Summary of barbarIka upAkhyana in skanda purANa

Impotant note: This summary is based on
skandamahApurANam, Vol 1, prathamam mAheshvarakhaNDam, kaumArikAkhaNDam, Chowkhambha Sanskrit Series office, Varanasi, 2003
and
the English translation available at
http://nitaaiveda.com/All_Scriptures_By_Acharyas/Puranas/Skanda_Purana/Skanda_Puran.htm
Translation of the portion of Chapter 62 is by Satya Chaitanya

Chapters 59-66 are available in devanAgari at www.dvaipayana.net

Chapter 59, (pages 515-519) ghaTotkachasya k^RiShNasammatyA prAgjyotiShapuramprati gamanam

ghaTotakacha goes to the city of prAgjyotiSha with kR^iShNa's permission

Shaunaka said:
O Sauti! Tell us about the most wonderful greatness of the holy guptakShetra.
ugrashrava (Sauti) said:
I shall tell you the story as recited by vaishampAyana.
Long ago, after obtaining the daughter of drupada, pANDavas established their capital at indraprastha as suggested by dhR^itarAShtra. One day, as pANDavas were sitting in the royal assembly discussing various topics, bhIma's son, ghaTotkacha came there. pANDavas and k^RiShNa got up from their seats and embraced him. ghaTotkacha bowed down to them. yudhiShThira made ghaTotkacha sit on his lap affectionately and enquired about his and his mother hiDimbI's welfare. ghaTotkacha informed yudhiShThira that he has been governing his kingdom righteously and hiDimbI is well. yudhiShThira requested kR^iShNa to suggest a suitable wife for ghaTotkacha. kR^iShNa thought for a moment and said: kAmakaTa~NkaTa, the daughter of the demon mura, at prAgjyotiSha, is suitable to be the wife of ghaTotkacha. After I killed the demon mura, she fought with me. When I invoked sudarshana chakra to kill her, Goddess kAmAkhya appeared before me saying that she has granted invincibility to her along with a sword and shield. I agreed to stop fighting and requested the Goddess to make mura's daughter stop fighting as well. The Goddess embraced her devotee and asked her to stop fighting saying that even shiva cannot defeat kR^iShNa. The Goddess also told her that she will become the daughter-in-law of bhIma. Hearing this, Mura's daughter bowed down and offered her obeisance to me. I told her: Stay in prAgjyotiSha, ruled by naraka's son, bhagadatta. While residing at the city, you will marry the son of bhIma and hiDimbi. Mura's daughter made a condition that she will marry the man who conquers her by silencing her with questions as well as by subduing her in battle. Many demons went to win her in marriage but all of them were defeated by her.
Hearing this yudhiShThira said: O lord! This girl does not appear to be suitable for bhIma's son. Suggest someone else.
bhIma said: I approve what kR^iShNa said. Let hiDimbi's son bring mura's daughter.
arjuna said: Since Goddess kAmAkhya has predicted that ghaTotkacha will marry mura's daughter, let him leave for prAgjyotiSha at once.
kR^iShNa said: No one equals ghaTotkacha in prowess and intellect. Let him leave for prAgjyotiSha without any delay.
ghaTotakacha said: I am happy to obey your orders. He bowed down before pANDavas and kR^iShNa.
kR^iShNa said: Remember me at the time of debate. I will enhance your intellectual prowess.
ghaTotkacha rose up in the sky and departed for prAgjyotiSha.

Chapter 60 (Pages 520-523) ghaTotkachadvArA maurvyA barbarIka putrotpattivarNanam

ghaTotakacha obtains a son named barbarIka with maurvi

In the city of prAgjyotiSha, ghaTotkacha met a girl named karNaprAvaraNa. He asked her: I wish to see the daughter of Mura.
karNaprAvaraNa said: What is the use? Many suitors have come and all were killed by her.
ghaTotkacha said: Either I will win your mistress or I will be killed by her. Please go and inform her of my arrival immediately.
The girl informed mura's daughter. She asked her to show the visitor in at once.
ghaTotkacha entered and saw mura's daughter seated upon a swing.
ghaTotkacha said: I have come here as your guest. Please offer me hospitality.
kAmakaTa~NkaTa said: Sir, you have come here in vain. Return home alive. If you seek my love, tell me a story which confuses me. Otherwise, I will kill you.
ghaTotkacha remembered kR^iShNa and began to recite a story:
A young couple had a daughter. Soon after the wife died. The girl grew up to be a beautiful woman. The lustful father told his daughter: You are my neighbour's daughter. You were given to me so that you can be my wife. The girl accepted her father's words. Soon a daughter was born to them. Tell me whether the new born girl is his daughter or grand daughter.
mura's daughter could not find an answer. She became angry and struck the golden chain holding the swing with her fist. Millions of rAkhShasas and ferocious animals manifested and they rushed towards ghaTotkacha. ghaTotkacha snapped his fingers and created double the number of rAkhShasas. They swallowed the animals. Then the daughter of mura got up to pick up her sword. But ghaTotkacha chased her, grabbed her hair and made her fall on the floor. ghaTotkacha put his left foot on her neck and took a knife out to cut her nose. Then kAmakaTa~NkaTa said: You have defeated me by words, mystic power and physical strength. I am your servant. I will obey your orders. Please let me go.
mura's daughter told ghaTotkacha that Goddess kAmAkhya had predicted his arrival. The palace, her wealth and her followers now belong to him.
ghaTotkacha said: It is our family tradition that the wife carries the husband. Carry me to indraparastha. I shall marry you there after receiving the permission.
mura's daughter bade farewell to bhagadatta. She took ghaTotkacha on her back to indraprastha.
At indrapratha, ghaTotkacha married mura's daughter at an auspicious moment. With yudhiShThira's permission, ghaTotkacha returned to his kingdom with his wife.
ghaTotkacha got a son, who became a young man within a moment. His complexion was dark. His head was like a pot. The hair on his head stood up. ghaTotkacha said: Since you have hair like barbara, you will be known as barbarIka.

Chapter 61 (Pages 524-527) mahAvidyAsAdhane gaNeshvarakalpavarNanam

Description of worship of gaNeshvara for attaining the great knowledge

ghaTotkacha went with his son to dvAraka, travelling through the sky.
kR^iShNa welcomed ghaTotkacha and his son. ghaTotkacha said: O My lord! My son wants to ask you a question.
barbarIka asked: O mAdhava! How is that one who is born can attain his ultimate welfare?
kR^iShNa said: For brAhmaNas, austerity and study of vedas are the root causes of all welfare. For kShatriyas it is prowess and heroism. For vaishyas, cow protection, farming and mastery of arts and crafts are the causes of welfare. For shUdras, it is the service to men of higher classes. Since you are born in a kShatriya family, you should acquire incomparable prowess. Prowess is obtained by achieving the favour of Goddesses. Hence you should worship the Goddesses.
barbarIka asked: Which Goddess should I worship and at what place?
kR^iShNa said: You should go to mahISagara sangama (place where the earth and sea meet) and worship the Goddesses of four directions and nine forms of durga.
kR^iShNa continued: O ghaTotkacha. Your son is a noble hearted boy. I am giving him a second name - suhR^idaya.
kR^iShNa directed barbarIka to go to guptakShetra in mahIsaAgara sangama.
barbarIka went to guptakShetra and began to worship Goddess duraga. He worshipped the Goddess three times a day. After three years, the Goddess appeared before him and asked him to remain at the place for some more time. The Goddess said that a man named vijaya will help him.
There was a brAhmin named vijaya from magadha, who was educated at kAshi. He worshipped the Goddess. The Goddess appeared in a dream and said: Proceed to the place where my devotee, suhR^idaya will help you.
vijaya went to guptakShetra and met barbarIka (suhR^idaya). He said: There will not be any obstacles to the austerities.
vijaya worshipped the Lord of gaNas (gaNeshvara) with geNeshvaravidhAna.

Chapter 62 (Page 528-532) kAlikAyArudrAvirbhAvavarNanam

Description of the manifestation of kAlikA in her fury

shaunaka said:
Oh sUta, we have heard earlier of the birth of gaNesha. Now please tell us how the kShetrapAlas are to be worshipped. We are eager to hear that.
sUta said:
When the Gods were tormented by the daitya dAruka, they prostrated themselves before shiva seated with devI. They said to him: "Oh Lord, we are tormented by the terrible daitya who cannot be defeated by the gods and the asuras, and have been thrown out of our place. That evil one cannot be killed by viShNu or chandra or by anyone else other than you, the half-male half-female God. Please be the refuge to us who are suffering." Saying this, the Gods wept aloud crying repeatedly "Protect us, protect us". Hearing this shiva was overcome by compassion. pArvati then took the blackness in shiva's throat and created from it a terrifying female. Having released her own powers into that female form, the Auspicious One spoke these words: "Since you are surpassingly black, your name shall be kAlikA. Now go and destroy the wicked enemy of the Gods without delay". When she was told thus, kAlikA, roaring thunderously, went straight to dAruka and slayed him along with his followers, using her voice alone to rend his heart. She then went to the cremation grounds of avanti [Ujjain] and kept roaring in her terrible voice, rendering the world almost dead with her roars. The Great Lord rudra then assumed the form of a child for the sake of the world. Crying aloud, he went near kAlika in the cremation grounds, the abode of ghosts. Seeing the little baby crying, kAlika was overcome by compassion and took him in her lap. She suckled him, repeatedly telling him not to cry. Under the pretext of drinking the milk, the child drank up all the anger in her dark body - anger that was unendurably painful because it was born of the poison in shiva's neck. When her angry nature was drunk up by the child, kAli became gentle. The baby, having accomplished what he had to do, desired to give up his child form. Seeing this, the Gods, still terrified of kAlika, told the baby, "Child, be kind to us, do not give up your child form". And the baby told them, "Do not fear kAli anymore. She has become gentle now. But if you are still afraid, I shall create other boys -I shall create sixty-four kShetrapAlas". Saying this, shiva created the kShetrapalas from his own mouth. Having created the sixty-four kShetrapalas in the form of children, shiva the child told them, "Twenty-five of you shall live in the [different] heavens, twenty-five in the pAtAlas [the netherworlds] and fourteen of you shall remain on earth. Remaining in these places, you shall protect these worlds. Your abode shall be the cremation grounds and food offerings for you shall be a mixture of black grams and rice. Whoever performs any ritual without worshipping you, the acts of those people shall be fruitless and the results shall be eaten by evil spirits and rAkShasas". Having spoken thus, the Lord vanished right there. And the kShetrapAlas remained as they were instructed to. Thus have I described in detail the creation of the kShetrapAlas. Then sUta described the scheme of worshipping kShetrapAlas.

Chapter 63 (Pages 533-537) barbarIka (suhR^idaya) mahAvidyAprasannakaraNe nAnAvighnAnAm repalAdInAm sAhasenApakaraNam nAgairvarapradhAnam tatra kAryasiddhivarNanam

barbarIka (suhR^idaya) removes various obstacles in the attainment of great knowledge, nAgas grant boons, vijaya attains perfection

One night, a terrible demoness appeared. vijaya was terrified. The demoness attacked and barbarIka defeated her. The demoness pleaded for her life and barbarIka let her free.
In the midnight, a huge mountain appeared. barbarIka destroyed the mountain. One day, a mysterious naked mendicant came there. He said: Non violence is the greatest virtue (ahimsA paramo dharmaH). This is painful. Why is this fire burning? When a fire is lighted, many tiny living entities are burned to death.
barbarIka said: We are performing a sacrifice. This fire is the mouth of devas. You deserve to be punished.
Saying this, barbarIka punched the man. His teeth fell off to the ground. The man became unconscious. After some time he took a terrible form of a demon. He fled from there and entered a cave followed by barbarIka. Inside the cave there was a city named bahuprabha. Many demons attacked barbarIka and he killed them. The nAgas headed by vAsuki told barbarIka that they were harassed by the demon palAshi who appeared as a mendicant. nAgas offered a boon to barbarIka. barbarIka said: Let the brAhmin vijaya be freed of all obstacles and let him attain perfection. The nAgas granted the boon. barbarIka returned and soon vijaya attained perfection.

Chapter 64 (Pages 537-541) bhImabarbarIkavivAdaprasa~Nge bhImesvarali~NgapratiShTAvarNanam

Debate between bhIma and barbarIka, establishment of bhImeshvara

pANDavas who were exiled to the forest came there. pANDavas and barbarIka could not recognize each other. pANDavas were searching for water. yudhiShThira asked bhIma to first wash his feet with water and then enter the pond to drink water. As Bhima washed his feet, suhR^idaya asked: What are you doing? You are washing your feet in the pond belonging to the Goddess. I use this water to bathe the deity. You are making the water dirty. bhIma said: Water is meant to be used by all living beings. At a place of pilgrimage, one should bathe in the river or lake. barbarIka said: One should bathe in a flowing stream of water. One should take bath outside a pond, only if the water is not used for deities. Brahma says that those who dirty water at a holy place are equal to those who kill brAhmins. Hence come out at once! Only those whose mind and senses are under control will benefit from visiting holy places. bhIma said: In any case, I am going to drink water. suhR^idaya said: I will not allow you to commit a sin in my presence. Then both started fighting. barbarIka dashed bhIma to the ground. Then barbarIka picked up bhIma to throw him into the sea.
Then rudra, from the sky, asked barbarIka to let his grandfather bhIma go. barbarIka released bhIma immediately. barbarIka requested bhIma to forgive him. barbarIka said: I have inflicted pain on my grandfather and hence I want to give up my body.
Saying this barbarIka jumped into the sea. Then the Goddess appeared along with shiva and told him: Do not give up your life. You are destined to die at the hands of kR^iShNa. Wait for that time to arrive.
bhIma established a shiva-linga known as bhImeshvara.

Chapter 65 (Pages 542-548) yudhishThirakR^itam devIstavanam tatra yudhiShThirabhImayorvisamvAdaH bhImadvArA svanetrAndhatvamapAkartum prArthanAkeleshvaryAdi devIsthapanam

Hymn to Goddess by yudhiShThira, debate between yudhiShThira and bhIma, bhIma becomes blind, establishment of places of Goddess worship

yudhiShThira began to prepare for their departure. He offered prayers to Goddess durga by chanting a hymn. Then bhIma said: Why are you worshipping the Goddess? You should worship kR^iShNa or shiva. You should not seek the refuge in a woman.
Immediately bhIma lost his eyesight.
yudhiShThira said: Definitely, the Goddess must be angry with you. You should appease the Goddess by worshipping her.
Both worshipped the Goddess. The Goddess appeared and said: I am yogamAyA, daughter of nanda and sister of kR^iShNa. I will assist you in the war against kauravas. After that you will rule the earth for thirtysix years, before taking your final journey to the North. Then the Goddess disappeared.
yudhiShThira and bhIma advised barbarIka to remain at mahIsAgara sangama. The pANDavas continued their pilgrimage.

Chapter 66 (Pages 548-556) kurukShetre kauravapANDavasainyayor yuddhAya sajjitayorbhImenayudhiShThirasamvAda tatra pANDavapkshIyerarjunAdibhir yuddhe sainyasamhArayasamayAsImanirdhAraNe barbarIkena svahastalAghavapradarshanam kR^iShNenachakradvAra tachChiraH kartanam tasmaishirase devIvarapradAnena amaratvapradAnam guptakShetramAhAtmyam parisamAptiH

Debate between yudhiShThira and other pANDavas, barbarIka shows his prowess, kR^iShNa cuts off barbarIka's head, Goddess grants immortality to barbarIka's head, end of description of greatness of guptakShetra

When the period of exile expired, the pANDavas went to kurukShetra.
yudhiShThira asked: Who can vanquish the enemy within what time?
arjuna said: I can kill all the kauravas and their army single handedly.
barbarIka said: Let arjuna and kR^iShNa stand and watch, while I vanquish the kauravas and their army within one and a half hours.
kR^iShNa asked: How can you vanquish the army within a few minutes?
barbarIka strung his bow and fixed an arrow. The arrow was covered by ash, received from Goddess durga. When the arrow was shot, the ash fell on the vulnerable spots of all the soldiers of both sides, except the pANDavas, kR^ipa and ashwattAma.
barbarIka said: Now I will shoot arrows that never miss their mark at all these vulnerable spots and kill all of them.
Hearing this, kR^iShNa invoked his sudarshana chakra and cut off barbarIka's head.
Everyone asked kR^iShNa: What is this? pANDavas started crying.
Goddess durga appeared and consoled ghaTotkacha.
She said: Listen to the reason why your son was killed by kR^iShNa. When devas assembled at mount meru, Goddess Earth asked to relieve her burden. The devas prayed viShNu to remove the earth's burden and viShNu agreed to incarnate. Then a yakSha named sUryavarchas said: O Lord! Why should you go to earth for this? I will go to earth and destroy all wicked persons.
Brahma said: At the beginning of the great battle to remove the burden of earth, you will be killed by kR^iShNa.
The yakSha requested viShNu: Please give me intelligence to accomplish a great task.
viShNu said: People will worship your head and Goddesses will be fond of you.
Goddess durga sprinkled nectar on barbarIka's head making it immortal.
barbarIka's head asked for a favour of witnessing the battle.
barbarIka's head ascended to the top of a hill and watched the battle of kurukShetra.
After the battle was over, yudhiShThira said to kR^iShNa: We survived the battle because you protected us.
bhIma said: I killed all the sons of dhR^itarAhtra. You are ignoring dhR^iShTadyumna, arjuna, sAtyaki and me.
arjuna said: None of us killed our enemies. I always saw someone subtly situated in front of me, killing those who opposed me. I could not recognize who that person was.
bhIma said: That must be a hallucination. Let us ask my grandson who was watching the battle from the top of the hill.
barbarIka said: I saw someone fighting with the enemies. On the left side he had five faces and othe right side, one. On the left, he had ten arms and on the right, four, holding various weapons. On the left, he had matted hair and on the right, a crown. The left side of his body was smeared with ashes and the right side with sandalwood paste. On the left he was adorned with moon and on the right with kausthubha. He killed all the enemies.
As soon as this was said, there was a shower of flowers from the sky and the playing of musical instruments were heard.
bhIma felt ashamed and heaved heavy sighs.
kR^iShNa grabbed him firmly by the hands and said, "Come with me. kR^iShNa thought of garuDa, who instantly appeared. kR^iShNa took bhIma and together, they mounted garuDa. Soon, they crossed the ocean and sighted lanka. kR^iShNa pointed to a lake twelve yojanas long and told bhIma, "If you are actually a bold warrior then fetch some earth from the bottom of this lake". bhIma immediately dove into the water. After going down one yojana, however, bhIma could not sight the bottom. Disappointed, he came out of the lake and said, "This lake is fathomless. Some powerful beings almost ate me but I managed to come out". kR^iShNa then laughingly lifted up the lake with His thumb so that it became one-fourth its size. In response to bhIma's astonishment, kR^iShNa explained, "Long ago, rAma killed the terrible rAkShasha, kumbhakarNa, cutting off his head. This is the place where kumbhakarNa's tongue landed. Now, we should return to your brothers because ashvattAma is up to something. bhIma bowed down and begged for forgiveness and kR^iShNa happily replied, "It is forgiven".

Towards the end of this chapter, the following hymn addressed to barbarIka occurs:
stavaM chA.asyapravakShyAmi yena tuShyati yakSharAT || 66-114
jayajaya chaturashItikoTiparivAra sUryavarchAbhidAna yakSharAja jaya
bhUbhAraharaNapravR^itta laghushApaprAptanaiR^itiyonisambhava jaya
kAmakaNTakaTAkukShirAjahaMsa jaya ghaTotkachAnandavardhana barbarIkAbhidhAna
jaya kR^iShNopadiShTa shrIguptakShetra devIsamArAdhanaprAptAtulavIrya jaya
vijaya siddhidAyaka jaya
pi~NgalArepalendraduhadruhAnavakoTIshvarapalAshanadAvAnala
jaya bhUpAtAlAntarAle nAgakanyAparihAraka jaya bhImamAnamardana jaya
sakalakauravasenAvadhamuhUrtapravR^itta jaya shrIkR^iShNa varalabdha sarva
varapradhAnasAmarthya jaya jaya kalikAlavandita namonamste pAhipAhIti || 66-115


Summary prepared by A. Purushothaman
26th February 2011