Usha (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

: उषा, IAST: Uṣā) is a character in

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and r ...

. She is the daughter of the

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 ...

king Banasura and the wife of Aniruddha, the grandson of

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 on ...

. Her story of falling in love with Aniruddha and wedding him is described 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 ...

Legend

One day, Usha saw a young man in her dream, made love to him, and fell in love with him. Chitralekha, a friend of Usha a talented artist, helped Usha to identify the young man seen in her dream by sketching various portraits of the Vrishnis. Usha realised that she had dreamt of Aniruddha, the grandson of

. Chitralekha, through her yogic powers, shrunk Aniruddha to the size of a doll, abducted him from the palace of Krishna and brought him to Shonitapura. Usha worshipped her lover and furnished him with priceless garments, garlands, fragrances, lamps, and with beverages, dishes, and words. Breaking her vow of chastity with him, she kept him hidden in her maiden quarters, and the lovers lost track of the days. Catching wind of his daughter's activities, Banasura rushed to her chambers to find her playing dice with doll sized Aniruddha. Even as the prince fended off the guards, Banasura subdued him with the mystical ropes of

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, suc ...

due to Aniruddha's shrunken state. Usha was overwhelmed with sorrow due to this incident. Aniruddha was held captive by Banasura for a month, until Narada informed the Yadus in Dvaraka, who were searching for Aniruddha. The Yadus' army attacked Banasura in a great battle. When the Yadu princes and their army besieged his kingdom with 12 akshauhinis, surrounding it completely. Banasura staged a fierce counterattack. During the war,

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

appeared on the battlefield, riding on Nandi, to protect his devotee, Banasura. Balarama fought against Banasura's commander, while Samba fought against Banasura's son. To bear witness, the leaders of the godly souls headed by Brahma came in their celestial vehicles, as also the sages, the perfected souls, and the venerable personalities, the singers and apsaras of heaven, and the yakshinis. Krishna and Shiva faced each other. Krishna used a ''brahmastra'' against Shiva's ''brahmastra'', a mountain weapon against a wind weapon, a rain weapon against a fire weapon, and his ''narayanastra'' against Shiva's ''pasupatiastra''.

Kartikeya Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hinduism, Hindu List of war deities, god of war. He is the son of Parvati an ...

, assaulted by Pradyumna's arrows, fled the battlefield on his peacock. After duelling with

Satyaki Yuyudhana ( sa, युयुधान, '), better known as Satyaki ( sa, सात्यकि, ), was a powerful Yadava chieftain of Narayani Sena, belonging to the Vrishni clan to which Krishna also belonged. According to the Puranas, he was th ...

, Bana took up arms against

. However, Krishna blew his conch and instantly, Banasura's charioteer was killed and his chariot broken and shattered. Srikrishn_fights_with_Banasura

In a desperate attempt to save Banasura, Kothara, his mother, stood naked before Krishna with her hair dishevelled. When the deity looked away, the asura fled to the city. When Shiva's forces had been defeated, Jvara, the embodiment of Shiva's fever, bearing three heads and three feet, attacked Krishna with scorching heat. Krishna produced his own Jvara of frigid coldness, and the two fought each other. Overwhelmed by Vishnu's fever, Shiva's Jvara offered its surrender and obeisance to Krishna and departed. Meanwhile, Balarama defeated Banasura's commander. Bana rode forth upon his chariot to fight with Krishna, and the latter fought back with his Sudarshana Chakra. When Krishna started chopping Banasura's arms,

returned to his senses and extolled the glories of

, not to kill Banasura, whom he had bestowed with fearlessness. Obliging, Krishna replied that he had never intended to kill Banasura, since he was the son of Bali and the grandson of the devout Prahlada. Vishnu had promised Bali not to kill any member of his family, and therefore would not slay him. However, Krishna severed Banasura's extra arms to destroy the latter's pride, leaving Banasura with only four arms. Banasura realised his mistake and bowed his head before Krishna, arranging for a chariot to seat Aniruddha and Usha for their wedding in Dvaraka.

Rebirth

According to the Shiva Purana, Usha and Aniruddha were reborn as Behula and Lakshindar in the next life and married each other again.

In popular culture

The story of and Usha (as ''Okha'' in Gujarati) is depicted in the 18th century Gujarati

Akhyana Akhyana was a traditional musical theatre as well as medieval genre of Gujarati poetry and Rajasthani poetry. It was primarily practiced in Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. Etymology and definition ''Akhyana'' literally means ''to tell'' or ...

entitled ''Okhaharan'' by Premanand Bhatt. A 1901 Telugu language play titled '' Usha Parinayam'' written by Vedam Venkataraya Sastry was based on story of Usha.{{Cite book, last=Leiter, first=Samuel L., url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JttNAAAAYAAJ&q=Usha+Parinayam+play, title=Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N, date=2007, publisher=Greenwood Press, isbn=978-0-313-33530-3, language=en The play was also taken as a Telugu film in 1961 by Kadaru Nagabhushanam under Rajarajeswari films. '' Usha Kalyanam'' is a 1936 Tamil-language film directed by

K. Subramaniam K. Subramaniyam (20 April 1904 – 7 April 1971), born Krishnasamy Subramaniyam, was an Indian film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Dancer Padma Subrahmanyam is his daughter. Biography Subramanyam was involved in the establishment of the ...

Legend

Rebirth

In popular culture

References