When Lord Krishna and Mahadev Fought a Fierce Epic Battle

When Lord Krishna and Mahadev Fought a Fierce Epic Battle

Friends, just imagine, on one side Lord Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra which can cut the entire universe in the blink of an eye and on the other side, the trident of Mahadev, the God of Gods, which causes apocalypse as soon as it is raised. What will happen when Lord Shri Krishna, the creator of this universe, and Mahadev Shiva, the destroyer of it, both stand face to face on the battlefield. Today’s story is not an ordinary story. This is that great battle in which cracks were created even in space due to the fierce clash of demonic weapons.

This spine-chilling epic begins in the darkness of the underworld, where a powerful and ferocious demon ruled. His name was Banasur. Banasur was no ordinary demon. He was born in the lineage of Prahlad, the supreme devotee of Lord Vishnu and was the son of the great demon king Bali. From birth, Banasur had a boon which no one else in the entire universe had. He had not one or two but 1000 huge arms i.e. hands on his body and you can estimate his strength from the fact that each of his arms had the strength of 10,000 elephants. That means when he walked, the earth of the underworld started shaking like an earthquake. But Banasura knew that he could not rule the universe with physical strength alone. To become invincible, he performed such severe penance to Mahadev Shiva that even the gods shuddered after seeing it. Seeing his intense and true devotion, Lord Shiva himself had to appear. Pleased, Lord Shiva asked Banasur to ask for a boon. Banasura, with great cleverness, asked for a boon that changed the very laws of the universe. Mahadev gave him the boon of being invincible and said, Banasur, I am very pleased with your devotion. From today onwards, the main gate of your city Shonitpur will be protected by none other than me myself in the form of Mahakal. Who could kill the demon whose palace was guarded by Mahakaal himself ? This boon sowed such a poisonous seed of ego in the mind of Banasura that it blinded him. One day, intoxicated with the power of his thousand arms, Banasur reached Mount Kailash and started demanding war from Mahadev Shiva. He said that these thousand hands itch and there is no warrior in the three worlds who can fight with me. Mahadev smiled at this foolishness of Banasur. He did not curse Banasur but instead placed a magical flag on the highest peak of his palace, Shonitpur. Mahadev made a mysterious prophecy and said, Banasur, the day this magical flag breaks and falls on the ground without any wind or storm, then understand that a warrior who will break the pride of your 1000 arms and cut off your hands has been born in this universe. Time passed and Banasur’s atrocities increased. But meanwhile, a completely different story was taking birth within that same invincible palace. Banasur had a very beautiful daughter named Usha. One night Usha was sleeping on her bed. Then he saw a dream. In the dream there was a divine and handsome prince whose face had the brightness of the sun and the coolness of the moon. As soon as she woke up, Usha fell so madly in love with the unknown prince that she even stopped eating and drinking. But who was that prince? Where did he live? This was a big secret.

This is where a very mysterious and magical character enters the story. Usha had a friend named Chitraleka. Chitralekha was not an ordinary girl. She was an accomplished illusionist Yogini. She had such a miraculous power that she could see the past and the future. The most important thing was that she could carve the exact face of any human being, god or demon of the universe just by the gesture of her hands in the void i.e. air. Seeing the agony of her friend Usha, Chitralekha started drawing pictures in the air. He painted pictures ranging from the gods of heaven to the demons of the underworld. But Usha rejected everyone. Finally, as the picture projected the image of Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna and son of Pradyumna, the incarnation of Kamadeva, in the air, Usha jumped with joy. This is the prince who has stolen Usha’s sleep. But now the biggest and impossible challenge was ahead. Aniruddha was the prince of Dwarka. Dwarka was not a city where anyone could come as per their wish. This was the city which was protected by the Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Vishnu himself. Sudarshan Chakra could turn any external illusion or magic into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye. But Chitralekha did not give up. He used Tamasi Maya i.e. extreme darkness and mysterious knowledge. She entered Dwarka as a shadow in the dense darkness of the night. This entire incident was a huge game of destiny which was bound to happen. That is why Lord Shri Krishna himself, despite having divine vision, closed his eyes and even Sudarshan Chakra did not create any hindrance. Chitralekha created a magical bubble around the sleeping Prince Aniruddha and carried him along with his bed to Shotpur overnight. When Aniruddha woke up, he was in an unknown but very beautiful palace and Usha was standing in front of him. Soon they fell in love and Aniruddha started living secretly in Usha’s palace. But for how long could such a big secret remain hidden in a demon’s palace ? Soon the palace guards informed Banasura about this. As soon as Banasura came to know that an ordinary man had dared to enter his daughter’s palace , his anger erupted like a volcano. He attacked Usha’s palace with his huge army of thousands of demons. Anirudh was helpless there. But he was no ordinary youth. The blood of Lord Shri Krishna was flowing in his veins. Aniruddha uprooted a huge iron pillar kept in the palace and single-handedly attacked the ferocious army of Banasur. He started crushing the demons with that pillar of his. His attacks were so terrible that rivers of blood started flowing in the palace. Seeing this fierce form of Aniruddha, Banasur was shaken to the core. He understood that this was no ordinary human being and it was impossible to defeat him in a direct battle. In panic and confusion, Banasur resorted to deceit. He took out one of his most dangerous and magical weapons. Nagabash. As soon as Banasura used that weapon, the sky turned pitch black and thousands of magical poisonous snakes fell on Aniruddha with lightning speed. Those illusory snakes gripped Aniruddha’s entire body. The poison of Nagpash was so strong that it would instantly paralyze the body. Due to the effect of that terrible poison, brave Aniruddha fell unconscious on the ground. Banasura chained the unconscious Aniruddha and threw him into his deepest and most terrifying dungeon. In the underworld, Banasur was laughing loudly in his arrogance. But he did not know that he had invited not Anirudh’s death but his own. Then, chanting Narayan Narayan through the sky, Devrishi Narad Muni appeared in the royal court of Dwarka. Narada Muni, without any preamble, told Dwarikadhish the truth that set the calm ocean on fire. He said, O Keshav, your grandson Aniruddha is in the captivity of Banasur in the underworld and is close to death. On hearing this, Lord Shri Krishna’s gentle face suddenly became stern. His eyes turned red with anger. Seeing this fierce form of the protector of the universe, every particle of Dwarka trembled. Without saying a word, Sri Krishna picked up his great conch, Panchajanya, placed it to his lips and blew with all his might . That sound of the Panchajanya conch was not an ordinary sound. It was the sound of cosmic anger. The terrible sound waves emanating from that conch shook the entire space. That sky- piercing echo caused a terrible tsunami in the oceans. The waves of water started touching the sky. That voice pierced the earth and reached the underworld. The strong walls of the underworld started cracking and suddenly a miracle happened in Shoitpur which left Banasur stunned. Without any storm, without any hurricane, that magical flag of Lord Shiva, placed on the highest peak of Banasur’s palace, broke and fell on the ground. The prophecy had come true.

Without wasting a moment, Lord Shri Krishna, his elder brother Balram ji and Shri Krishna’s mighty son Pradyumna boarded their huge divine vehicle Garuda. Following them, the invincible Narayani army of Dwarka, armed with weapons, marched towards the underworld. A single flight of Garuda’s huge wings brought him in front of the city of Shonitpur in the underworld. But it was not so easy to enter Shonitpur. Banasura had built a fire fort around his city to protect it. It was a terrifying and magical wall of fire that rose straight into space. The flames of this wall were so hot that even if a mountain of iron was placed near it, it would melt and turn into water in the blink of an eye. The steps of Narayani army stopped. Then Lord Shri Krishna pulled the string of his divine Sharanga bow and fixed the Varuna weapon on it. As soon as that miraculous arrow went into the sky, the colour of the underworld changed. Suddenly, dark storm clouds gathered there, lightning started flashing and in a moment, water like a catastrophic flood fell from the sky. Due to the effect of that water weapon, that invincible fire was extinguished leaving behind huge steam. The doors of Shonitpur had turned to ashes. As soon as Agnigarh was broken, the Narayani army entered Shonitpur like a flood and then began the destructive fierce form of Balarama and Pradyumna. As Banasur’s mountain-sized demons attacked, Balarama planted his formidable plough in the ground and pulled it with all his might. As soon as the plough was pulled, the earth of Shonitpur cracked with a terrible noise and a huge ditch was formed. Thousands of demons fell into that ditch screaming and shouting. Balram ji started attacking those who remained with his pestle. One blow from his pestle was blowing those huge monsters like dust in the air. On the other hand, the army of Dwarka faced Kumbhanda, the most feared and deceptive commander of Banasur. Kumbhand was attacking while remaining invisible in the air. Due to his magical powers, Narayani army was suffering huge losses. Seeing this, brave Pradyumna, son of Shri Krishna and incarnation of Kamadeva, came forward. He saw that a game of darkness and illusion was going on. Pradyumna closed his eyes and placed the Prajnastra on his bow. This was not a killing weapon but a weapon of knowledge and light. As soon as that arrow was released, light brighter than the sun spread across the entire battlefield. In front of that intense light, all the illusions and magic of the demons broke and shattered. Kumbhanda, hidden in the air, fell in front of everyone and in the next moment Pradyumna killed him with his arrows. Seeing his invincible army being cut like carrots and radishes, Banasur went mad. All his ego was awakened. He mounted his chariot and, carrying 1000 different dangerous weapons in his 1000 arms, directly attacked Lord Shri Krishna. He showered arrows and spears simultaneously. But what did he stand for in front of the Lord of the Universe? Shri Krishna released such accurate arrows from his bow that they cut all the weapons of Banasur in the air like straws. Krishna ‘s arrows pierced Banasura’s impenetrable armour. His chariot was smashed to pieces and he was brought to his knees on the ground. Despite having a thousand arms, Banasur was completely helpless today. Death was standing right in front of him and Sudarshan Chakra could blow off his neck at any time. When Banasura saw that his death was certain, he closed his eyes, trembling with fear of death, and started screaming and calling out to his favorite deity, O Mahakal, O Mahadev, protect me. His desperate cry rose from the underworld and pierced the silence of Kailash and reached directly to the ears of Mahakal. And then a voice pierced the terrifying silence of the entire universe, sending shivers down the spine of every warrior standing on the battlefield. Dum Dum Dum, this was the sound of Mahadev’s Damru. With every beat of the Damru, the gravity of the earth of the underworld started shaking. It seemed as if the entire universe was shifting off its axis. Then, tearing through space, riding on his huge vehicle Nandi, holding a destructive trident in his hands, Mahadev, the God of Gods, appeared on the battlefield. But Mahadev did not come alone. He was accompanied by his mighty son Lord Kartikeya and to protect his devotee, that fearsome army was following him, seeing which even Yamraj himself changes his path. Terrible ghosts, Bhairava, vampires and Matrikas. With the arrival of Mahadev, the tide of war completely turned. Shiva’s Ganas were not ordinary warriors. His appearance was so terrifying that flames were coming out of his mouth. The powerful weapons of the Narayani army were breaking after hitting the bodies of those people just like wood breaks after hitting iron. The Narayani army, which was cutting down the huge demons of Banasur like carrots and radishes some time ago, started becoming helpless and weak in front of these terrifying Ganas of Mahadev. There was chaos all around. Before the two greatest gods of the universe clashed, a great battle broke out between their vehicles, which could be called the great clash between earth and sky. Garuda, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu, saw that Shiva’s Ganas were overpowering the Narayani army and pushing them back. Garuda’s anger flared up. He took a very steep dive from the sky and, coming close to the ground, flapped his infinitely huge wings with all his might. The power of the wind generated by Garuda’s wings created terrible whirlwinds on the battlefield. The power of that magical storm was so great that thousands of Shiva’s Ganas started flying in the air like straws and started falling miles away. Seeing his Shiva Ganas flying like this, Mahadev’s vehicle Nandi could not control himself. Nandi struck the ground of Patala Loka with his hooves with all his might. Due to that one blow of Nandi, such a terrible earthquake occurred on the earth that the ground of the underworld started cracking and the storms of Garuda started calming down. Not only this, Nandi took such a tremendous leap from the ground and attacked Garuda flying in the sky with such a terrifying blow with his horns that a thunder echoed in the space as if two planets had collided with each other. This was no ordinary fight. It was a catastrophic battle between air and ground, earth and sky. After this terrible and destructive collision of vehicles, both the gods understood that now they would have to take the lead. On the signal of Mahadev and Shri Krishna, both Nandi and Garuda retreated. Right in the middle of the battlefield, the two greatest powers of the universe stood face to face. On one side Lord Shri Krishna picked up his invincible Sharanga bow and on the other side Mahadev Shiva pulled his destructive Binaka bow. Seeing this scene, the gods sitting in heaven were left breathless. Devraj Indra, drenched in sweat and trembling, ran to the Supreme Father Brahma and with folded hands said, Grandfather, do something to stop them. If today these two gods fight with all their might, then this universe will burn to ashes in a few moments. It seemed as if time had stopped on the battlefield. There was complete silence. But before the war started, a very amazing, mysterious and enlightening scene was witnessed. Both Lord Shri Krishna and Mahadev Shiva lowered their bows and bowed to each other with folded hands with respect because both the Gods knew that there was no enmity or ego between them. They were just performing their respective duties in this game of destiny. And immediately after this divine salutation, the biggest, most destructive and hair-raising battle of the universe began, which even today makes the gods tremble when they remember it. Mahadev pulled the string of his Pinaka bow and made the first strike. Mahadev aimed the fire weapon. As soon as this weapon was released from the bow, the space was torn apart and huge fire rocks like thousands and millions of meteorites started raining on the battlefield from the sky. It felt as if a sea of fire was falling from the sky. But Lord Narayana himself was standing in front. Lord Shri Krishna, smiling, immediately released Varunaastra, the water weapon. This arrow went up and created such a magical and huge shield of water in the entire sky that upon hitting it, all the cosmic fire was extinguished in the blink of an eye. When the fire subsided, Mahadev fired Vayavyastra i.e. the storm weapon. This was no ordinary storm. It was a cosmic storm whose winds were powerful enough to dislodge planets from their orbits. The big monsters on the battlefield started flying in space like straws. To stop this terrible storm, Shri Krishna used Parvatastra. This weapon created a massive wall of magical and impenetrable mountains around the battlefield, and upon colliding with it, the devastating storm calmed down. After this, Mahadev took out a very dangerous weapon, Nagastra. As soon as this arrow went into the air, the sky turned completely black. Because from that arrow, millions and billions of poisonous giant illusionary snakes were born. That snake hissed and fell from the sky to bite Lord Krishna and his army. The scene was so scary that it would scare anyone. But Shri Krishna is Leeladhar. The smile on his face did not diminish even a bit. He immediately released Garunastra. This weapon created thousands of magical golden and huge eagles in space. Who, in the blink of an eye, caught those crores of snakes in his claws and ate them. When normal cosmic weapons did not yield any results, the war took a turn which in today’s language we can call cosmic biological warfare. Mahadev took out one of his most secret and dangerous weapons. Maheshwar fever cold fever. This was not a metal arrow but it was an ultimate energy. As this energy spread across the battlefield, the air particles turned into ice. Such a deadly cold spread that the blood of the soldiers of the Narayani Army started freezing in their veins. The bones started cracking loudly. It felt as if someone had wrapped the entire universe in a sheet of ice. To break this deadly cold, Lord Shri Krishna gave up his Vaishnav fever, Narayan fever. This weapon was like the blazing heat of millions of suns. When the extreme cold of the universe on one side and the extreme heat on the other side collided with each other, the temperature of the entire universe deteriorated. The balance was shaken. Ultimately, that extremely hot Vaishnav fever of Lord Shri Krishna completely absorbed and destroyed the cold fever of Mahadev. The war had now reached its peak. When Mahadev saw that no power was able to repel Krishna, he finally took out the weapon which was created only and only to destroy the entire universe. Ajay, this Pashupata, as soon as Mahadev placed the Pashupatastra on the bow, crores of terrible faces and red eyes started staring at the universe from inside that weapon. The call for doom had been made. There was chaos in the entire universe from heaven to hell. To stop this great destruction, Lord Shri Krishna also raised his most destructive Narayan Astra and the fastest weapon of the universe, Sudarshan Chakra, into the sky. The rotation of Sudarshan Chakra generated so much energy that cracks started appearing in the fabric of space. The gods sitting in heaven started crying because now the universe was sure to burst and everything was to turn into ashes. And at that very moment of doomsday, when these three great weapons were about to collide with each other. It was as if time had frozen. A divine and melodious voice echoed throughout the battlefield. This was the voice of Lord Shri Krishna. O Mahadev, you and I are one. Then what kind of war is this? Stopping his weapons, Shri Krishna gave the supreme knowledge of Harihar to Banasur, the gods standing there and the entire universe, which is still the biggest truth of the Vedas. Shri Krishna said that the ignorant person who sees difference between me and Shiva can never be liberated. Shiva resides in my heart and I reside in Shiva’s heart. We both are two forms of the same supreme element. Hari is Har and Har is Hari. On hearing this ultimate truth, the Pashupastra and Narayana Astra, which were burning with anger, immediately calmed down. Both the divine weapons returned to their respective owners without causing any harm to the universe. Mahadev Shiva smiled. He lowered his bow and retreated from the battlefield as he had faithfully fulfilled his promise to protect Banasura. There was no point in interfering now. But Banasur was still blinded by his ego. He felt that he would defeat Krishna with the strength of his thousand arms. He picked up fierce weapons in his thousand arms and ran towards Lord Shri Krishna screaming. Shri Krishna saw that now the time had come to eradicate his ego from its roots. He released the Sudarshan Chakra from his finger. Now the scene that was seen on the battlefield sent shivers down everyone’s spine. Sudarshan Chakra moved towards Banasur at the speed of lightning and started cutting Banasur ‘s huge arms one by one like carrots and radishes. Within a few moments, a huge mountain of Banasur’s severed arms appeared on the battlefield. All his pride, all his strength went to dust. Sudarshan Chakra had cut off his 998 arms. When Sudarshan Chakra moved forward to cut off the neck of Banasura, Mahadev Shiva came and stopped Sudarshan Chakra. Lord Shiva said to Shri Krishna, stop it Krishna, forgive him. It now has only two hands left. The power it was proud of has been destroyed. Now it is like an ordinary human being. Give it life. On the request of Mahadev, Shri Krishna called back Sudarshan Chakra. Banasura, who just a while ago considered himself the most powerful warrior in the universe. Today he was crying bitterly in a bloody and helpless condition. He fell on his knees and crying placed his head at the feet of Shri Krishna and Mahadev. He apologized for his arrogance. He had understood that no power has any value in front of God. Banasura gave his daughter Usha in marriage to the brave Aniruddha with full honour and joy. Lord Shri Krishna returned to Dwarka with the newly married couple and Banasur started spending the rest of his life in devotion to Mahadev. We learn two great truths from this epic. The first Hari and Har are the same. Dividing God is the biggest ignorance and secondly your true devotion can take you to God. But if ego comes into you then your own God will become your death.