The Story of Pradyumna…

Hi!!! Today, I'm going to tell the story of Krishna's son, Pradyumna, and how he killed the demon Sambara. Let's go…

So, you must know by now, that Krishna was born in the Dwapara Yuga. But, the story of Pradyumna doesn't start in the Dwapara Yuga, nooooo. It starts a LONG time before that, in the first Yuga, the Satya Yuga.

Atop the cold Mount Kailash, lived Lord Shiva. One day, Shiva was doing tapas and meditating on a rock in a small garden on Mt. Kailash. Green bushes were surrounding him, and there were beautiful trees, with flowers blossoming from the tips. A serene atmosphere covered the garden, with a fragrant aroma of jasmine wafting to Shiva's nose. He was deep in a trance. Even though there was so much activity around him, Shiva remained calm and cool. But, what Shiva didn't know, was that Kamadev, the God of love, was hiding inside a bush next to Shiva. He was waiting for the chance to strike. 

Stringing his sugarcane bow, Kamadeva shot a floral arrow in front of Shiva, oblivious of the arrow, sat continuing his meditation. There was no response. Kamadeva shot another arrow in front of Shiva. No reply again. Shiva was busy concentrating on his meditation. Kamadeva strung his last floral arrow, and it flew past Shiva's face. He felt the breeze of wind zoom past him. Both of his eyes opened. He was enraged. "WHO HAS DARED TO DISTURB ME?!?!" 

His fists clenched in anger. He turned his head to the left. The was no one. He turned to the right. There was no one. But, Shiva could see that Kamadeva was hiding in the bush. Kamadeva came running out of the shrubs, and tried to apologise to Shiva. Shiva didn't listen. Shiva closed his eyes, and Kamadeva felt relieved. Suddenly, the third eye on Shiva's forehead opened. It saw that Kamadeva was the culprit.  To the horror of Rati, Kamadeva's wife, Shiva burnt him to cinders. Rati pleaded Shiva to give back Kamdeva's life, but Shiva said that he wouldn't be able to. But, unknown to Rati, Kama was to be born as Pradyumna, the eldest son of Krishna and Rukmini.

Fast forward to the Dwapara Yuga. Rukmini gave birth to a baby boy. The people of Dwaraka rejoiced. "My son, you shall grow up to be a valiant hero like your father," said Rukmini to the small boy in a hanging cot. 
Dwaraka was having a party in the streets.

A week later, an evil asura king called Sambara had a dream, " Beware, wicked Sambara. You shall be killed by the son of Krishna!! Beware!!" But Sambara wasn't perturbed. He knew what to do. The next day, Sambara woke up and made himself invisible, 'HahaHa!!! Before he kills me, I shall kill Pradyumna!!" He flew from his palace and into the palace of Dwaraka. "I shall finish him before he turns in his cradle!! HaHa!!" He reached the palace of Dwaraka. He sauntered around the palace, still in his invisible form. He pushed open door after door, trying to find Pradyumna's room. He opened a very heavily decorated gateway, and saw him. A small baby, rolling around in his cot, with his mother sleeping by his side. He walked in and picked up the snoozing kid. "Ooohhoho. So you are the one destined to kill the mighty Sambara? Ha!Ha!" He picked up Pradyumna and flew out of the window.

A few minutes later, Rukmini woke up and peered into the cot, "AAAAAAHHH!!!!!! He's gone!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!" The sleeping handmaidens, woken up by the queen's cries, came running to her, "What happened, Your Majesty? Where is the prince? Where is he?" the handmaidens were shocked! The prince was not in his cradle!!! The queen was too upset to even speak, "He's gone. HE'S GONE!!! WAAAAHHH!!!" the queen wept in despair. The handmaidens ran to Krishna. "The prince is missing from his cradle!!! The prince is missing!!!" Krishna wasn't scared or shocked by this news. "Do not worry. I shall send out a search party." The residents of Dwaraka were struck with grief. Their heir to the throne had gone missing!!! Families wept, and dogs howled in dismay, as they mourned for their lost prince.

Meanwhile, Sambara had soared far, far away from Dwaraka. He was now above the deep, blue ocean. "Aha!! Do you think you will be able to destroy me now, Pradyumna? Ha! You will die in these waters. Even if you want to kill me, you will have to remain alive to do so!" Then, Sambara came to a halt over a deep trench in the middle of the sea. "Goodbye, Pradyumna!!!!" He screamed at the boy. He flung Pradyumna into the depths of the ocean. "Yawn!!!! Now I may finally return and sleep in peace."
Pradyumna sank into the ocean, but he did not die!!!! He was swallowed by a huge fish, with green-yellow scales lining its body. Its tail had sharp, needle-like spikes on the end. Its mouth was as big as a truck!! It swallowed the baby, and swam off, into the deep.

Later during the day, Sambara ordered his fishermen to catch fish, "I feel like having fish today, to commemorate the death of Pradyumna!!!" The fishermen sailed into the turquoise sea to catch some fish.
They eyed a gem of a fish. It had green-yellow scales lining its body. Its tail had sharp, needle-like spikes on the end. Its mouth was as big as a truck!!! It was the same fish that swallowed Pradyumna!!!!! The fishermen stared at the creature with awe. "Let's catch it. It will make a fine meal for Sambara!!" They launched their fishing net into the water. It engulfed the monster fish. The poor creature struggled hard, but in vain. The fishermen hauled the beast onto their boat. Laughing at themselves, they dreamed of the money that Sambara will give them.

A long way away, Rati, the widow of Kamadeva was about to immolate herself. She had lit a pyre, and hoped to get to heaven and be with her husband. Just as she was about to jump into the fire, a heavenly voice stopped her, "O Rati, wait!! Don't immolate yourself!! Wait for some time, then Kamadeva will be yours once more!!!" Rati was shocked!! "What should I do meanwhile?" she asked the voice. "You must disguise yourself as a mind and seek work in the palace of the evil asura, Sambara!!" Rati bowed down and thanked the voice. 
So Rati disguised herself as a maid and, with her magical powers, flew to Sambara's palace."I can't believe that my husband will be mine once more!"

Rati walked into the palace kitchen. The head cook shouted at her, "Who are you?" Rati replied, " My name is, ummm, Mayavati! I seek work in the kitchen of Sambara." The head cook was impressed with her. He thought to himself, "Hmmm... She seems clean and looks lively. I shall take her," He called her and told her that she had been chosen for the spot of chief maid. She was elated. Rati immediately started doing the day's work which had been assigned to her.

A few hours after she had started, there was a commotion in the corner of the kitchen. Rati rushed to see what had happened,  she pushed through the crowd and saw a huge fish, lying on its side. "Oh! What a large fish!!" Rati exclaimed. The head cook stated that the fishermen had brought it in from the sea and he was going to cook it for Sambara's dinner tonight. He began to chop the fish. He slit open the dead fish from the waist, and lo and behold!! A beautiful baby rolled out of the stomach and gurgled at him. "Wh-Wh_What?!?! What is this?!" the maids exclaimed at the beauty of the baby.

Utterly confounded, the head cook turned to Mayavati (aka Rati), and said, "Please take him and look after him. Perhaps someday his parents will come for him." Mayavati was surprised. She took the cute baby in her arms, and strolled into the royal garden. As Mayavati wondered thus, sage Narada appeared in front of her, "Welcome, O venerable sage. You will certainly be able to satisfy my curiosity. Who is this lovely child?" asked Mayavati. Narada told her, "He is none other than your husband, Kamadeva!!" Mayavati was astounded. She begged him to tell her more. Narada told her the whole episode, how Kamadeva was reborn, and how he was abducted by Sambara, etc. Narada vanished after telling her about the baby in her hands.

Pradyumna became a favourite in the kitchen. He soon grew up to be a mischievous child. He would steal butter from the earthen pots, and pretended that he never did anything. Mayavati knew that he was the son of Krishna, with the same love for butter and the same injured innocence after being caught red-handed.

The days passed and Pradyumna became a strong, handsome young man. Mayavati became anxious as he became older. She longed to tell him who he is. One day, she finally broke the news to him. " You are Pradyumna, the son of Krishna," Pradyumna asked why he was here. Then, Rati explained everything that happened since his birth. Pradyumna felt angry. He wanted to strangle Sambara!! Before that, Mayavati said, "I shall teach you the magic arts."Pradyumna was a clever pupil and he soon mastered the magical spells. After a long process of training, Mayavati proclaimed, "You are finally ready to kill Sambara!" He rode a golden chariot to the palace of Sambara and shouted, "Come out, Sambara. Come out, you valiant asura, who stole a baby from his mother!!" Sambara was enraged, "AAAAHH!!! He is alive!!" he rushed out of the palace in rage.

A mighty battle ensued between the two. Maces were swinging, swords were clashing, heads were bashing. With a thunderous roar, Sambara swung his mace at Pradyumna, but Pradyumna deflected it with his own. Sambara was losing badly. Resorting to magic, Sambara became invisible. Pradyumna quickly cast the spell that Mayavati had taught him. He blinded Sambara. Drawing his sword, Pradyumna severed Sambara's head from his body. The evil asura king Sambara was dead. He ran to Mayavati and said, "I have killed Sambara." Mayavati proclaimed, "Then we must go!! Let's not waste time!!" She flew to Dwaraka, with Pradyumna clinging on to her hand. 

As they landed in Dwaraka, the residents mistook Pradyumna for Krishna. He strode into the palace and ran to Rukmini. "Who could this be? He looks like my son if he were alive," said Rukmini. "Who are you?" she questioned Pradyumna. At that instant, Narada appeared. "Narayana, Narayana!! Do not worry, Rukmini!! He is your son, Pradyumna!! Do not worry, I shall explain," Narada told the long story of - well, you know what- and then Rukmini hugged Pradyumna. Magical flowers were thrown from above. Then, Narada said, "Pradyumna, your wife is none other than Mayavati!!" Then Pradyumna embraced Mayavati. They got married, and they all live a happy life thereafter.

Fun Fact Nº 1: It is said, that Pradyumna had the same amount of skill as Arjuna, and could rival him in anything!

Thanks for reading the story of Pradyumna!! Please follow to receive emails about my posts!!!