Vana was the king of Daityas, a class of demons.

Because of his earnest prayers

and tapasya he had won a boon from Lord Shiva that he would remain invincible to
all, both on heaven and earth. What s more, Lord Shiva promised to protect Vana h
imself, should the need ever arise. Totally secure and sure of his safety, Vana
gradually grew wild and started misusing his powers to trouble others. Everyone
knew about the boon Lord Shiva had granted him. Some were wary of him and tried
to avoid him since it was impossible to conquer him. The others accepted his su
premacy. So Vana was left with no one to fight with. He soon began to feel that
life was flat and dull since there was no one left to conquer.

Vana had a beautiful daughter named Usha. Her great friend and constant companio
n was Chitralekha, the daughter of her father s minister. Chitralekha was a very t
alented artist and could draw anyone s portrait most accurately. As Usha grew up s
he began to wonder who her husband would be. She did not like any of the Daitya
princes or her father s young friends.

Then one night something strange happened, something that changed Usha s life for
ever. She dreamed of a wonderfully handsome prince who sat beside her and smiled
at her, looking deep into her eyes. Usha fell in love with him instantly and wo
ke up to find that it was only a dream. But something deep within her told her t
hat this dream meant something significant and that such a prince must exist som
ewhere.

Usha was no longer her old self. Her love for the dream prince was so real and s
o all pervasive that she could think of nothing and no one else. She went around
in a kind of trance, longing for him and missing him with all her heart. Her fr
iends teased her about it. More so, when they realized that she had no idea who
he was and had merely seen him in her dream.
Come on, Usha, wake up!

said her friends.

You can t take a dream that seriously.

I can t help it. I can think of nothing else said Usha looking miserable, I know he m
ust exist somewhere. I also know that I cannot live without him, whoever he is.
But that s the whole point! You don t know who he is. You don t know his name, the fami
ly he belongs to or where he lives said her friends. How on earth will you ever fi
nd him? Where will you begin? You know absolutely nothing!
I know all that. Nevertheless, I have to find him. I have already accepted him in
my heart as my husband and shall wed no other said Usha in a determined voice.

The others laughed and thought she had gone crazy. But Chitralekha realized how
serious Usha was and decided to make an attempt to find out if such a person rea
lly existed.
If I were to draw portraits of all the young kings and princes, and if your dream
prince happens to be one of them, would you recognize him from my portrait? aske
d Chitralekha.
Of course said Usha without any hesitation. I remember him so clearly. But can you
really draw portraits of all the princes? There must be so many of them!

I must try
eam.

said Chitralekha.

Then please do
for me.

said Usha.

It s the only way to find out if he is real or just a dr

I shall be eternally grateful to you if you can find him

Chitralekha got busy from the very next day, drawing portraits of one king after
another. At night she would take the entire lot to Usha. Usha looked at them ea
gerly but turned them all down with a heavy heart. Again Chitralakha got busy dr
awing the next lot. Then one night, as Chitralekha took up the portraits she had
been drawing all day, Usha picked up the first portrait listlessly. Then she sa
t up eagerly and looked at it again. Who is this? she asked Chitralakha. It is not
my prince but it reminds me of someone.
It is Krishna, the prince of Dwarka
ncarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Show me the next one

said Chitralekha,

People say that he is the rei

said Usha. Chitralakha handed it to her.

Usha frowned, trying to recall something.

one too. Who is he?

Strange! This person reminds me of some

It is Pradyumna, Krishna s son.

It is not my prince though he does remind me of him. I wonder why
How about this one?

said Usha.

asked Chitralekha handing her yet another portrait.

Usha looked at the portrait and stood as still as a statue.

Well?
Who

asked Chitralekha looking at her curiously.

. is

. he?

whispered Usha hardly able to speak.

It is Aniruddha, Pradymna s son. He is the grandson of Krishna said Chitralekha.

He is the prince of my dreams
Are you quite sure?

cried Usha.

asked Chitralekha.

As sure as I am alive. I remember these very eyes looking at me, these very lips
smiling at me, these very hands holding my own. It is he, Chitralekha, the one I
have been waiting for all my life said Usha. Now that I know that he really exist
s, I shall die if I cannot marry him. Please, I beg of you, bring him to me.

Chitralekha frowned as she walked up and down. She knew how impossible it was to
meet Aniruddha and more impossible still to bring him here. Dwaraka, where Anir
uddha dwelt with his father and grandfather, was surrounded by hills and deep mo
ats. Anyone wishing to go there secretly would have to scale seven steep walls a
nd conquer a regular army of guards. Over and above all these, there was the inv
incible chakra of Krishna revolving across the skies of Dwarka destroying all th
at came across it. It was absolutely certain that anyone coming from the land of
daityas would not be admitted to the hallowed kingdom of Dwaraka. Chitralekha t
old Usha all about it but Usha was not convinced. I don t care how tough it is. If

you love me and are my true friend, then bring him to me here.
I shall try. But I don t have much hope of success. I fail to see how I can ever ge
t inside the city walls of Dwaraka remarked Chitralekha.

But true to her promise, Chitralekha started on her hazardous journey keeping he
r friend s happiness in mind. She was just wondering how she should go about it wh
en something unexpected happened. Something that made her task not just possible
but really easy. She caught sight of sage Narada passing by, veena in hand, sin
ging the glories of lord Vishnu. Chitralekha rushed to him and fell at his feet.
Narada blessed her and asked where she was going and that too all alone. Chitral
ekha told him the whole story and begged for his help. Narada smiled and told he
r, So be it. I shall grant you a special power that will enable you to reach not
just Dwaraka but the place where Aniruddha is at the moment. You will not only b
e able to tell him about your friend Usha but also bring him back to your own ki
ngdom with you.
Chitralekha touched his feet again, this time in heartfelt gratitude. Narada wen
t away playing on his celestial veena. A smile still lurked on his lips. As you
may remember, Narada had a naughty streak in him which enjoyed watching people g
etting into a fight. He realized that all this was going to bring on a real toug
h fight between the Yadavas and the Daityas. And it was going to entertain him n
o end!

Chitralekha soon found herself within the gates of Dwaraka, just as Narada had s
aid and found to her surprise that no one made the slightest attempt to stop her
. She also heard people mention and point out in which palace prince Aniruddha w
as to be found. It was already evening and the grand hall was gorgeously decorat
ed. A group of musicians played exquisite music while a beautiful dancer perform
ed at the centre. Prince Aniruddha sat in front, watching the performance listle
ssly. He looked unhappy and his thoughts seemed to be wandering. Chitralekha wal
ked up to him and told him in a whisper who she was and where she had come from.
She also told him about Usha s strange dream and that she was here at Usha s reques
t.

Aniruddha s face lit up. Is she real, then? The beautiful princess of my dreams? I
had seen that dream too and I have been able to think of nothing else ever since
.
She is just as real as you are said Chitralekha laughing, And what s more, she says s
he will wed no one but you. That is why I have come to take you to her.
Can you really take me to Usha? I have no idea about where your kingdom lies
Aniruddha looking worried.

said

Neither of us need to worry about that said Chitralekha, thanks to Sage Narada s bles
sings, we shall reach there as soon as you are ready to leave.
Then let it be this very moment
.

said Aniruddha eagerly,

I can t wait to see her again

Chitralekha closed her eyes and prayed once again for sage Narada s help and true
to his promise, they soon found themselves right inside Usha s palace.

In the mean time, Usha had been feeling both sad and worried. She had no real ho
pe of Chitralekha actually making it to Dwaraka or of finding her prince. She bl
amed herself bitterly for having made her go and feared that she might be in dan
ger now. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw Chitralekha walking into
her room with prince Aniruddha.
At last!

said Aniruddha smiling at her.

At last!

said Usha looking into his eyes.

Go and fetch the garlands. Blow the conch-shell said Chitralekha to her other frie
nds, We must see to the wedding of Usha and Aniruddha since her father might not
consent to her marrying him. Everyone rushed round getting things ready quietly.
Usha and Aniruddha exchanged garlands and went through a gandharva wedding wher
e no priest is necessary.

But Usha and Aniruddha s happiness was short-lived because the news that there was
a strange man in the palace of princess Usha soon reached her father s ears. Vana
was quite mad with rage and ordered his soldiers to go and capture him at once.
But like his father Pradyumna and grandfather Krishna, Aniruddha was also a gre
at fighter. When challenged to face the soldiers of Vana, Aniruddha soon defeate
d them single-handed. The soldiers of Vana fell like ninepins and soon there was
no one left to fight him. On getting the news Vana appeared himself at the batt
lefield. But Aniruddha faced him bravely and wounded him so severely that Vana
soon realized that there was no way he could defeat Aniruddha. At least not in s
traight and open warfare. So he resorted to a trick and got snakes to bind up hi
s hands, feet and his entire body so that Aniruddha could not move at all.

In the mean time, Narada went to Dwaraka and informed the Yadavas what had happe
ned. Both Krishna and Pradyumna had been worried by the sudden disappearance of
Aniruddha. Knowing that he was the prisoner of Vana they set forth to fight him
and release Aniruddha. Once they reached the kingdom of Vana a great battle rage
d between the two sides. Lord Shiva, who had granted Vana his power, came to ass
ist him along with Kartikeya. The fight was now between Lord Shiva and Krishna,
the incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Krishna set off a magic missile that made Lord Shiva yawn so much that he was ha
rdly able to hold his weapon in his hand. And Garuda bit Kartikeya so badly that
he too was unable wield his weapon and was forced to leave the battlefield. Bal
arama, Krishna s elder brother, pitched in with his plough, setting armies of dai
tyas slumping down in pain. Pradyumna, Aniruddha s father fought steadily at anoth
er end.

When Vana saw that there was hardly any soldier left to fight for him he came to
fight Krishna himself, holding all his powerful arms in his hundred hands. Each
of them tried the most lethal weapons in their collection and the fight soon to
ok on an alarming dimension. Finally Krishna let off his invincible Sudarshan Ch
akra. It could not kill Vana as Lord Shiva himself had granted him life, but the
chakra cut off Vana s hundred arms before returning to Sri Krishna.

Seeing Vana stripped off all his power, Lord Shiva walked up to Krishna and took
his hands in his.
Krishna, do forgive Vana. After all, it was I who had granted him the boon that h
e could conquer everyone on earth. That is why he got so wild and unruly. But I
think he has now learned his lesson. Please forgive him for my sake
Krishna smiled and said, Very well, it shall be as you wish. Since Vana has been
enjoying your blessings and protection all this while, he shall enjoy mine as we
ll.

As Krishna walked up to the place where Aniruddha lay in a swoon strangled by sn

akes, Garuda followed him there. The snakes left Aniruddha and fled in fear at t
he sight of Garuda. Aniruddha sat up and opened his eyes. He was amazed to see h
is grandfather and father who embraced him tenderly.

Vana came to them soon after and begged Krishna s pardon and Pradyumna s too. In a m
oment all hatred was forgotten and all bitterness, swept aside. Everyone merrily
joined in the celebration where Usha and Aniruddha were married once again with
great pomp and splendour. After that the entire party left for Dwaraka with th
e newly wed bride and groom, where a great welcome awaited them
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yth-and-depiction/
The myth of Usha-Aniruddha, one of the most enticing love stories has figured in
most of the Puranas with minor variations in each. The earliest account of this
myth is found in the Vishnu Purana. This legend is always been a source of insp
iration for the writers and poets in different languages of not only our country
but also the nations of south-east Asia. It is said that this legend reached In
donesia in the 6th century AD. The Tep Pranam inscription of Yashovarman datable t
o 889-900 AD refers to this episode.one of the bas-reliefs of the famous Angkor
Wat temple in Kampuchea depicting this story is the earliest sculptural represen
tation (dated to the 12th century AD) available.
This legend forms the subject of elegant miniature paintings, of which an abunda
nt collection is found in the Pahari ones. One such series of 18th century drawi
ngs in the style of Kangra kalam, is housed in the Kasturibhai Lalbhai Museum, A
hmedabad. Further, a series of eight paintings of Kangra School (1830 AD) is pos
sessed by the Baroda Museum. Quite a few unfinished paintings and drawings on th
is theme are reproduced in the Boston Museum Catalogue. The reputed art historia
n, Karl J Khandalawala noticed another series from Chamba (c 1850AD)painted by R
amlal. A few paintings in the early Kangra style painted by Ram Sahai (1770-75 A
D) can be in Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba. Raja Kelkar Museum of Pune preserves
a set of folk paintings called Paithan Chitrakathas of the 19th century. The Jai
pur museum owns a few earliest illustrations of this story which is found in Raz
m Nama of the Mughal period dated to 1585 AD.
The myth narrates as below:

The Dashama Skanda of the Bhagawata Purana, a comparatively later text speaks of
Lord Krishna having 16,108 wives. Rukmini, one of the eight principal queens ha
s a son Pradyumna
the eldest among nine others who marries Rukmavati, the prince
ss of Rukmi.
Aniruddha, son of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, marries Usha, daughter of Banasura, t
he king of Sonitapura and a devotee of Shiva. On the occasion of Usha s marriage w
ith Aniruddha a terrible combat took place between Hari and Hara in which Banasu
ra lost his thousand arms.
Banasura was the eldest of the hundred sons of Bali, a descendent of Brahma. He
was generous, intelligent, true of word and firm in observance of vows and pleas
ed his God playing on musical instruments while Shiva performed the tandava nrit
ya. By pleasing Shiva he wanted to acquire all the three worlds. Shiva found it
stupid and cursed him: when your flag staff (with peacock ensign) shall be broken
down automatically, a combat with someone equal to me will take place and it wi
ll humiliate your pride .
Usha, a virgin who was in her early teens, having seen Parvati sporting with Shi
va wished for a similar dalliance. The beautiful Gauri knowing Usha s intention sa
id to Usha he who shall appear to you, in a dream in the twelfth lunation of the
light half of Vaisakha will be your husband.
In the Shiva Purana, Usha intends t
o assume the form of Parvati to sport with Shiva. Visually, the Chamba artists g
ive a clear picture of these events.
As said by Gauri on the twelfth day of the bright half of Visakha, a young man,
whoUsha had never seen or heard of enjoyed sexual pleasure with her in her dream
. As described in the Shiva Purana, Aniruddha was sent to the palace of Bana by
Parvati while Usha was fast asleep. After an intercourse with Usha, he was forci
bly carried back to Dwaraka, the capital city of Lord Krishna by the attendants
of Parvati by means of their power.
In Brahmavairavata Purana Parvati caused Aniruddha to crave for Usha by sending
her a dream vision. Chitralekha, Usha s sakhi was the daughter of Kubanda, a minis
ter of Bana. In the episode Usha suddenly woke up from her dream world bewildere
d and murmurs: where are you my beloved lord? and Chitralekha questions her knowin
g that she did not have any suitors till that day. Then Usha narrates her dream
to her trustful sakhi that she has seen an unknown man of dark complexion, lotus
-eyed, endowed with long arms wearing a yellow garment, captivating the hearts o
f women. She continued that she had been seeking the man who had thrown her to t
he sea of misery.
By the help of the description of Usha Chitralekha being an artist and endowed w
ith yogic power drew the portraits of gods, celestial beings and princes. Out of
them she drew vrishnis: Ugrasena, Vasudeva, Balarama and Krishna. When Usha cam
e across the picture of Krishna, she was delighted. When she saw the face of Pra
dyumna she felt embarrassed and at last when she found the portrait of Aniruddha
she exclaimed with great enthusiasm that he was the man of her dream.
In the process of hunting for Aniruddha, Chitralekha described the difficulties
I reaching Dwaraka. By the time Usha refers to the magical powers of her frien
d, Pradyumna mentioned that Chtralekha was Mayavati who went to Dwaravati where
she met Narada and by the help of Narada she bore sleeping Aniruddha and brought
him to Sonitapura as a present to her beloved friend.
Usha lost her virginity. Bana was informed by his servants that Usha had cast a
stain on his family. In Brhmavaivarta Purana, the guards of the hero inform abou
t Usha s pregnancy. But in Shiva Purana, Bana himself goes to the palace of Usha
to meet her where he finds Aniruddha playing dice with his beloved daughter.

In the Laotian verstion of the myth, Usha-Aniruddha, Prince of Pa Rot (Aniruddha

) was transported asleep to the palace of Usha by the guardian deities of the fo
rest and after having lived for seven days he is carried back by the gods to the
tree under which he was found sleeping. Here, the Laotian version agrees with
the Shiva Purana according to which Parvati s attendants carry him back to Dwaraka
.
He Laotin myth says that having observed certain changes in Usha s body the guards
of the palace suspect that she is pregnant. This event is parallel to the one i
n the Bhagawata Purana. And according to Vishnu Purana and Harivamsa Purana, the
presence of a young man in Usha s chamber was reported to the demon king by the g
uards of the spies of palace.
On seeing pretty daughter chatting with a stranger, Bana became arrogant. He sen
t his soldiers to beat him up. Seeing the fierce looking soldiers and angry Bana
, Aniruddha could not hold his emotions. He attacked them with an iron-bat. When
the powerful Bana himself could not control Aniruddha he bound him down with na
gapasha or serpent noose and kept in cage.
The Sabhaparvan of Mahabharat with details similar to Harivamsa Purana refers
to Bana, the votary of Shiva who oppressed all the gods. Aniruddha became uncons
cious because of the torture in prison.
In Harivamsa Purana, Bana spared the life of Aniruddha on the advice of Kubhanda
; whereas in Shiva Purana as a result of Aniruddha s prayer goddess Kali broke the
cage with blows form her fists and reduced the serpenting arrows as ashes. Ther
eby, Aniruddha gained access to the palace of his beloved.
The Padma Purana says that Aniruddha killed the soldiers with pillar of the pal
ace which he had uprooted in his defence. One late 18th century Chamba painting
agrees with Padma Purana description. But in this painting Aniruddha holds a spe
ar instead of a pillar while Usha watched the fight from a window of her palace.
After four months of the incident Krishna learnt from the reports of Narada abou
t Aniruddha s valorous fight and imprisonment.
Krishna marched against Sonitapura with his army on his vahana, Garuda. Balarama
and Pradhymna followed him armed with their exclusive weapons. Narada played a
mediators role in showing the way to Krishna s army.
Bana resisted against an equally strong army. Shiva also appeared there surround
ed by pramathas and accompanied by his son Skanda riding his big bull and fought
against Balarama and Krishna for the sake of his devotee. The combat that raged
between Pradyumna and Kartikeya was tumultuous, astounding and horrifying. Ther
e was an encounter between Balarama with Kubhanda and Kupakarna and duel between
Saamba and the son of Bana and between Bana and Satyaki. The Gods and the celes
tial beings came in their aerial car to witness the wonderful battle. Shiva disc
harged various kinds of missiles against Krishna and Krishna neutralised each. A
t last Krishna stupefied Shiva by making Sankara yawn and lethargic with Jrumbha
nastra and slaughtered Bana s army. Skanda being pierced by all sides lay enraged,
by the streams of arrows discharged by Pradyumna, bleeding in every part of the
body retreats from the battle on the back of his peacock. Noticing his army sha
ttered and scattered, Bana became extremely enraged, left his combatant Satyaki
and attacked Krishna. Krishna simultaneously snapped all Bana s bows killed his ch
arioteer and blew the victory conch.
The Razm Nama illustrates the war between Banasura and Krishna in which Banasura
is carried in chariot puled by horses. A similar scene is depicted in the earl
y Kangra miniature.

Bana s deity Kotara with desire to protect the life of her son, appears completely
naked in front of Krishna with locks of her hair dishevelled. Unable to look at
her, Krishna turns his face. Meanwhile Bana s chariot is broken and depleted. Whe
n the chariot of Bana broke all the army of bhutas of Bana flew away. The mighty
jvara (fever) of Shiva having three heads and three feet appeard in the battle
front before Krishna. On seeing the jvara of Shiva, Krishna let loose his own jv
ara. Both the Shaivite jvara and Vaishnavite jvara fought with each other. The S
haivite jvara lost himself and sought refuge with Krishna.
Bana continued the fight. While Bana discharged his missiles, Krishna amputated
Baa with the Sudhrshan Chakra. The arms of Bana, except two fell like the branch
es of the tree.
Shiva liberated himself from the influence of jrumbhanastra, approached Krishna
having accepted his own defeat and requested him to protect Bana just as Vishnu
did in the case of Prahlada. To curb Bana s arrogance Krishna chopped his hand lea
ving only four and the army was annihilated because it was a burden to the earth
.
In the Shiva Purana due to the Shaivite orientation in the war between Hari and
Hara, Krishna was defeated in the battle along with his fever. After his defeat
Krishna bowed to Shiva saying: O, Lord it is your bidding that I have come here t
o cut off the hands of Bana. This haughty Bana is cursed by you
then, on the sugge
stion of Shiva, Krishna overpowered Shiva by using the jrumbhanastra where he cu
t all the arms of Bana except four.
The Brahmavaivarta Purana describes the final march of Bana with Skanda, Ganesha
and others; attempts of Shiva-Parvati to dissuade Bana; arrival of Bali, the vo
tary of Vishnu to request Krishna to spare the life of Bana.
In Harivamsa Purana, there is a description of battles of Krishna and Bana which
is similar to Vishnu Purana and Bhagawata Purana. Two additional details given
in this are Garuda s fights with Mayura, the vahana of Bana but in this fight Mayu
ra is defeated by Garuda. It can be seen in a Chamba painting. According the som
e versions of Harivamsa Krishna made Bana two armed.
The Padma Purana gives a fight between tapa-jwara of Shiva and sita-jwara of Kri
shna. Instead of the yawning weapon, Krishna used mohanastra against Shiva. Afte
r cutting the thousand arms Krishna spared his life on the request of Shiva an P
arvati.
After the war ended as described in the Bhagawata Purana, Bana brings Aniruddha
along with bride Usha out of nagapasha. In the Vishnu Purana Krishna meets Aniru
ddha where he is confined. The snakes that bound were destroyed by the breath of
Garuda. Then Krishna placed Aniruddha along with Usha upon the celestial bird a
nd returned to Dwaraka with all his men.
The citizens of Dwaraka received them warm heartedly. In the conclusion of the l
egend, the Shiva Purana mentions several boons granted by Shiva to Bana.
The Agni Purana giving a brief account of this legend, mentions that Bana became
a son of Shiva by his penance and the story is similar to Harivamsa Purana. And
some of the versions of Harvamsa state that Krishna offered the kingdom of Bana
sura to Kubhanda and performed the wedding of Usha and Aniruddha at Sonitapura.
In general, the Puranas do not mention any successor of Bana. But the Shiva Pura
na refers to the son of his daughter as his successor. In a Kangra painting of 1
830 they are at the end of their journey to Dwaraja. Usha, Chitralekha and the o
ther paricharikas of Usha are carried by Mayura and Aniruddha with Krishna, and

Balarama following them mounted on Garuda. The ladies of the place including Ruk
mini and Satyabhama received them while the Gods and celestial beings watched fr
om heaven.
In the Laotian version of the myth, the whole genealogy is altogether different.
A 16th century text, Brah Kuttd Brah Ban or the story of Banasraoffers us a new
source material for the study of diffusion and transformation of the Brahminica
l culture in Laos.
In the version, there is no mention of Shiva and Krishna s fight, instead, Krishna
or Ku td Naray kills the eight-headed Bana. Here, Indra and Sujata take birth as
Aniruddha and Usha on the earth and play their respective roles in the destructi
on of the wicked Bana, who committed adultery with Sujata.
This myth is also seen in the literary works of other parts of South-East Asia.
The 19th century Hindi poet Jivanla Nagar provides a new background to the bir
th of Usha. In his view Usha was the daughter of Parvati who was born out of the
dirt of her left limb and Ganesha as her brother came out of the dirt of right
limb. There Usha was the adopted child of Bana who created havoc.
Generally in the Vaishnavite text, Krishna is the winner and if it is a Shaivait
e text, Shiva the winner. But the artists took their own freedom while narrating
the story and built up the environments which they had visualised. It is also o
bvious that from the Razm Nama onwards, in all the miniature paintings, artists
portrayed the people of Bana as beasts with their teeth coming out or sometimes
with horns. Somehow this story has often affected the people trying to create t
he supremacy according to their own inclination towards the particular cult