BHALANDAN AND VATSAPRI

Nabhag told his wife- ‘I would never accept the kingdom for the second time, which I had relinquished at the instruction of my father. He then instructed his son to rule over the kingdom he had won. Following his father’s instructions, Bhalandan started ruling over his kingdom. Later on, he got married and begot a son named Vatsapri. Vatsapri was married to Saunanda when he attained youth-hood. Vatsapri married her after killing the demon Kujrimbha. There was a king named  Vidurath.  He  had  two  sons  whose  names  were  Suniti  and  Sumati.  One  day,  while Vidurath was having his usual walk, he saw a large pit. He became very curious. Just then, a sage arrived at the scene whose name was Suvrat. Pointing his finger towards the pit, the king asked Suvrat as to what it was. The sage said- ‘A demon by the name of Kujrimbha lives inside this pit. He controls all the events, which occur on this earth and in heaven. He possesses a mace called Sunand and which was made by Vishwakarma. This large pit which you see is the result of the assault, he made with his mace. This demon is very cruel and wicked. He torments the deities and destroys the oblation sites of the sages. There is one very peculiar characteristic related with his  mace.  The mace  would  become powerless  if touched  by a  woman.  But  this  is  only a temporary change because it regains its power the next day. But this fact is unknown to the demon. After saying this, sage Suvrat went on his way.

King Vidurath returned to his palace and consulted his ministers. His daughter, Mudavati was listening to their conversation. One day, the demon abducted Mudavati. The king sent both his sons accompanied by a huge army to bring her back but the demon defeated them. The king made a declaration that he will marry his daughter to anybody who brings back his daughter and sons from the clutches of the demon.

Hearing his declaration, Vatsapri came to Vidurath and said- ‘Give me your permission. I will bring back your daughter and your sons after releasing them from the clutches of the demon.’ Vidurath gave the permission. Vatsapri entered into the nether land through that large pit. A tremendous battle ensued between him and the demon. This battle continued for three days. On the final day of the battle, the demon tried to take the help of his mace and went to grab hold of it. But sensing that the demon was going to pick up the mace, she immediately touched the mace as a result of which it became powerless. Being unaware of this happening, the demon attacked Vatsapri with that powerless mace. But he could not harm Vatsapri. Ultimately, Vatsapri was successful in killing the demon.

Vatsapri released all three of them- Suniti, Sumati and Mudavati from the demon’s captivity and brought them back to the king’s palace. After the death of the demon, Sheshnag acquired the mace. Mudavati’s name was later changed to Sunanda, after that mace. King Vidurath became very pleased and married Mudavati to Vatsapri.

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