Narakasura: The Prisoners in the Fortress

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Dharma Katha · Season 4: The Road to Diwali · Episode 149 In the palace of a city in the far east, in the country we now call Assam, there are rooms full of women. Not a few. Thousands. Daughters of kings, daughters of gods, daughters of sages, taken one by one from their homes over many years, and kept. Some of them were girls when they were brought here. Some have stopped expecting anyone to come. Outside the palace, the city is ringed by walls of mountains. Beyond the mountains, by walls of weapons. Beyond the weapons, by water, and fire, and wind. And in the moat, coiled and sleeping, a demon with five heads, whose name is Mura. This is the city of Pragjyotisha. And its king is Naraka. Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 148 first. Source note. Label: scripture. Indra's complaint about Aditi's earrings, Varuna's umbrella and the Mani Parvata; Krishna's flight on Garuda with Satyabhama; the defences of Pragjyotisha and the nooses of Mura; the conch, Mura's rising and death; Mura's seven sons and their general Pitha; Naraka on his elephant and his death by the Sudarshana; Bhumi returning the stolen things, her prayer and her plea for Bhagadatta; the captive princesses and Krishna's marriage to them in as many forms; and the parijata tree, are in the Bhagavata Purana, Skandha ten, chapter fifty-nine. The number sixteen thousand one hundred follows the Vishnu Purana and popular tradition. Naraka's boon, Satyabhama slaying him, and his last request for a festival of lights are later regional tradition, not in the Bhagavata. Dialogue is close paraphrase. The reflections are my own. Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.