Wednesday, February 4, 2009

ACK-064: Pradyumna

An out of print ACK #107

PRADYUMNA. A son of Krishna by Rukmini.

When a child only six days old, he was stolen by the demon Sambara and thrown into the ocean. There he was swallowed by a fish, which was afterwards caught and carried to the house of Sambara. When the fish was opened, a beautiful child was discovered, and Mayadevi or Mayavati, the mistress of Sambara's household, took him under her care. The sage Narada informed her who the child was, and she reared him carefully.

When he grew up she fell in love with him, and informed him who he was and how he had been carried off by Sambara. He defied the demon to battle, and after a long conflict slew him. Then he flew through the air with Mayavati, and alighted in the inner apartments of his father's palace.

Krishna presented him to his mother Rukmini "with the virtuous Mayavati his wife," declaring her really to be the goddess Rati.

Pradyumna 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.

Though Pradyumna passed as the son of Krishna, he was, according to the legend, a revival or resuscitation of Kama, the god of love, who was reduced to ashes by the fiery glance of Siva, and so the name Pradyumna is used for Kama.

The Vishnu Purana puts the following words into the mouth of Narada when he presented Pradyumna to Rukmini: "When Manmatha (the deity of love) had perished, the goddess of beauty (Rati), desirous to secure his revival, assumed a delusive form, and by her charms fascinated the demon Sambara, and exhibited herself to him in various illusory enjoyments. This thy son is the descended Kama ; and this is (the goddess) Rati, his wife. There is no occasion for any uncertainty; this is thy daughter-in-law."

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.

(~ from Mythfolklore.net)
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NOTE: Pradyumna (Sanskrit:प्रद्‍युम्‍न) is one of 24 lord Keshava (Vishnu) names which praised in all poojas.
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Many many thanks to an Anonymous friend” for providing ACK scan.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks again! Eagerly awaiting the Mahabharatha:)

    Regards,
    Demonoid fan

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  2. yes me too waiting for mahabharta prabhat (spelling corrected)... thanx... i ve some rare acks in my collection... i ll scan then and send it u so that u can put them in ur blog... it may take some time as i dont have a scanner and will have to go outside to get it done...

    thanx again

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  3. Demonoid fan: Please wait for sometimes. You know I'm fast in posting. Pls give us time. I explained earlier that Ajay wish to scan, but it's in his home town.

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  4. Rajeev Sharma: Welcome! Pls give you list before scanning, may be it's already scanned or under process. It'll help to save & energy & time of all of us (your & all team). :)

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  5. thanks anon for this contribution..and thanks for posting it prabhat.

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  6. Apoorva Chandar: Thanks!

    ReplyDelete