Trinavarta (,
IAST: ) is an
asura
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...
who is featured in
Hindu literature
Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...
, most prominently in the
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...
. He is described to be a whirl-wind asura dispatched by
Kamsa to murder
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, but is slain by the deity instead.
Legend
Kamsa sent Trinavarta to kill his nephew. Assuming the form of a whirl-wind, Trinavarta carried away the sitting Krishna. He enveloped the whole of
Gokul
Gokul is a town in the Mathura district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Mathura. According to Bhagavata Purana, Krishna spent his childhood in Gokul.
Geography
The town has an average elevation of .
Demo ...
am with a cloud of dust and darkness, the resultant cover of sand particles causing great distress to
Yashoda, who attempted to find her son with the help of the
gopis. Even as the asura carried the deity to the sky, Krishna caused himself to possess enormous weight, halting the asura in his ascent, who was unable to carry him farther. The deity then proceeded to clasp his captor's throat with intense force, which paralysed him and pushed out his eye-sockets. The asura descended back to the region of
Vraja
Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Haryan ...
, where he was crushed to death upon a rock.
Nanda
Nanda may refer to:
Indian history and religion
* Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE
** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire
** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...
and the gopas discovered the infant dangling upon the chest of the slain asura, completely unharmed.
Literature
The
Brahma Vaivarta Purana
The ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; ) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (''Maha-purana'') of Hinduism. It is an important Vaishnavism text. This Purana majorly centers ar ...
offers details regarding the previous birth of Trinavarta. According to the text, Trinavarta was previously a mighty
Pandya king named Sahasraksha. Infatuated with passion, the king is stated to have engaged in amorous activities with a hundred damsels along the banks of a river named Pushpabhadra, located near the Gandhamadana mountain. The sage
Durvasa
In Hindu scriptures, Durvasa ( sa, दुर्वासा, ) also known as Durvasas (Sanskrit: दुर्वासस्), is a legendary rishi (sage). He is the son of Anasuya and Atri. According to some Puranas, Durvasa is a partial avat ...
appeared before Sahasraksha and the women, surrounded by his disciples. When the king failed to offer the sage the customary respect, he was cursed to be reborn as an asura, one whose liberation was to be received at the hands of Krishna.
The third volume of the
Rukminisha Vijaya
Rukminisha Vijaya (, ), is a Vaishnava work composed by the 16th-century Hindu, Madhava saint, Vadiraja Tirtha. It is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 19 chapters and 1,241 verses in various metres. The text is written in the ...
begins with Krishna's vanquishing of this asura.
See also
*
Aghasura
Aghasura (Sanskrit: अघासुर) is an asura featured in Hindu literature, most notably in the Bhagavata Purana. He was one of Kamsa's generals, and the elder brother of the demoness Putana and Bakasura.
Agha is stated to be as one of t ...
*
Vyomasura
*
Kaliya
Kaliya (IAST: Kāliya, Devanagari: कालिय), in Hindu traditions, was a venomous Nāga living in the Yamunā river, in Vṛndāvana. The water of the Yamunā for four leagues all around him boiled and bubbled with poison. No bird or ...
References
{{Reflist
Asura
Hinduism
Krishna