Bhagavatapurana 10.62

1. The king said:— It is said that Anirudha, a foremost son of Yadavas, married Usha, Bana's daughter and that in that connection a great and terrible fighting took place between Hari and Sankara, O great yogin. May thou be pleased to give a full account thereof!

2. Sri Suka said: — Bana is the eldest of the hundred sons of the great Bali by whom the earth was given to Hari who came in the form of Vamana.

3. His (Bali's) own son, Bana, was always delighted in devoting himself to Siva: he was respectable, liberal, intelligent, truthful and firm in vows.

4. In former times he was reigning over a kingdom with his capital at the beautiful city of Sonita: through the grace of Sambhu the gods behaved towards him, like servants: endowed with thousand arms he delighted the god Siva by his dance and by playing upon instruments of music.

5. The worshipful Ruler of all the Bhutas, fit to be sought after for shelter, kind to his votaries, asked Bana to choose some boon of kingship of the city.

6. Once when Siva stood by him, Bana, mad in his strength, touched the god's lotus feet with his crown brilliant like the sun and said.

7. I worship thee, O Madhava, the preceptor and ruler of worlds, the celestial tree that fulfils all the desires of those who have not had the fill of their desires.

8. The thousand arms given by thee have only became a burden to me: for except thee, I do not find any one who could, in all the three worlds, fight with me.

9. O the First One, prompted by the impatient arms and eager to fight I proceeded against the elephants of the cardinal points, powdering the hills on my way and they in terror ran away. 10. On hearing that, the worshipful Siva grew angry and said, "O foolish one, when thy flag is broken, thou wilt have a fight with one equal to me and it will cure thee of thy haughtiness".

9. O the First One, prompted by the impatient arms and eager to fight I proceeded against the elephants of the cardinal points, powdering the hills on my way and they in terror ran away. 10. On hearing that, the worshipful Siva grew angry and said, "O foolish one, when thy flag is broken, thou wilt have a fight with one equal to me and it will cure thee of thy haughtiness".

11. Thus told, the asura of crooked sense, gladly returned home and was excepting the fulfilment of Siva's prediction, which only indicated the loss of his prowess.

12. His daughter called Usha dreamt as if she enjoyed her life with the son of Pradyumna, as her consort, whom she had not seen or heard of.

13. On opening her eyes she did not find him, rose with the words, "Where art thou, my lord" in the midst of the maids of honour and she was bewildered and felt very much abashed.

14. Bana had a minister called Kumbhanda and his daughter was Chitralekha, a companion of Usha; in her great curiosity she enquired of her friend Usha.

15. O beautiful one, Whom art thou in search of? What is thy fancy? O princess, I don't think that as yet thou hast had any suitor for thy hand.

16. Usha said:—In my dream was seen a certain person of blue complexion, with lotus eyes, dressed in golden raiment, of very long arms, most charming to the heart of women.

17. That lovely object I am in search of, who, having allowed me to kiss his honeyed lips, has gone somewhere, leaving me in the sea of anxiety (grief).

18. Chitralekha said:—I shall remove thy anxiety if possible, searching through all the three worlds; I shall bring him who has possessed thy heart: tell me who it is.

19. Having said this, she drew life-like portraits of the gods, Gandharvas, siddhas, charanas, pannagas, daityas, vidhyadharas, yakshas and also of men.

20. & 21. O great king, among men she drew the portraits of Vrishnis, Sura, Vasudeva, Rama and Krishna and Pradyumna to see whom she felt shy and seeing Anirudha's portraits she stood looking down in shyness and smiling, she said, "it is he."

20. & 21. O great king, among men she drew the portraits of Vrishnis, Sura, Vasudeva, Rama and Krishna and Pradyumna to see whom she felt shy and seeing Anirudha's portraits she stood looking down in shyness and smiling, she said, "it is he."

22. Chitralekha possessed of yoga powers, knowing him to be Krishna's grandson, journeyed through the air to Dwaraka protected by Krishna. 23. Thence she bore away the son of Pradyumna who was sleeping on a fine bed and by making use of her yogic powers, brought him to Shonitapura and showed her friend the object of her love.

22. Chitralekha possessed of yoga powers, knowing him to be Krishna's grandson, journeyed through the air to Dwaraka protected by Krishna. 23. Thence she bore away the son of Pradyumna who was sleeping on a fine bed and by making use of her yogic powers, brought him to Shonitapura and showed her friend the object of her love.

24. She was rejoiced to see that most beautiful person and in her apartment inaccessible to the eyes of males, she found joy in Pradyumni's company.

25. He was honoured with very valuable clothes, wreaths, spices, incense, lights, seats and the like, drinks, eatables, and sweets, with fine conversation and other attentions.

26. Living concealed in the apartment of maidens, with his senses captivated by Usha whose love to him grew every moment, he was not mindful of the many, many days that rolled away.

27. (When she was thus living with the Yadava warrior and lost her maiden-hood,) people drew inferences from the marks that cannot be concealed that she was in a specially delightful course of life. (that she was profiled. V.)

28. The servants informed Bana thus, "O king, we notice that thy daughter's conduct, maiden as she is, is such as to cast a stain on thy family.

29. "In her house guarded by us constant at our posts, we are not aware, O lord, of any interference with the maiden as it is not possible for males to see her there."

30. Thereupon much distressed to hear of his daughter's pollution, Bana made haste and went to the apartment of maidens and noticed there the eminent son of Yadu race.

31. He saw him who was the son of Pradyumna (Kama), the one most beautiful person in the world, clad in pitambara, of lotus-like eyes, of long arms, his face glowing with the effulgence of his ear-rings and curly locks and smiling looks.

32. Bana was astounded to see him playing at dice with his beloved one in festive delight and wearing between his arms a garland of jasmine flowers of the spring season, tinged with the saffron on her breast in his embraces and seated in front of her.

33. Seeing him enter, surrounded with ruffian soldiers, the son of Madhu's race took up an iron bolt and stationed himself like Yama, the weilder of the rod, determined to strike down (any that might approach him).

34. He struck them like a great boar that kicks away the dogs, those who on all sides made towards him, intent on catching hold of him: and beaten by him they had their heads and arms broken and ran out of the apartment.

35. The powerful Bana, son of Bali, was enraged to see him, striking down his forces and bound with the chords of Naga: Usha was perplexed with grief and anxiety to see him bound and wept aloud with tears running down her eyes.