Aghasura
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Aghasura (Sanskrit: अघासुर) is an asura featured in Hindu literature, most notably in the Bhagavata Purana. He was one of Kamsa's generals,[1][2] and the elder brother of the demoness Putana and Bakasura.
Agha is stated to be as one of the tribes that was in alliance with Kamsa.[3] The killing of Aghasura by Krishna is narrated by the sage Shuka to King Parikshit in the Bhagavata Purana.[4]
Legend
King Kamsa made many attempts on the life of Krishna, all of them failing.[5] He then sent Aghasura to kill Krishna, a deed which Aghasura willingly attempted to carry out, knowing that his younger siblings Putana and Bakasura were killed by Krishna.[6] He assumed the form of the 8-mile-long serpent, disguising his open mouth against a mountain.[7] All the cowherd boys entered the mouth of the demon, mistaking it to be a cavern.[8] When the serpent closed his mouth, the victims generally suffocated to death.[9]
Krishna entered the serpent upon his arrival and then increased the size of his own body.[10] In response, the demon also extended his own body's size, but started suffocating as Krishna was expanding more quickly than him, causing his eyes to pop out.[11] The demon's life force, however, could not pass through any outlet, and therefore burst out through a hole in the top of Agasura's head, meeting his end in Krishna's hand.[12]
See also
References
- ↑ A Dictionary of Hindu Mythology & Religion by John Dowson, Template:ISBN
- ↑ Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology
- ↑ A study of the Bhagavata Purana; or, Esoteric Hinduism by Purnendu Narayana Sinha, p. 247
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External links
- "The Killing of the Aghasura demon" - Bhagavata Purana, 10th Canto, translated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.