| Samba | |
|---|---|
 Samba, holding a cup, in the Kondamotu Vrishni heroes relief, 4th century CE | |
| Texts | Bhagavata Purana,Devi-Bhagavata Purana,Mahabharata,Samba Purana,Skanda Purana |
| Gender | Male |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Spouse | Lakshmanaa(Kaurava princess) [1][2] |
| Dynasty | Yaduvamsha-Chandravamsha |
| Vrishni heroes |
|---|
 |
Samba (Sanskrit:साम्ब;IAST:sāmba) was a son of theHindu godKrishna and his second consort,Jambavati. His foolish prank brought an end to theYadu dynasty.[3]
In the 1st century BC, there seems to be evidence for a worship of fiveVrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna,Pradyumna,Aniruddha, and Samba), due to theMora Well Inscription found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the greatsatrapRajuvula, probably thesatrap Sodasa and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors".[4] The Brahmi inscription can be seen on theMora stone slab, now in theMathura Museum.[5][6]
TheMahabharata and theDevi Bhagavata Purana narrate the story of the birth of Samba. Jambavati was unhappy when she realized that only she had not given birth to a child while all the other wives had many children. She approached Krishna to find a solution and to be blessed with a son like the handsomePradyumna, Krishna's first-born son.
Krishna knew this son would herald in the destruction of the Yadu clan, and therefore needed to be a form of Shiva's destructive energy. Then Krishna went to the hermitage of the sageUpamanyu in theHimalayas and as advised by the sage, he started to pray to the godShiva. He performed his penance for six months in various postures; once holding a skull and a rod, then standing on one leg only in the next month and surviving on water only, during the third month he did penance standing on his toes and living on air only. Pleased with the austerities, Shiva finally appeared before Krishna as Samba, (Ardhanarishvara) the half-female, half-male form of the god Shiva-Shakti, asked him to ask a boon. Krishna then sought a son from Jambavati, which was granted. A son was born soon thereafter, named Samba, the form Shiva had appeared before Krishna.[7][8]
According toBhagavata Purana, Jambavati was the mother of Samba, Sumitra, Purujit, Shatajit, Sahasrajit, Vijaya, Chitraketu, Vasuman, Dravida and Kratu.[9] TheVishnu Purana says that she has many sons headed by Samba.
Samba grew up to be a nuisance to the race.Lakshmanaa, who was the daughter ofDuryodhana and younger sister ofLakshmana Kumara had come of age.[10] Her father arranged herswayamvara and many princes came to win her hand. Samba had heard of Lakshmana and wanted to marry her. He went to her swayamvara and abducted her. He defeated the Kurumaharathis who pursued him but was finally caught. He was arrested by the Kuru elders and thrown in prison.[8]
Lakshmana's swayamvara was re-arranged, but no other prince was willing to marry her, since it was considered that a woman abducted by another man belonged to that man. The princes were actually afraid of the Yadavas who might attack them on Samba's behalf. Balarama, who was fond of his notorious nephew, went to Hastinapura to bail him out. The Kurus refused. Balarama became enraged and started smashing up the palace. Soon after, Duryodhana apologised for their conduct. Balarama was pacified and ordered the Kurus to free Samba. Duryodhana then married his daughter off to Samba. Samba and Lakshmanaa had ten children.[8]
According toMahabharata'sMausala Parva, Samba died because some Rishis cursed him that he will die from his father's hand.[11][1][12]
In another version of the tale, one day, Samba teased the sage Narada for his looks. The sage felt humiliated and was infuriated. He decided to teach Samba a lesson. He lured Samba to the private bathing pool where his stepmothers were taking baths. Finding intrusion on their privacy, they all complained to Krishna. Krishna was mortified to learn that his son had been peeping and cursed him to suffer from leprosy. Samba pleaded his innocence and expressed that he was misled by Narada. Krishna found it to be true and repented for his action in haste. As the curse cannot be revoked, he advised Samba to pray to Surya who alone can cure him of the deadly disease and Surya destroyed Sambha's leprosy.[13]
TheSamba Purana consists of the narrative of Samba getting infected by leprosy, after being cursed by sageDurvasa for mocking him. Later, he got cured by worshippingSurya in the temple constructed by him in Mitravana on the banks of theChandrabhaga, which was onceMultan Sun Temple.[14] Samba underwent penance for 12 years in Mitravana near the shores of Chandrabhaga.[15] Both the originalKonark Sun Temple and theMultan Sun Temple[16] atMultan, earlier known as Kashyapapura, have been attributed to Samba. He was cured by the Sun GodSurya after 12 years of penance nearKonark. Samba deeply chanted and meditated toward Surya and Surya destroyed Sambha's leprosy. Similarly in theMithila region, he built originalKandaha Surya Mandir also known asMarkandeyark Surya Mandir at Kandaha village of the presentSaharsa district in the state ofBihar, to get rid from the curse.[17] As a tradition in the state ofOdisha,India this day is celebrated asSamba Dashami on the 10th day of the Shukla Paksha ofPaushaMasa. On this day, mothers and fathers pray to Surya for the health of their children.
At the end ofKurukshetra war, all 100 ofGandhari's sons, theKauravas, were killed by their cousins, thePandavas, who were aided by Krishna. Pandavas also lost all of their sons. Gandhari cursed Krishna for allowing all this destruction to happen. She cursed that he, his city and all his subjects would be destroyed. Krishna accepted the curse.[18][19]
The bookMausala Parva describes the fulfillment of the curse 36 years after the end of the great war. With Yudhisthira's realm now peaceful and prosperous, the youth of the Yadava clan have become frivolous and hedonistic. Samba dresses up as a woman and his friends meet RishiVishwamitra,Durvasa,Vashista,Narada and otherrishis, who were visiting Dwaraka for an audience with Krishna. The young man playfully pretending to be a woman claims that he is pregnant and asks the rishis to predict the gender of the baby. One rishi sees through the prank. In a fit of rage, he curses that Samba will give birth to an iron bolt (Gada (mace) a weapon) that will destroy his entire race. As per the curse, the next day, Samba gave birth to an iron rod. The youth informed KingUgrasena of what had happened. Ugrasena ordered Samba to crush the rod into powder and cast it into the Prabhas sea. The powder washed up onto the seashore and grew into long reeds of eraká grass. Later on in the story, the Yadavas are at that same seashore for a festival, when a fight breaks out between them all. Not having any weapons to hand, the Yadavas break off the eraká grass, which they discovered was as strong as iron, and use this to kill each other. Thus, the iron bolt destroys the entire Yadava Clan.
One larger piece of the bolt was swallowed by a fish. That same fish was caught by a hunter named Jara, who in his past life wasVali in theRamayana. He removed the iron piece from his catch and noticing that it had a point and arrowhead-like shape, sharpened it as such and stuck it onto the tip of one of his arrows. The hunter Jara mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for a deer and shot the arrow. The arrow mortally wounded Krishna resulting in his departure from the earth.[20]
