Lesser-known Puranic characters : Banasura
At times, one finds inspiration / ideas from the most unlikely of sources. During my daily recital of Sriman Narayaneeyam, I crossed the story of Aniruddha, son of Krishna which led me to Banasura. Coincidentally, I was reading Sundara Kanda for some reference and stumbled upon Bana again. Out of these coincidences was born this idea to write threads on lesser-known Puranic characters and what way other than to start with Banasura.
Genealogy
In Siva Purana, Yuddha-khaṇḍa, Rudra-saṃhitā, the story of Bana is explained in detail by Sanatkumara to Vyasa.
Banasura was the son of MahaBali whose ancestry is very rich being born in the lineage of the great Prahalada, Virochana and Bali.
Virochana was also a famous giver (daani) as can be seen below:
ವಿರೋಚನಃ ಸುತಸ್ತಸ್ಯ ಮಹಾದಾತೃವರೋSಭವತ್
ಶಕ್ರಾಯ ಸ್ವಶಿರೋ ಯೋSದಾದ್ಯಾಚಮನಾಯ ವಿಪ್ರತಃ
virōcanaḥ sutastasya mahādātr̥varōbhavat
śakrāya
svaśirō yōdādyācamanāya viprataḥ
||Shiva Purana Section 2.5 51.13||
Prahalada’s son Virochana was also a mahadaani. Once when Indra came in the guise of a Brahmana and requested his head, he immediately cut off the same & offered it to him.
With such rich lineage, it is not a surprise that Banasura was also a parama bhakta of Shiva / Maheshwara. He used to rule with Sonitapura as his capital.
He used to rule the 3 worlds from Sonitapura after defeating all the rulers. The gods had become virtual servants of Bana owing to his victory & righteousness. Everyone was happy in Bana’s reign except the devatas, who also happened to be his cousins.
Once Bana performed a severe penance for Shiva & performed the Tandava dance. Shiva was pleased by his devotion and blessed him with multiple boons. Upon Maheshwara’s request, Bana requests Shiva to reside in Sonitapura and safeguard it always along with his sons and ganas.
ದೇವದೇವ ಮಹಾದೇವ ಶರಣಾಗತವತ್ಸಲ
ಸಂತುಷ್ಟೋSಸೀ ಮಹೇಶಾನ ಮಮೋಪರೀ ವಿಭೋ ಯದಿ
dēvadēva mahādēva śaraṇāgatavatsala
santuṣṭōsī
mahēśāna mamōparī vibhō yadi
ಮದ್ರಕ್ಷಕೋ ಭವ ಸದಾ ಮದುಪಸ್ಥಃ ಪುರಾಧಿಪಃ
ಸರ್ವಥಾ ಪ್ರೀತಿಕೃನ್ಮೇ ಹಿ ಸಸುತಸ್ಸಗಣಃ ಪ್ರಭೋ
madrakṣakō bhava sadā madupasthaḥ purādhipaḥ
sarvathā prītikr̥nmē hi sasutas'sagaṇaḥ prabhō
||Shiva Purana Section 2.5 51.23-24||
When Shiva appeared, Bana could have asked for salvation, yet he chose to request for this small boon. Shiva blessed him with his requested boons and resided in his city thereafter.
It is also said that Parvati considered him to be a son, younger brother of Subramanya swami. He is also referred by Mahākāḷa as the gana of Shiva.
Puranic References
Vamana avatara occurs in the 4th Chatur Yuga’s Treta Yuga of Vaivasvatha Manvanthara. Sri Rama avatara occurs in 24th Treta Yuga, while Krishna avatara is in the 28th Dvapara.
We know Banasura died at the hands of Sri Krishna, who even battles Shiva too. If we connect all the dots, we can infer that he ruled for a long time.
We find the reference of Banasura in Valmiki Ramayanam where Ravana refers to him as a friend when he meets Hanuman for the 1st time. In Sundara Kanda, when Hanuman is captured and brought to Ravana’s sabha, Hanuman marvels at the splendour of Ravana (will be captured in a different thread).
When Ravana observes Hanuman, he is reminded of the curse from Nandishwara, who would have cursed that his end would be because of a monkey
येन शप्तोऽस्मि कैलासे मया संचालिते पुरा |
सोऽयम् वानरमूर्तिः स्यात्किंस्विद्बाणो महासुरः ||
"When Mount Kailasa was moved by me, is it the same Nandi the divine bull (attendant of Siva) which cursed me long ago and came here now in this form or whether he is Bana the great demon (son of Bali) came here in the form of a monkey."
In Dwapara Yuga, Banasura’s story comes in the context of Aniruddha, which leads to a major battle between Krishna and Shiva and ultimately Bana’s demise.
Bana’s daughter would be Uṣā, who would have been blessed by Parvati that she would see her lover in her dream. When Uṣā does see Aniruddha in her dreams, she conveys the same to her friend Citralekha who draws his picture & later kidnaps him.
Sage Narada comes to Dvaraka and conveys the news about Aniruddha being held captive in Bana’s palace, wherein Sri Krishna, Pradyumna hurried to Sonitapura along with a huge army.
Banasura’s physical appearance of 1000 arms, his daughter Uṣā’s fascination with Aniruddha and ultimate kidnapping is beautifully captured in this sloka from Sriman Narayaneeyam
बाणस्य सा बलिसुतस्य सहस्रबाहो-
र्माहेश्वरस्य
महिता दुहिता किलोषा ।
त्वत्पौत्रमेनमनिरुद्धमदृष्टपूर्वं
स्वप्नेऽनुभूय
भगवन् विरहातुराऽभूत् ॥
Bali's son Baana was a devotee of Shiva and had a thousand arms. His esteemed daughter Ushaa had not seen Thy grandson Aniruddha before. She met him in her dreams and suffered pangs of separation from him.
It should be noted that Banasura is not the only one with 1000 arms in our Puranas.
The following 2 sub-sections are captured in detail in multiple places with
some references captured below in Bibliography.
Sri Krishna’s battle with Shiva & Banasura
When Yadava army surrounds Sonitapura, Shiva along with his son Subramanya, devas like Agni and Shiva’s bhootha-ganas come to the battlefield to defend the city. Initially, Samba would be fighting Banasura’s son, while Satyaki fought Banasura himself.
Brahma, Devatas, Rsi-Muni, Gandharvas, Apsaras had assembled in the skies to watch this divine battle about to unfold.
There was a huge battle between Shiva and Krishna. Both of them used divine astras against each other, cancelling each other’s divine weapons.
At a certain point, Krishna employed Jr̥mbhaṇāstr̥ on Shiva which forced the latter to retire for the ongoing battle. Krishna goes on to destroy the army of Banasura using weapons like Sword, Gadha (mace), Arrows etc.
Banasura was employing 500 bows using his 1000 hands and was raining arrows on Yadava army. Krishna destroyed all the 500 bows at once and killed Bana’s charioteer & destroyed his chariot.
Bana retreats to his city with the help of his dharmamaata Kōṭarā, while Krishna would have turned his back.
Next, a form with 3 heads and 3 legs called mahēśvara jvara engulfs Sri Krishna and his army from all directions. Sri Krishna releases his vaiśṇava jvara to counter the incoming form.
After a fierce battle between the 2, mahēśvara jvara begs for mercy from Sri Krishna.
It is said that one who reads the conversation between mahēśvara jvara and Sri Krishna will overcome fear.
Shiva had warned Banasura that when his flag is broken, he will be defeated. Bana re-emerges on the battle field on a new chariot with various weapons adorning his 1000 hands. He rains arrows mercilessly on Sri Krishna.
Sri Krishna cuts all but 4 of Banasura’s arms with Sudarshna Chakra. Looking at the plight of Bhakta, Shiva comes to Sri Krishna and sings his praises.
When Shiva reminds Krishna that Banasura is from the rich lineage of Prahlada, Krishna responds that he is aware of the boon given to Bana, that Bana is the son of MahaBali.
The discussion between Shiva and Krishna is laden with philosophy. At one point, Sri Krishna says that you and me are not different. We are the same i.e. who I am, so are you the same person, as seen in the sloka from Vishnu Purana below
ತ್ವಯಾ ಯದಭಯಂ ದತ್ತಂ ತದ್ದತ್ತಮಖಿಲಂ ಮಯಾ
ಮತ್ತೋವಿಭಿನ್ನಮತ್ಮಾನಂ ದೃಷ್ಟುಮಹರ್ಷಿ ಶಂಕರ
tvayā yadabhayaṁ dattaṁ taddattamakhilaṁ mayā
mattōvibhinnamatmānaṁ dr̥ṣṭumaharṣi śaṅkara
Sri Krishna also mentions a very important point i.e. a boon given to Bali that he will not annihilate any daitya born in his family i.e. vamsha as can be observed in the following sloka from Srimad Bhagwatham
ಅವಧ್ಯೋSಯಂ ಮಮಾಪ್ಯೇಷ ವೈರೋಚನಿಸುತೋSಸುರಃ
ಪೃಹ್ಲಾದಾಯ ವರೋ ದತ್ತೋ ನ ವಧ್ಯೋ ಮೇ ತವಾನ್ವಯಃ
Avadhyōyaṁ mamāpyēṣa vairōcanisutōsuraḥ
pr̥hlādāya varō dattō na vadhyō mē tavānvayaḥ
This is perhaps one of the lesser known aspects of Sri Hari’s boons to the progeny of Prahlada. Krishna also blesses that Banasura will be the foremost of Shiva Ganas.
Banasura happily gives Uṣā in marriage to Aniruddha. After Sri Krishna leaves to Dwarka with his army, Aniruddha, Uṣā etc, Banasura would have been dejected.
On Nandi’s suggestion, he starts an intense penance to please Shiva yet again. Moved by his devotion, when Shiva appears and suggests him to ask for a boon, Banasura requests that he doesn’t wish to be born as Daitya yet again.
Shiva blesses him with the freedom from cycle of births and deaths and gives him the position of Mahākāḷa as can be understood from the following phrase from Shiva Purana.
ತತ್ಯಶ್ಯಂಭೋಃ ಪ್ರಸಾದೇನ ಮಹಾಕಾಲತ್ವಮಾಗತಃ
ರುದ್ರಸ್ಯಾನುಚರೋ ಬಾಣೋ ಮಹಾಪ್ರಮುದಿತೋಭವತ್
tatyaśyambhōḥ prasādēna mahākālatvamāgataḥ
rudrasyānucarō bāṇō mahāpramuditōbhavat
Bibliography
1. Shiva Purana, Yuddha-khaṇḍa, Rudra-saṃhitā, chapter 51-56
2. Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kanda, chapter 50
3. Srimad Bhagwatham, Skanda 10, chapter 63
4. Sriman Narayaneeyam, Dashakam 82
5. Vishnu Purana, Skanda 5, chapter 33
6. Puranic Encyclopedia
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