnavastra on Krishna, but Krishna met it with another Vaishnavastra. At last, when Narakasura tried to kill Krishna with a trident, Krishna pretended to swoon, because of a boon that Narakasura could be killed only by the one who gave birth to him. Outraged, Satyabhama attacked Narakasura and Krishna killed him with his Sudarshana Chakra (discus) by splitting Narakasura into two halves.[Ayilam Subrahmaṇya Pañcāpageśa Ayyar (1957), Sri Krishna: The Darling of Humanity, p.42]
In popular culture
It is believed in some traditions that before Narakasura's death, he requested a boon from
Satyabhama (incarnation of Bhudevi), that everyone should celebrate his death with colourful lights. Thus, this day is celebrated as 'Naraka Chaturdashi' - the beginning day of
Diwali. Krishna's and Satyabhama's victory over Narakasura and Narakasura's death is venerated as the occasion of freedom for all his prisoners, and in honour of Aditi.
See also
Bibliography
External links
