Bala

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 23 Jul 2011 08:44 and updated at 23 Jul 2011 08:44

VISHNU PURANA NOUN

vp.5.9	eyes. The demon, vomiting blood from his mouth, and having his brain forced through the skull, fell upon the ground, and expired. The Gopas, beholding Pralamba slain, were astonished, and rejoiced, and cried out, "Well done," and praised Balarama: and thus commended by his playfellows, and accompanied by Krishna, Bala, after the death of the daitya Pralamba, returned to Gokula 3.
vp.5.11	is on high; enter beneath it quickly, and it will shelter you from the storm: here you will be secure and at your ease in places defended from the wind: enter without delay, and fear not that the mountain will fall." Upon this, all the people, with their herds, and their waggons and goods, and the Gopis, distressed by the rain, repaired to the shelter of the mountain, which Krishna held steadily over their heads; and Krishna, as he supported the mountain, was contemplated by the dwellers of Vraja with joy and wonder; and, as their eyes opened wide with astonishment and pleasure, the Gopas and Gopis sang his praise. For seven days and nights did the vast clouds sent by Indra rain upon the Gokula of Nanda to destroy its inhabitants, but they were protected by the elevation of the mountain; and the slayer of Bala, Indra, being foiled in his purpose, commanded the clouds to cease. The threats of Indra having been fruitless, and the heavens clear, all Gokula came forth from its shelter, and returned to its own abode. Then Krishna, in the sight of the surprised inhabitants of the forests, restored the great mountain Govarddhana to its original site 1.
vp.5.28	rcome with passion, increased his stake to ten millions of Nishkas. Rukmin accepted the challenge, and therefore threw the dice. Baladeva won, and cried aloud, "The stake is mine." But Rukmin called out as loudly, that he was the winner. "Tell no lies, Bala," said he: "the stake is yours; that is true; but I did not agree to it: although this be won by you, yet still I am the winner." A deep voice was then heard in the sky, inflaming still more the anger of the high spirited Baladeva, saying, Bala" has rightly won the whole sum, and Rukmin speaks falsely: although he did
vp.5.28	not accept the pledge in words, he did so by his acts (having cast the dice)." Balarama thus excited, his eyes red with rage, started up, and struck Rukmin with the board on which the game was played, and killed him 4. Taking hold of the trembling king of Kalinga, he knocked out the teeth which he had shewn when he laughed. Laying hold of a golden column, he dragged it from its place, and used it as a weapon to kill those princes who had taken part with his adversaries. Upon which the whole circle, crying out with terror, took to flight, and escaped from the wrath of Baladeva. When Krishna heard that Rukmin had been killed by his brother, he made no remark, being afraid of Rukmini on the one hand, and of Bala on the other; but taking with him the newly wedded Aniruddha, and the Yadava tribe, he returned to Dwaraka.
vp.5.33	this, they were satisfied; for they had imagined he had been taken away by the gods (in reprisal for the Parijata tree). Krishna therefore immediately summoned Garuda, who came with a wish; and mounting upon him, along with Bala and Pradyumna, he set off for the city of Bana. On their approach to the city they were opposed by the spirits who attend on Rudra, but these were soon destroyed by Hari, and he and his companions reached the vicinity of the town. Here mighty Fever, an emanation from Maheswara, having three feet and three heads 2, fought desperately with Vishnu in defence of Bana. Baladeva, upon whom his ashes were scattered, was seized with burning heat, and his eyelids trembled: but he obtained relief by clinging to the body of Krishna. Contending thus with the divine holder of the bow, the Fever emanating from siva was quickly expelled from the person of Krishna by Fever which he himself engendered. Brahma beholding the impersonated malady bewildered by the beating inflicted by the arms of the deity, entreated the latter to desist; and the foe of Madhu refrained, and absorbed into himself the fever he had created. The rival Fever then departed, saying to Krishna, "Those men who call to memory the combat between us shall be ever exempt from febrile disease."
vp.5.33	with the whole of the Daitya host, assisted by sankara and Kartikeya, fought with sauri. A fierce combat took place between Hari and sankara; all the regions shook, scorched by their flaming weapons, and the celestials felt assured that the end of the universe was at hand. Govinda, with the weapon of yawning, set sankara a gape; and then the demons and the demigods attendant upon siva were destroyed on every side; for Hara, overcome with incessant gaping, sat down in his car, and was unable longer to contend with Krishna, whom no acts affect. The deity of war, Kartikeya, wounded in the arm by Garuda, struck by the weapons of Pradyumna, and disarmed by the shout of Hari, took to flight. Bana, when he saw sankara disabled, the Daityas destroyed, Guha fled, and siva s followers slain, advanced on his vast car, the horses of which were harnessed by Nandisa, to encounter Krishna and his associates Bala and Pradyumna. The valiant Balabhadra, attacking the host of Bana, wounded them in many ways with his arrows, and put them to a shameful rout; and their sovereign beheld them dragged about by Rama with his ploughshare, or beaten by him with his club, or pierced by Krishna with his arrows: he therefore attacked Krishna, and a fight took place between them: they cast at each other fiery shafts, that pierced through their armour; but Krishna intercepted with his arrows those of Bana, and cut them to pieces. Bana nevertheless wounded Kesava, and the wielder of the discus wounded Bana;
vp.5.35	Parasara. Attend, Maitreya, to the achievements performed by Rama, who is the eternal, illimitable sesha, the upholder of the earth. At the choice of a husband by the daughter of Duryodhana, the princess was carried off by the hero samba, the son of Jambavati. Being pursued by Duryodhana, Karna, Bhishma, Drona, and other celebrated chiefs, who were incensed at his audacity, he was defeated, and taken prisoner. When the Yadavas heard of the occurrence, their wrath was kindled against Duryodhana and his associates, and they prepared to take up arms against them; but Baladeva, in accents interrupted by the effects of ebriety, forbade them, and said, "I will go alone to the sons of Kuru; they will liberate samba at my request." Accordingly he went to the elephant styled city Hastinapura(), but took up his abode in a grove without the town, which he did not enter. When Duryodhana and the rest heard that he had arrived there, they sent him a cow, a present of fruits and flowers, and water. Bala received the offering in the customary form, and said to the Kauravas, Ugrasena" commands you to set samba at liberty." When Duryodhana, Karna, Bhishma, Drona, and the others, heard this, they were very angry; and Bahlika and other friends of the Kauravas, who looked upon the Yadu race as not entitled to regal dignity, said to the wielder of the club, "What is this, Balabhadra, that thou hast uttered? What Yadava shall give orders to the chiefs of the family of Kuru? If Ugrasena issues
vp.5.35	Having thus spoken, the Kuru chiefs, unanimously refusing to set the son of Hari at large, immediately returned into the city. Bala, rolling about with intoxication, and the wrath which their contemptuous language had excited, struck the ground furiously with his heel, so that it burst to pieces with a loud sound that reverberated through the regions of space. His eyes reddened with rage, and his brow was curved with frowns, as he exclaimed, "What arrogance is this, in such vile and pithless creatures! The sovereignty of the Kauravas, as well as our own, is the work of fate, whose decree it also is that they now disrespect or disobey the commands of Ugrasena. Indra may of right give his orders to the gods; and Ugrasena exercises equal authority with the lord of sachi. Fie upon the pride that boasts a throne, the leavings of a hundred mortals! Is not he the sovereign of the earth, the wives of whose servants adorn themselves with the blossoms of the Parijata tree? Ugrasena shall be the undisputed king of kings; for I will not return to his capital until I have rid the world wholly of the sons of Kuru. I will destroy Karna, Duryodhana, Drona, Bhishma, Bahlika, Duhsasana, Bhurisravas, Somadatta, salya, Bhima, Arjuna, Yudhishthira, the twins, and all the other vile descendants of Kuru, with their horses, elephants, and chariots. I will rescue the hero samba from captivity, and carry him, along with his wife, to Dwaraka, where I shall again behold Ugrasena
vp.5.35	So saying, the wielder of the club, Baladeva, his eyes red with rage, plunged the blade of his ploughshare downwards, beneath the ramparts of the city, and drew them towards him. When the Kauravas beheld Hastinapura tottering, they were much alarmed, and called loudly on Rama, saying, Rama", Rama! hold, hold! suppress your wrath! have mercy upon us! Here is samba, and his wife also, delivered up to thee. Forgive our sins, committed in ignorance of thy wondrous power." Accordingly, issuing hurriedly from the city, the Kauravas delivered samba and his bride to the mighty Balarama, who, bowing to Bhishma, Drona, and Kripa, who addressed him in conciliatory language, said, "I am satisfied;" and so desisted. The city bears the marks of the shock it received, even to the present day such was the might of Rama proving both his strength and prowess. The Kauravas then offering homage to samba and to Bala, dismissed the former with his wife and a bridal portion 1.
vp.5.36	On one occasion Halayudha. was drinking in the groves of Raivata, along with the illustrious Revati and other beautiful females; and the distinguished Yadu, in whose praises songs were sung, and who was preeminent amidst graceful and sportive women, resembled Kuvera, the god of riches, in his palace. Whilst thus engaged, the monkey Dwivida came there, and stealing the ploughshare and the club of Baladeva, grinned at and mocked him, and laughed at the women, and threw over and broke the cups filled with wine. Balarama, becoming angry at this, threatened the monkey; but the latter disregarded his menaces, and made a chattering noise: on which Bala, starting up, seized his club in wrath;
vp.5.36	and the monkey laid hold of a large rock, which he burled at the hero. Bala casting his club at it, as it neared him, broke it into a thousand fragments, which, together with the club, fell upon the ground. Beholding the club prostrate, the monkey sprang over it, and struck the Yadava violently on the breast with his paws. Bala replied with a blow of his fist upon the forehead of Dwivida, which felled him, vomiting blood, and lifeless, to the earth. The crest of the mountain on which he fell was splintered into a hundred pieces by the weight of his body, as if the thunderer had shivered it with his thunderbolt. The gods threw down a shower of flowers upon Rama, and approached him, and praised him for the glorious feat he had performed. "Well has the world been freed," said they, "by thy prowess, O hero, of this vile ape, who was the ally of the enemy of the gods." Then they and their attendant spirits returned well pleased to heaven. Many such inimitable deeds were wrought by the illustrious Baladeva, the impersonation of sesha, the supporter of the earth 1.

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