A History of Assam c7.s2.12

c7.s2.12

Ghatak, it is said, was defeated and slain by Narak Asur, who is the hero of various stories told in the Purāns and Tantras.‡ According to these legends he was born of the earth by Vishnu, in his pig incarnation, and was brought up by Janak, the king of Videha or North Bihār. He made Prāgjyotishpur (the modern Gauhāti) his capital, and settled numerous Brāhmans at Kāmākhyā. There is a hill near Gauhāti which is still known as the hill of Narak Asur. His rule extended from the Karatoya on the west, to the Dikrāng on the east. He married Māyā, the daughter of the king of Vidarbha, and was greatly favoured by Vishnu, who taught him to worship the Goddess Kāmākhyā. At first he was pious and prospered, but afterwards he came under the influence of Bān Asur, king of Sonitpur, and grew irreligious and presumptuous. He asked Kāmākhyā to take him as her husband, and she assented, on condition that he erected a temple to her on Nilāchal and also constructed a tank and a road to the temple in a single night. He had almost accomplished this task, when the Goddess caused a cock to crow and, claiming this as a proof that day had come, evaded her promise and refused to marry him. Overcome with rage, Narak slew the cock, and the place where he did this is still known as Kukurākātā. By this act he lost for ever the favour of the Goddess.