A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.680

c5.680

In the Purāṇas many stories are told of him, and he appears especially in rivalry with Krishna. He incurred the wrath of the choleric sage Dur-vāsas by slighting a garland of flowers which that sage presented to him, and so brought upon himself the curse that his whole dominion should be whelmed in ruin. He was utterly defeated by the Daityas, or rather by their ally, Raja, son of Āyus, and grandson of Purūravas, and he was reduced to such a forlorn condition that he, “the god of a hundred sacrifices,” was compelled to beg for a little sacrificial butter. Puffed up by their victory, his conquerors neglected their duties, and so they became the easy prey of Indra, who recovered his dominion. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa represents him as having killed a Brāhman, and of being haunted by that crime, personified as a Chāṇḍālī.