Episode 29

Khāṃḍava Dahanam (Forest on Flames)- Mayāsura / Asvasena[i]

The story of Khāṃḍava dahana is much discussed and debated story from historical perspective. It is all about destroying a forest for constructing a palace and a capital city. What is its strategic significance? Why animals were allowed to be burnt by the peace loving Arjuna and Krishna? How did it herald the prestige of Pandavas? Was the incident signifies the expansion of Aryans into deeper parts of Indian expanse as opined by the foreign historians? Please read and reflect.

The Story

Khāṃḍava forest (Khāṃḍava vana) was a huge expanse of forest in the times of Mahabharata inhabited by serpents, wild animals, beasts and plethora of huge trees and wild bushes. Currently this area is in the Sonipat district of Haryana which was in those days referred as Indraprastha and was protected by Lord Indra.

This legendary forest was put to flames for fifteen days supported by Arjuna and Krishna, also known as Nara and Narayana challenging the very authority of Indra. Janamejaya, the person who was hearing the story of Maha Bharata wanted to know why his great grand father Arjuna took this drastic decision to destroy the dense forest and Vysampayana started narrating the story.

Once upon a time there lived a king on the planet by name Swetaki who was penchant in propitiating gods through yagnas. The sacrificial fire of yagnas were so perennial that the priests got vexed, could not bear the smoke, and started deserting the king. The king’s thoughts were on yagnas and on charity alone. He begged the priests to stay with him but in vain. Someone suggested that he should pray for Lord Siva who alone could help in performing Satra Yaga (a yaga performed for twelve long years day and night). Swetaki sat below a tree and started tapas. Lord Shiva appeared before him and instructed sage Durvasa to help the king in performing the yagna.

The sacrificial Satra yaga of Swetaki involved the continuous pouring of ghee into the fire. Agni, the fire god got fully satisfied but he developed allergy to further in take of oblations from any person from any quarter. His appetite got suppressed and his glory began to wane. Depressed mentally, he approached Lord Brahma to suggest a remedy.

Brahma smiled at the turn of events. When appetite is quenched by the oblations in the form of fats, the remedy was to eat the plants, trees, and flesh of wild variety of animals. Which place was the abode of thousands of animals and medicinal plants? He suggested the fire god to eat away the Khāṃḍava vana with all its flora and fauna. God Agni was happy and descended upon the forest with a deadly effect. But the forest was protected by Lord Indra (the area is Indraprastha). He was protecting it since it was the abode of his friend Takshaka (a deadly serpent). Agni tried to engulf the forest seven to eight times but was quenched by Indra through a heavy pour of water.

This was the situation when Krishna and Arjuna reached the Yamuna river for a happy ride. As suggested by Brahma, the god of fire approached them in the guise of a Brahmin and begged food. Arjuna, being a Kshatriya, could not say no to the request and asked what type of food he could arrange to the Brahmin. Then the Brahmin revealed his identity and sought the help of Nara and Narayana in scorching the Khāṃḍava forest.

The task ahead was not an easy task. It involved fighting with Lord Indra, the king of gods. It was challenging and Nara and Narayana were not inferior to reject the challenge. But can they fight gods without weaponry and armor?  The might of the gods can be mellowed with matching arsenal only. The fire god Agni realized the importance and prayed Lord Varuna. Varuna appeared before them. He possessed a bow named Gandiva (originally built by Lord Brahma) and a quiver with endless number of arrows. It was divine quivers which never get exhausted with arrows. He was pleased to present them to Arjuna. Varuna also gave a divine chariot with divine horses fully equipped with war material. Varura also gave a discus (Sudarsana Chakra) and a powerful mace (Kaumodaki) to Krishna, which upon hurling, kill the enemy and come back for further use.

With all arsenals under their command, Arjuna asked Agni to encircle the forest. Agni assumed his original shape and started encircling the forest from all sides. The fire was so wild, and all animals became panicky and started running helter-skelter. Arjuna started reigning arrows at all animals that tried to run away from the forest. Krishna and Arjuna were swirling all around with the speed of light and none could escape the deadly fire. Birds tried to fly but were torn to pieces by Arjuna with endless array of arrows. The water bodies in the forest began to boil and the aquatic animals perished instantaneously. It was a huge camouflage of smoke that obstructed the view of the skies. 

Lord Indra got wild and came down with all gods to fight with Arjuna and Krishna. He pelted stores, poured water, put all his efforts and finally hurled his bolt (Vajrayudha) but he could do nothing to save the forest from the engulfing fire. Luckily his friend Takshaka was away from Khāṃḍava vana but his family was trapped in the fire. Sarpini, the queen of Takshaka surrounded with all its hood around her son, Asvasena and rose to skies from where Indra pulled him to safety but the fate could not prevent the fall of Sarpini and she fell prey to the arrows Arjuna, much in the presence of Indra.

A heavenly voice (Akasavani) announced, ‘O Lord of the gods! The persons whom you are fighting are not just Arjuna and Krishna, but they are the celestial Nara and Narayana and no one in the universe can control their might’. Realizing the futility of waging a war, Indra left the place. Only six persons survived the holocaust. They are Asvasena, Mayāsura, and four Saranga birds. Who are these survivors?

Asvasena and his importance in Maha Bharata

Aswasena, as we saw above, was a tiny serpent rescued by his mother Sarpini. Arjuna shot at Sarpini but Asvasena escaped in the sky. He nursed the grudge against Arjuna and waiting for an opportunity to kill him. In Karna Parva, we come across a ferocious fighting between Arjuna and Karna. When the fighting was razing, Asvasena, with his yoga maya, entered into the quiver of Karna as an arrow. Karna was not aware of that and inadvertently, he took out the arrow and shot at Arjuna. The arrow was coming with a fearful sound determined to detach the head of Arjuna. Krishna sensed the arrival of Asvasena in the form of an arrow and immediately pressed the chariot into the ground and the horses bent their legs to adjust the height. The arrow, instead of hitting the neck, hit the crown and broke it into pieces.

Asvasena came back to Karna and asked him to aim the arrow again. ‘Who are you? Why have you entered my arrow quiver?’ Karna enquired. Asvasena revealed his identity and asked Karna to aim the arrow again. Karna was not a warrior to depend on the strength of others to defeat Arjuna. He politely refused stating that he believed in his own strength. What to do? Asvasena assumed his real body of a serpent and marched towards Arjuna to bite and kill him. Arjuna asked Krishna wondered who that serpent was! Krishna recollected the incident of Khāṃḍava dahana and hastened Arjuna to cut the serpent into pieces. Arjuna took out a sharp arrow and pierced Asvasena to pieces.

Mayāsura and his importance in Maha Bharata

Khāṃḍava forest was infested with not only wild animals and beasts but by demons and pisachas. Krishna was swirling around the forest like Yama, the god of death and killing all those forces. Mayā was an architect of Danavas (demons) and he was running out of fear to escape the fire in the forest. He saw Krishna with his ferocious discus on one side and the scorching flame on the other side. Literally he was like living in between the devil and the deep sea. The death is dangling over his head like a Damocles’ sword. He rushed towards Arjuna and appealed to protect him. Arjuna was pleased and promised protection. Krishna did not want to kill Mayā since he was given a promise by Arjuna. The god of fire also left him to live.

Once the entire destruction of Khāṃḍava vana was completed, Mayā approached Krishna and Arjuna with all humility and he wanted to do some favor to Pandavas. Krishna asked Mayā to construct a beautiful building for the court of Dharmaraja. There should not be any court on earth that can compete with Maya Sabha in grandeur and majesty. Mayā took up the challenge and built a court cum palace that was at once a romance on stone and magnificent with majesty.

Maya sabha occupies an important place in Maha Bharata when it attracted the attention of Duryodhana while he was its guest. Duryodhana saw the wealth of Pandavas for the first time in Maya sabha and his jealousy turned into anger which ultimately precipitated the great war of Kurukshetra.

Mayā gave a mighty mace that equals the strength of thousands of maces to Bhima. He also gave a conch, Devadatta belonging to Varuna to Arjuna. Maya sabha heralded the glory of Pandavas which eventually triggered for the performance of Rajasuya yaga by Dharmaraja.

Four Saranga birds that survived the holocaust

Four Saranga birds did not die in the scorching fire when Khāṃḍava was set to blaze. The story will be discussed in the next week.

Analysis of the story

Khāṃḍava dahana was a gruesome event of gory deaths and destruction of flora and fauna. All birds, wild animals, beasts, trees, and demons got destroyed. Why was this holocaust? Why did Krishna and Arjuna helped the fire god in destroying the forest? Basically, it was ordained by Brahma that the forest would become the food for the fire god. The fire god lost his appetite and could not take any oblations from any quarter and curing his disease was the priority in the interest of the society at large. All yagas and yagnas in the world were coming to a halt and there were no charities in the absence of sacrificial rituals. Brahma thought of rejyvinating Agni and suggested to scorch the forest. Krishna and Arjuna supported the dharmic cause. They knew that the Khāṃḍava was the abode of many medicinal plants and they alone can cure his disease.

In the description of Khāṃḍava, Veda Vyasa mentioned many times that it was infested by cruel snakes, wild animals and demonic forces which Krishna wanted to destroy. Some critics say why Krishna and Arjuna helped in killing animals? But what we should understand is where to let them go? When fire scorches the forest and if animals are allowed to run, they will certainly enter into Indraprastha village where the people were living. Krishna and Arjuna cannot afford to expose their own citizens to vagaries of wild animals.

In the Sri Venkateswara Oriental journal, 1959, one professor cum researcher, Mr M.Rama Rao opines that the destruction of Khāṃḍava forest was basically to construct a palace for Pandavas. Since a capital or palace cannot be built without destroying a forest, Krishna and Arjuna resolved to accomplish the task.

Some historians, particularly Vincent Smith, opine that the story of Khāṃḍava dahana pertains to later Maha Bharata period when Aryans wanted to expand their area of influence in Naga areas; and it was basically an Aryan expansion into interior Indian lands. Since ‘Aryan invasion theory’ is refuted by the present historians, the arguments of these scholars are not tenable and further there is no convincing proof that the story belongs to later Maha Bharata period.

The Khāṃḍava dahana was also viewed by some scholars as a ploy of Sri Krishna to herald the glory of Pandavas to the world and it was strategically a necessity for the imminent Rajasuya yaga conducted by Dharmaraja. The incident resulted in equipping Pandavas with new weaponry in the form of a divine chariot, divine conch, a divine bow (Gandiva) and a mighty mace.  It established the supremacy of Pandavas and their ability to defeat even the gods.

Lavanya Vemsani is a scholar and professor of History specializing in Indian History and Religions, in the department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. She researches and publishes on subjects of ancient Indian history and religions as well as current history of India. In her book she opines that the destruction of Khāṃḍava was the foundation of the beginning of the independent Pandava state. When Pandavas staked their claim to a share of the Kuru empire, and the Kauravas gave a patch of wild area of forest near Indraprastha, Krishna helped Arjuna to in clearing the forest by burning it down’.

Points to ponder

1. What is the version of western historian about Aryan Invasion Theory? How have the modern historians refuted this theory?
2. What was the motto of inventing ‘Aryans’ as the original inhabitants of Europe who later on invaded India? Was it a ploy to denigrate Indian race?
3. How can you justify the actions of Arjuna and Krishna in the episode of Khāṃḍava dahana?

Footnotes

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[i] This story is taken from Adi Parva and Sabha Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Veda Vyasa.

Other references

1. Lavanya Vemsani, 2016, ‘Krishna in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Hindu Lord of Many names’, page 16.
2. Ramrao, M. (1959). Krishna, the Statesman. Sri Venkateswara Oriental Journal, 2. Retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/svuorientaljourn015501mbp/svuorientaljourn015501mbp_djvu.txt

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