Story of Pradyumna

Kama Deva who is part of Vasudeva was once turned to ashes by Lord Siva. In order to obtain a new body he approached the Lord again **** Story of Pradyumna Suka Deva continued Kama Deva, who is part of Supreme Lord, was once turned to ashes by Lord Siva. In order to obtain a new body he approached the Lord again. Then with his benediction, he took birth as the son of Rukmini and Lord Krishna under the name of Pradyumna. In all respects he was equal to his father. A demon by name Sambara, knowing the child to be his enemy, kidnapped the child even before he was ten days old. He threw him into the sea and returned to his home. A powerful fish swallowed the child Pradyumna. The powerful fish was caught by the fisherman along with others. The fishermen presented the special fish to the same demon Sambara. The cooks took it to cut up with a knife and found the child in its belly .They gave the child Pradyumna to Mayavati who was astonished by the sight of the child coming out of the belly of the fish. Then Narad appeared and told the entire story of Pradyumna to Mayavati. Mayavathi is none other than Rathi who was waiting for the Kamadeva turned into ashes by the anger of Lord Siva. Instructed by Narad, Mayavathi understood the child to be none other than Kamadeva her husband. And she began to feel love for him. O King! , in due course this son of Krishna, Pradyumna became a youth, and enchanted all women who looked at him. Mayavathi, who is none other than Rathi too approached the youth with conjugal attraction. Pradyumna addressed Mayavati, O mother your attitude is other than that of a mother. You are acting like a girl friend . Rati said, O Master, you are the son of Narayana, kidnapped by Sambara from your home. You were the Kamadeva, and I am Rati, your legitimate wife. When you are not yet ten days old, the demon Sambara threw you into the sea, and a big fish devoured you. We recovered you in this very place. Please Kill Sambara who is difficult to approach and difficult to conquer. He knows hundreds of magic spells, defeat him with Maya . Speaking thus, Rathi gave Pradyumna the mystic knowledge of Mahamaya. Pradyumna then approached Sambara to call him battle with intolerable insults. Agitated Sambara became angry and came to battle Pradyumna. As they battled, Pradyumna harassed by the rain of weapons from Sambara used the mystic power Mahamaya, which he obtained from Rathi. Sambara came up with his own mystic weapons, but none could stand the power of Mahamaya. Then Pradyumna

drawing his sword cut off Sambara's head. As residents of heaven showered flowers, Rathi transported Pradyumna through the skies to Dwaraka, the home of Pradyumna. Pradyumna with his wife resembled a black cloud with lightning. As they landed in Dwaraka, people mistook Pradyumna to Lord Krishna himself because of the strong resemblance of the son to the father. Seeing Pradyumna, Queen Rukmini remembered her long lost son. She wondered, Who is this jewel among men? Who is his father? Which woman carried him in her womb? Moreover who is this woman with him? My lost son if he were living somewhere will be of same age and appearance. How is it that he has the same appearance as Krishna in bodily form limbs, gait and smile? He must be for certain my son, for I feel great affection and even my left shoulder is quivering portending auspicious events! As Rukmini conjectured, Lord Krishna came there along with mother Devaki and father Vasudeva. Narad also came at that time Although Lord Krishna knew everything, he let Sage Narad explain. Narad recounted the kidnapping by Sambara and the subsequent events including killing of Sambara. Hearing the events as told by Narad, Rukmini, Lord Krishna, mother Devaki and father Vasudeva all embraced the young couple and welcomed them. The women of the palace rejoiced hearing the story of the long lost son. The residents of Dwaraka declared the child coming back as favor of providence. ***

The lost Pradyumna has returned. Hearing that the residents of Dwaraka said this child, by the favor of providence, has returned from death

When Sati died during the Yajna of Daksha,Siva meditated on the Himalaya mountain.Sati then had taken birth as Parvati,the daughter of Himavan.She was bent on marrying Siva.So, she was attending on him and serving him.But, Siva , who never opened his eyes took no notice of her. But the Devas was anxious that Siva should marry Parvati and their son Kumara should be their commander in chief.Indra called the god of love,Kama and asked him to go and disturb the Tapas of Siva.Kama shot his arrow of flowers at Siva.It disturbed Sivas tapas and he slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Parvati and was charmed at her devotion and beauty.He was also angry that

someone had disturbed his tapas.He looked around and saw Kama Deva standing there trembling.Siva opened his third eye and burnt him to ashes.Rati, wife of Kama started weeping aloud,she went to Siva and requested him to restore her husbands life.Siva took pity on her and gave life to Kama.He said that Kama will be born again as Krishnas son , and she will be a maid in the house of Sambara,an Asura at that time.There she will reunite with her husband. According to the prophecy,Kama took birth as Krishnas and Rukminis son and he was named Pradyumna. There was a demon of the name Sambara who was destined to be killed by this Pradyumna. Someone had predicted that Krishnas child would bring death to him.So he rushed to Dwaraka, he took the shape of a woman and secretly entered the palace and stole away the child.He threw the child into the sea and went home.When Rukmini found her child missing,she was very much griefed. When Pradyumna was thrown into the sea, a big fish immediately swallowed him. Later on this fish was caught by the net of a fisherman, and the fish was later on sold to the Sambara demon. In the kitchen of the demon there was a maidservant whose name was Mayavati. This woman had formerly been the wife of Kama, and had been called Rati. When the fish was presented to the demon Sambara, it was taken charge of by his cook, who was to make it into a palatable fish preparation. Demons and the Raksasas are accustomed to eat meat, fish and similar non-vegetarian foods. Similarly, other demons, like Ravana, Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, although born of brahmana and ksatriya fathers, used to take meat and flesh without discrimination. This practice is still prevalent in India, and those who are meat and fish eaters are generally called demons and Raksasas. When the cook was cutting the fish, he found the baby within the belly of the fish, and he immediately presented him to the charge of Mayavati, who was an assistant in the kitchen affairs. This woman was surprised to see how such a nice baby could remain within the belly of a fish, and the situation surprised her. The great sage Narada then appeared and explained to her about the birth of Pradyumna, how the baby had been taken away by Sambara and later

on thrown into the sea, and so on. In this way the whole story was disclosed to Mayavati, who had formerly been Rati, the wife of Kama. Mayavati knew that she had previously been the wife of Kama, after her husband was burned into ashes by the wrath of Lord Siva, she was always expecting him to come back again in the material form. This woman was engaged for cooking rice and dhal in the kitchen, but when she got this beautiful baby and understood that he was Kama, her own husband, she naturally took charge of him and with great affection began to bathe him. Miraculously, the baby very swiftly grew up, and within a very short period he became a very handsome young man. Mayavati could understand that her former husband, Kama, born as Pradyumna, had grown into such a handsome man, and she also gradually became captivated to him. She was smiling before him with a feminine attractiveness, which he questioned her one day. For this Rati, replied, "My dear sir, you are the son of Lord Krishna. Before you were ten days old, you were stolen by the Sambara demon and later on thrown into the water and swallowed up by a fish. In this way you have come under my care, but actually, in your former life as Kama, I was your wife.Sambara wanted to kill you, and he is endowed with various kinds of mystic powers. Therefore, before he again attempts to kill you, please kill him as soon as possible with your divine power. Since you were stolen by Sambara, your mother, Rukmini-devi, has been in a very grievous condition." Mayavati had mystic knowledge of supernatural power.She taught everything to Pradyumna. Thus being empowered by his wife, Pradyumna immediately went before Sambara and challenged him to fight.Unable to beat the insults,Sambara came out with his mace to kill Pradyumna.But pradyumna struck off the mace of Sambara with his won mace.Then Sambara adopted the tactics of magical warfare.He disappeared into the sky and began to rain arrows at Pradyumna.Pradyumna disappeared from the sight of Sambara and with a powerful sweep of his sword,cut off Sambaras head. Then Pradyumna's wife, Mayavati, who could travel in air, carried Pradyumna and directly reached his father's capital, Dwaraka, by the airways. They passed above the palace of Lord Krisnan and began to come down as a

cloud comes down with lightning. The inner section of a palace is known as antahpura (private apartments). Pradyumna and Mayavati could see that there were many women there, and they sat down among them. When the women saw Pradyumna, dressed in bluish garments, with very long arms, curling hair, beautiful eyes, a smiling reddish face, jewelry and ornaments, they first of all could not recognize him as Pradyumna, a personality different from Krishna. They all felt themselves to be very much blessed by the sudden presence of Krishna, and they wanted to hide in a different corner of the palace. When the women saw, however, that all the characteristics of Krishna were not present in the personality of Pradyumna, out of curiosity they came back again to see him and his wife, Mayavati. All of them were conjecturing as to who he was, for he was so beautiful. Among the women was Rukminidevi, who was equally beautiful, with her lotus-like eyes. Seeing Pradyumna, she naturally remembered her own son. She then began to wonder, "Who is this beautiful young boy? He appears to be the most beautiful person. Who is the fortunate young woman able to give birth to this nice boy in her womb and become his mother? And who is that young woman who has accompanied him? How have they met? Remembering my own son, who was stolen even from the maternity home, I can only guess that if he is living somewhere, he might have grown by this time to be like this boy." Simply by intuition, Rukmini could understand that Pradyumna was her own lost son. She could also observe that Pradyumna resembled Lord Krishna in every respect. She was struck with wonder as to how he acquired all the symptoms of Krishna. She therefore began to think more confidently that the boy must be her own grown-up son because she felt much affection for him, and, as an auspicious sign, her left arm was trembling. At that very moment, Lord Krishna, along with His father and mother, Devaki and Vasudeva, appeared on the scene. Krishna, could understand everything, yet in that situation He remained silent. However, by the desire of Lord Sri Krishna, the great sage Narada also appeared on the scene, and he began to disclose all the incidents--how Pradyumna had been stolen from the maternity home and how he had grown up and had come there with his wife Mayavati, who formerly had been Rati, the wife of Kama. When everyone was informed of the

mysterious disappearance of Pradyumna and how he had grown up, they all became struck with wonder because they had gotten back their dead son after they were almost hopeless of his return. When they understood that it was Pradyumna who was present, they began to receive him with great delight. One after another, all of the members of the family-Devaki, Vasudeva, Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Balarama, and Rukmini and all the women of the family--began to embrace both Pradyumna and his wife Mayavati. When the news of Pradyumna's return was spread all over the city of Dwaraka, all the astonished citizens began to come with great anxiety to see the lost Pradyumna. They began to say, "The dead son has come back. What can be more pleasing than this?" Pradyumna later also married Kakudmati, the daughter of Rukmin, and had by her a son named Aniruddha. Pradyumna was killed at Dwaraka in the presence of his father during a drunken brawl. In the *Harivansa he has a wife named Prabhavati, daughter of King Vajranabha. When he went to see her for the first time, he changed himself into a bee and lived in a garland of flowers which had been prepared for her. According to the Mahabharata, he was Sanatkumara, the son of Brahma. *Harivansa is a poem regarded as sacred,and that is read with reverence at the time of solemn gatherings.

The Syamantaka jewel was an ornament of the Sun God.It was a magical charm which has strange effects on its possessor.This story is based on the version that appears in Bhagawat Purana. There was a king named Satrajit.He was a great devotee of the Sun God.The Sun God became very pleased with his devotion and presented him with a Syamantaka Jewel.The jewel was as brilliant as the Sun himself.When this jewel was worn by Satrajit in a locket around his neck, he appeared exactly like an imitation of the Sun God.The fame of the jewel spread far and wide.It also had the power that

wherever it was taken , there would be no famine or poverty in that place.Satrajit installed this jewel in his shrine for the Sun and offered regular worship.It use d to yield daily eight loads of gold.By this, Satrajit became very rich and alongside he became very arrogant too. One day, Krishna while conversing with Satrajit, said, Please present this jewel to King Ugrasena so that the entire country will be benefited by the grace of Surya. But Satrajit refused to part with the jewel. One day Prasena, the brother of Satrajit, went to the forest for hunting.He borrowed the Syamantaka for a day from Satrajit and he wore it on his neck.While he was moving about in the forest, a big lion attacked him.It killed both him and the horse on which he was riding.The lion was fascinated more by the jewel than by the horse or Prasena.It took the jewel in its mouth and entered a cave.The king of bears Jambavan, was witnessing all this.He entered the cave and fought with the lion and killed it.Jambavan took away the jewel.Seeing such a beautiful jewel, his daughter wanted to possess it.So,Jambavan gave it too his young daughter as a toy. Satrajit was waiting eagerly for his brother to return.He was very anxious to get back the jewel.He waited impatiently for the night to pass.Day dawned but Prasena did not come back.Satrajit was extremely worried.He hurried to the forest with a search party.In the heart of the dense forest the body of Prasena was found.Sad and angry at the death of his brother,Satrajit burst out, My brother has been killed.I would not be surprised if Krishna has killed him in order to take away the Syamantaka. This scandal traveled from ear to ear and gained wide publicity.When it reached the ears of Krishna, he decided to clear himself of the unfounded charge.He collected a group of his friends and went to find out the real circumstances of Prasenas death.Looking around the spot where Prasena had been killed he saw tracks of a lion. Following the marks for a long distance, he came upon the carcass of the lion.From then started the footprints of a bear.He now followed the tracks of the bear and soon found himself at the mouth of a formidable cave , pitch dark within.He knew that his friends would be afraid to enter the cave.So he asked them to remain outside.He

himself entered the dark tunnel to see if the bear was there, and also the jewel.A child of the bear was crawling on the ground and in its hand the jewel. Desiring to take away the jewel, Krishna approached the child.Seeing the strange form of a man approaching, the mother bear which was nearby cried in great fear. Hearing the cry, Jambavan appeared on the scene in a very angry mood.Jambavan, who did not know that his adversary was none other than his Master(Rama was now manifested as Krishna) , took him to be an ordinary man.He challenged him to a fight. The fight between Krishna and Jambavan was long and terrific. It went on for twenty eight days.Finally it dawned to Jambavan that Krishna is some one special.As Jambavan is one of the strongest living creature at that time still could not defeat Krishna. Prostrating himself before Krishna, he saidI can now understand who you are.You are Vishnu incarnate. I realize that you are the same Lord whom I worship as Lord Ramachandra. Lord Krishna smiled and stroked with his lotus like palms the entire body of Jambavan.The king of bears at once felt relieved of his wounds and fatigue.Krishna spoke in his loving sonorous voice,O King of bears! I have come here to recover the Syamantaka jewel because its disappearance has cast a slur on my name. Jambavan understood the whole situation.He was happy, he could be of service to the Lord.He not only delivered the Syamantaka jewel to Krishna, but also brought his daughter Jambavati and presented her to him.Krishna married Jambavati.The instant the wedding garland fall on Jambavatis neck, she changed into a beautiful woman. Krishna did not want to keep the Syamantaka for himself.He sent to Satrajit and in the kings assembly, explaining how it was traced, returned it to Satrajit.Satrajit felt bad and was thinking of a way to show his gratitude to Krishna.He decided to give his daughter Satyabhama to Krishna in marriage.During the wedding ceremony Satrajit wanted to present the Syamantaka jewel to Krishna but Krishna refused.He said since the sun deity had given Satrajit the jewel it belongs to him only.Later it will benefit Satyabhama, his only child .