Aniruddha
Aniruddha and Usha, 19th century Bengali lithograph
Devanagariअनिरुद्ध
AffiliationVaishnavism, Vrishni
TextsBhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Shiva Purana, Mahabharata
Personal information
Parents
SpouseUsha, Rochana
ChildrenVajra and Mrigaketana[1]
DynastyYaduvamsha
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Vaishnavism
Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
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Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
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Vrishni heroes
Kondamotu Vrishni heroes relief, 4th century CE, Hyderabad State Museum

Aniruddha (Sanskrit: अनिरुद्ध, lit. 'unconquerable')[2] is a character in Hindu mythology, the son of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, and the grandson of Krishna and Rukmini.[3] He is said to have been very much like his grandfather, to the extent that he is considered by some to be a Jana avatar, an avatar of Vishnu. He is a member of the chatur-vyuha, the four Vrishni heroes.

Early life

Aniruddha, holding a sword and a shield, in the Kondamotu Vrishni heroes relief, 4th-century CE.[4]

Anirudha was born to Pradyumna and Rukmavati. He was the grandson of Krishna and Rukmini. His mother Rukmavati was the daughter of Rukmi, the king of Vidarbha. He was also one of the few Maharathis (incredibly strong warriors) of his dynasty. His early life and marriage to his first wife, Rochana, are described in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, Chapter 61.[5]

Marriages

Marriage to Rochana

Aniruddha's marriage to Rochana is described in the 61st Chapter of the 10th Canto of the Bhagavata Purana.[5] At the behest of his sister Rukmini, Rukmi requested Krishna to have Aniruddha marry Rochana, after the wedding ceremony, Rukmi was killed by Balarama after the former cheated the latter in a game of dice and insulted his Yadava heritage.[6]

The Great War and Marriage to Usha

According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, a daitya princess named Usha, a daughter of Banasura (also referred to as Bana), fell in love with Aniruddha after seeing him in her dream and making love to him.

Banasura, ruling his kingdom from the city of Sonitapura, was the son of Bali and the grandson of Prahlada. Banasura was a great devotee of Shiva and as a result of a boon granted to him from the deity, had gained 1000 arms. Intoxicated by his prowess, he observed to Shiva that he was the latter's equal, and that he had attempted to fight elephants, but the creatures had grown terrified of him. Shiva, enraged by his words, spoke thus: 'Your flag will be broken, oh fool, when your pride is vanquished in a battle you have with someone like me.'[7]

Usha dreaming of Aniruddha

As per the artistic description of Usha's dream, Chitralekha (In Sanskrit, artist), her friend, drew pictures of many Vrishnis using her special abilities. Usha recognised Aniruddha's picture among all of them. Chitralekha, with her yogic powers and Anima Siddhi, shrunk the son of Pradyumna to the size of a doll and brought him to Usha's palace. She worshipped him and furnished him with priceless garments, garlands, fragrances, lamps, and with beverages, dishes, and words. Breaking her vow of chastity with him, she kept him hidden in her maiden quarters, and the lovers lost track of the days. Catching wind of his daughter's activities, Banasura rushed to her chambers to find her playing dice with doll sized Aniruddha. Even as the prince fended off the guards, Banasura subdued him with the mystical ropes of Varuna due to Aniruddha's shrunken state. Usha was overwhelmed with sorrow due to this incident. Aniruddha was held captive by Banasura for a month, until Narada informed the Yadus in Dvaraka, who were searching for Aniruddha.[8]

The Yadus' army attacked Banasura in a great battle. When the Yadu princes and their army besieged his kingdom with 12 akshauhinis, surrounding it completely, Banasura staged a fierce counterattack. During the war, Shiva appeared on the battlefield, riding on Nandi, to protect his devotee, Banasura. Balarama fought against Banasura's commander, while Samba fought against Banasura's son. To bear witness, the leaders of the godly souls headed by Brahma came in their celestial vehicles, as also the sages, the perfected souls, and the venerable personalities, the singers and apsaras of heaven, and the yakshinis. Krishna and Shiva faced each other. Krishna used a brahmastra against Shiva's brahmastra, a mountain weapon against a wind weapon, a rain weapon against a fire weapon, and his narayanastra against Shiva's pashupatastra. After duelling with Satyaki, Bana took up arms against Krishna. However, Krishna blew his conch and instantly, Banasura's charioteer was killed and his chariot broken and shattered.

In a desperate attempt to save Banasura, Kothara, his mother, stood naked before Krishna with her hair dishevelled. When the deity looked away, the asura fled to the city. When Shiva's forces had been defeated, Jvara, the embodiment of Shiva's fever, bearing three heads and three feet, attacked Krishna with scorching heat. Krishna produced his own Jvara of frigid coldness, and the two fought each other. Overwhelmed by Vishnu's fever, Shiva's Jvara offered its surrender and obeisance to Krishna and departed.

Meanwhile, Balarama defeated Banasura's commander. Bana rode forth upon his chariot to fight with Krishna, and the fought back with his Sudarshana Chakra. When Krishna started chopping Banasura's arms, Shiva returned to his senses and extolled the glories of Krishna, and urged him not to kill Banasura, whom he had bestowed with fearlessness. Obliging, Krishna replied that he had never intended to kill Banasura, since he was the son of Bali and the grandson of the devout Prahlada. Vishnu had promised Bali not to kill any member of his family, and therefore would not slay him. However, Krishna severed Banasura's extra arms to destroy the latter's pride, leaving Banasura with only four arms.

Banasura realised his mistake and bowed his head before Krishna, arranging for a chariot to seat Aniruddha and Usha for their wedding in Dvaraka.[9]

Children

Vajra was the son of Aniruddha and his first wife, Rochana.[10] He was the only survivor of the Yadu dynasty after a violent disaster due to the curse of Gandhari. Vajra was crowned as the King of Indraprastha on the request of Krishna by the Pandavas after the Yadava fratricide just before the Pandavas' exile.[11] Aniruddha had one more son named Mrigaketana from his wife.[1]

Boar Aspect

Aniruddha appears as a boar, and Samkarsana appears as a lion in this Vaikuntha Chaturmurti statue, showing Vishnu with his three main emanations, the mid-5th century. Boston Museum.[12][13]

In Vaishnavism, Aniruddha is associated with the boar, which is his theriomorphic aspect, also known as Varaha.[14][15][12] Aniruddha appears as a boar in some of the Caturvyūha statues, where he is an assistant to Vāsudeva, and in the Vaikuntha Chaturmurti when his boar's head protrudes from the side of Vishnu's head.[12]

Aniruddha is also associated with the qualities of ferociousness and sovereignty.[16]

Death

Pradyumna and Aniruddha died in the intoxicated brawl between the Yadavas, which claimed the life of every Yadava prince, except Vajra, who was the only survivor. Arjuna moved the survivors to the kingdom of Indraprastha and crowned Vajra the king.[17][18]

Literature

The story of Aniruddha and Usha (as Okha in Gujarati, also "Ukha" in Assamese) is depicted in the 18th century Gujarati Akhyana entitled Okhaharan by Premanand Bhatt.[19]

A 1901 Telugu language play titled Usha Parinayam written by Vedam Venkataraya Sastry was based on his love story with Usha.[20]

Aniruddha, which means "unstoppable," is also another name of Vishnu.

Pāñcarātra system[21][22][23]
Vyūhas Image Attributes Symbol[24][25] Direction Face Concept
Narayana
Vishnu 		Vāsudeva Chakra Wheel
Gadā Mace
Shankha Conch 		Garuda Eagle East Saumya
(Placid/ benevolent) 		Jṅāna Knowledge
Samkarsana Lāṅgala Plough
Musala Pestle
Wine glass 		Tala Fan palm South Simha Lion Bala Strength
Pradyumna Cāpa Bow
Bāṇa Arrow 		Makara Crocodile West Raudra Kapila Aiśvaryā Sovereignty
Aniruddha Carma Shield
Khaḍga Sword 		Ṛṣya (ऋष्य) White-footed antelope North Varaha Boar Śakti Power

References

  1. ^ a b Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
  2. ^ Sharma, Yedathore Subbaraya (1971). The Inner Meaning of Bharatha and Bhagavatha (the Torch Leading to the Path of Liberation). copies can also be had from D. S. Krishna Kumar. p. 92.
  3. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 68.
  4. ^ Gupta, Vinay K. (January 2019). "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 74–75.
  5. ^ a b "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 61". Bhagavata.org.
  6. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 61". bhagavata.org. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 62". bhagavata.org. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto10 - Chapter 62". Bhagavata.org.
  9. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 63". Bhagavata.org.
  10. ^ Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami; Prabhupada, Disciples of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (31 December 1977). Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto: The Summum Bonum. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 978-91-7149-643-0.
  11. ^ Maruvada, Surya N. (2 March 2020). Who is Who in Hindu Mythology - VOL 1: A Comprehensive Collection of Stories from the Pur??as. Notion Press. ISBN 978-1-64805-684-0.
  12. ^ a b c Srinivasan, Doris (1979). "Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha and Variant Forms". Archives of Asian Art. 32: 39–54. ISSN 0066-6637. JSTOR 20111096.
  13. ^ For English summary, see page 80 Schmid, Charlotte (1997). "Les Vaikuṇṭha gupta de Mathura : Viṣṇu ou Kṛṣṇa?". Arts Asiatiques. 52: 60–88. doi:10.3406/arasi.1997.1401.
  14. ^ "The glorious Aniruddha should be Varaha who rescued the Earth" in Rangarajan, Haripriya (1997). Varāha Images in Madhya Pradesh: An Iconographic Study. Somaiya Publications. p. 38. ISBN 978-81-7039-214-9.
  15. ^ "Aniruddha (is represented) by his theriomorphic form, the boar" in Srinivasan, Doris (1997). Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art. BRILL. p. 254. ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8.
  16. ^ "Gentleness and strength are associated with Vasudeva, "knowledge with Samkarsana, (Narasimha) female power with Pradyumna (Varaha) and ferociousness and sovereignty with Aniruddha (Kapila)." Kamalakar, G.; Veerender, M. (1993). Vishnu in Art, Thought & Literature. Birla Archeological & Cultural Research Institute. p. 92.
  17. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 30". Bhagavata.org.
  18. ^ "Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 31". Bhagavata.org.
  19. ^ Sen, Siba Pada (1988). Sources of the History of India. Institute of Historical Studies.
  20. ^ Leiter, Samuel L. (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33530-3.
  21. ^ Atherton, Cynthia Packert (1997). The Sculpture of Early Medieval Rajasthan. BRILL. p. 78. ISBN 978-90-04-10789-2.
  22. ^ A Comprehensive History of India: pt. 1-2. A.D. 300-985. Orient Longmans. 1982. p. 866.
  23. ^ Parlier-Renault, Edith (2007). Temples de l'Inde méridionale: VIe-VIIIe siècles. La mise en scène des mythes. Presses Paris Sorbonne. pp. 38–42. ISBN 978-2-84050-464-1.
  24. ^ "A shrine of Aniruddha, the fourth of the 'vyuhas', which had within its precincts a 'rsyadhvaja', i. e. a column bearing on its top the figure of a 'rsya' or a white antelope which was his characteristic 'lanchana'." in Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art. Indian Society of Oriental Art. 1937. p. 16.
  25. ^ Gupta, Vinay K. "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 80–81.

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