Story of Aṅgāraka

An Asura who took the form of a pig. The story of how this Asura was killed by his daughter Aṅgāravatī, is given below.

Long ago there was an emperor named Mahendravarmā in Ujjayinī. His son Mahāsena did penance for a long time to get a wife and a sword. At last Devī appeared and granted the boon: "My son! take this extraordinary sword. So long as you have this sword, your enemies will not prevail against you. Aṅgāravatī, the renowned beauty of the three worlds, who is the daughter of the Asura Aṅgāraka, will become your wife in due course. As you do horrible deeds, you will be called Caṇḍamahāsena". He was given the sword and a tusker called Naḍāgiri. One day Mahāsena went to the forest for hunting. He saw a very large pig. The King used his arrows. But they did little harm to the pig. Moreover it turned the chariot of the King over to one side and ran to a cave. The King followed it with fury. On the way he sat on the bank of a lake with wonder, for a lady of exquisite beauty was walking along the mossy turf in the midst of some maids. Slowly she approached the King and talked with him. The young lady had entirely captured the heart of the King, who told her everything. She began to weep. "Who are you? Why do you weep?" The King asked her. She replied with a deep sigh. "The pig you saw, is my father Aṅgārakāsura. His body is as hard as diamond and not vulnerable to any sort of weapon. These maids have been caught by him from various royal houses and brought here for my help. My name is Aṅgāravatī. My father was changed to a giant by a curse. Now he is asleep discarding the form of pig. When he wakes up, filled with hunger and thirst, he will do you harm. My tears flowed out in the form of heated life-breaths, when I thought of these things."

The King said, "Go and sit by him and cry when he wakes up. He will ask the reason. Then tell him that you had been crying, when you thought how forlorn you would be without a mate, in case your father was killed by somebody". Aṅgāravatī did as she was told. Hearing her words Aṅgāraka said, "My daughter! No body can kill me. My body is made of diamond. There is only one vulnerable point in my body which is on my left forearm and it is always covered with my bow."

The king hid himself closely and heard everything. He fought with the Asura and hitting at the vuinerable point killed him. The king married Aṅgāravatī and took her to his palace. Two sons were born to him. They were called Gopālaka and Pālaka. By the grace of Indra a daughter also was born to him by her and she was Vāsavadattā, the wife of the famous Udayana. (Kathāsaritsāgara, Kathāmukhalambaka, Taraṅga 3).