Part 10: Kidnaping of Pradyumna

Then the god Dhūmaketu, because of former enmity, came disguised as Rukmiṇī, took the child from Kṛṣṇa and went to Vaitāḍhya. He went to the garden Bhūtaramaṇa on Taṅkaśilā and thought: “Shall I kill him by striking him? In that case, he does not suffer. If I abandon him on top of the rock, he, without food and suffering from thirst, crying, will die.” Dropping him down there, he went away.

The boy, whose life could not be taken away by any device because he had his final body,^[1] fell uninjured in a spot marked by many leaves. At dawn the aerial car of the Khacārin Kālasaṃvara stalled there, as he was going to his own city from Agnijvālapura. Wondering at the reason for the car’s stalling, the lord of Khecaras descended and saw below the child with a great brilliance. Thinking, “He is some distinguished person, the reason for the car’s stalling,” he delivered a son to his wife Kanakamālā by means of the boy. Having gone to his own city, Meghakūṭa, the Khecara said, “My wife was secretly pregnant. Now she has borne a son.” Saṃvara^[2] held a birth-festival for the boy on an auspicious day and gave him the name Pradyumna, because he lighted up the sky.

Now, Rukmiṇī came and asked Kṛṣṇa, “Where is your son?” Viṣṇu told her, “You took him away just now.” Asked by her again, “Why do you deceive me, lord?” Kṛṣṇa searched for his son many times saying, “I have been tricked by someone.” When no news of the son was obtained, Rukmiṇī fell in a faint. When she was conscious again, she and her attendants cried aloud. The Yadus and their wives were all grieved, with the exception of Satyabhāmā alone and her household.

“Is there no news yet of the son of the powerful Viṣṇu?” saying this, Rukmiṇī gave pain to Kṛṣṇa, suffering. Nārada came to the council of Śārṅgin, who was depressed, with all the Yadus there and said, “What’s this?” Kṛṣṇa said: “Rukmiṇī’s son was taken from my hand by some one, as soon as he was born. Do you know the truth about him?” Nārada said: “There was here Atimuktaka, who was omniscient, but he has attained emancipation. Now there is no one in Bharata who is omniscient. The Tīrthakara Sīmandhara destroys all doubts. Now I shall go to the East Videhas and ask him, Hari.” Begged by Kṛṣṇa and all the other Yadus, who paid him homage, Nārada went quickly to the place where the Lord Sīmandhara was.

Bowing to the Jina who was in a samavasaraṇa, he asked, “Where is the son of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī now, Blessed One?” The Master said, “Kṛṣṇa’s son, named Pradyumna, was taken by a trick by the god, Dhūmaketu, an enemy in a former birth. He was abandoned by him on a rock on Mt. Vaitāḍhya, but he did not die. He can not be killed by anyone because this is his last body. At dawn he was seen by the Khacārin Saṃvara, as he passed, and was given to his wife as a son. Now he is thriving.”

Nārada asked again: “How did Dhūmaketu’s enmity in a former birth arise?” and the Master related:

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Before emancipation.

[2]:

Kālasaṃvara, above.