A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1372

c5.1372

PRADYUMNA. A son of Krishna by Rukminī. When a child only six days old, he was stolen by the demon Sambara and thrown into the ocean. There he was swallowed by a fish, which was afterwards caught and carried to the house of Sambara. When the fish was opened, a beautiful child was discovered, and Māyā-devī or Māyā-vatī, the mistress of Sambara’s household, took him under her care. The sage Nārada informed her who the child was, and she reared him carefully. When he grew up she fell in love with him, and informed him who he was and how he had been carried off by Sambara. He defied the demon to battle, and after a long conflict slew him. Then he flew through the air with Māyāvati, and alighted in the inner apartments of his father’s palace. Krishna presented him to his mother Rukminī “with the virtuous Māyāvatī his wife,” declaring her really to be the goddess Rati. Pradyumna also married Kakudmatī, the daughter of Rukmin, and had by her a son named Aniruddha.