Balarama, also known as Balabhadra, is the elder brother of Lord Krishna. He is said to be the avatar of Shesha. According to legend, Shesha is said to be the king of all snakes, and holds the entire universe on its hood. Lord Vishnu is often depicted to be resting on Shesha. Being so close, it is obvious for the two to be born as brothers, Lord Krishna and Balram. Balrama is the third avatar of Shesha, the others being Sheshnag, Lakshman, and Ramanuj.

He is said to have a fair complexion, and clad in a dark blue vest, thus the name Nilavastra. He uses the plough (hala), club (khetaka) and the pestle (musala) as his weapons, and he is called Halayudha, Halabhrit and Musali because of this. He was addicted to wine, and was very short-tempered and stubborn, sometimes even fighting with Lord Krishna.

He is also considered to be the Shankarshana form and eight avatar of Lord Vishnu. Once it so happened, that Indra and the other gods were fed up with the atrocities of the Demon King of Mathura, Kamsa. They went to Lord Vishnu asking for a solution. Vishnu took one black and one white hair from his head and promised to the gods that these two would be responsible for the end of Kamsa and his reign.

 

Birth of Lord Balarama

The white hair (Balarama) and the black hair (Krishna) incarnated in the womb of Devaki. To save Balarama from getting killed by Kamsa, Vishnu transferred him to the womb of Rohini. Thus, Krishna was born to Devaki, and Balarama was born to Rohini. Both the brothers would go on to kill Kamsa and destroy his evil empire.

Balaram is depicted as a deity of strength, power, agriculture, and fertility, thus the name Balaram (Ram with a plough). He is often shown with a sword, shield, pitcher and drinking cup in his hand.

Balarama was born in the village of Gokul to Rohini and Nanda, the head of the cowherds. He was born in the full moon month of Sridhara, on Raksha Bandhan. He was initially named Ram, but came to be known as Balarama as he was immensely powerful and always carried a plough in his hand. He had many adventures with his younger brother Krishna, who he loved a lot.

 

Balarama’s Fight with Demon Dhenuka

Once when he was a kid, he killed the demon Dhenuka, who had taken the form of a donkey. The demon in the form of a donkey tried to attack Balarama, thinking him to be Krishna, but Balarama held him by his hind legs and whirled him till he died. Another demon tried to carry off Balaram on his shoulders, but Balaram smashed his brains out and killed him.

Balarama - The Elder brother of Lord Krishna
Balaram accompanied Krishna on his journey to Mathura, and ably supported him in bringing the downfall of Kamsa and his evil minions. He also killed Pralamba and Mushtika in a wrestling match. After the death of Kamsa and the prophecy fulfilled, Balarama and Krishna went to the ashram of Sage Sandipani in Ujjain for attaining knowledge from him. When Balarama was of marriageable age, he married Revati, the daughter of King Kakudmi, ruler of Anarta.

Once when Balaram was intoxicated, he felt like taking a bath. So, he called upon the river Yamuna to fulfil his wish, but no one heeded to his request. He got so angry because of that that he ploughed the riverbed and carried it wherever he went, until the river had to assume her human form and ask for forgiveness. This incident gave him the name Yamunabhid or Kalindikarshana, breaker of Yamuna.

Samba, the son of Krishna, was once imprisoned by Duryodhana in Hastinapur. Balaram demanded for Samba to be release, but no one heard to his demands. So, he ploughed the entire city and went berserk and rampaged through the whole city, destroying most of it. Such was his rage that no one was able to stop him. Finally, the Kauravas asked for his forgiveness and released Samba. He had also killed Dwivida, the great ape who had stolen his weapons.

 

Balarama Was A Skilled Fighter with the Mace

He was also close to the Pandavas and Kauravas, his distance cousins. He taught the Kauravas and Bheema the art of fighting with a mace, with Duryodhana and Bheema being his two most powerful and favourite students, who were also the most proficient with the weapon. He remained neutral when the war between the Kauravas and Pandavas broke out, as he equally cared for both the sides.

Bheema had made a pledge that he would kill Duryodhana by crushing his thigh, as he had asked Bheema’s wife Draupadi to sit on it. When Duryodhana’s entire army and his relatives and friends were annihilated by the Pandavas, he went to his mother, who asked him to take his clothes off and come in front of her, and she would take the cloth off her eyes and take a look at him, which would make his body invulnerable to any harm. Just when he was about to go to her, Krishna told him to put something around his groin at least, otherwise it would have been disrespectful to his mother.

Duryodhana did so, and went to his mother. His mother took off the cloth and looked at him, and scolded him whenBhima and Duryodhana Battle she noticed that he had put a cloth around his groin. When asked about it, he told Krishna had told him to do so. His mother got worried and asked him to go hide somewhere. So, he ran away and went and hid in the bottom of a lake. The Pandavas started looking for him everywhere, and finally found him hiding in the bottom of the lake.

Bheema called him out, and both of them had an intense and bloodied fight, a fight that was equally matched. Just then, Bheema struck Duryodhana below his belly with his mace, smashing his thighs in the process. Balarama lost his cool as this was against the rules of warfare, and wanted to kill Bheema. But then, Lord Krishna reminded him of the pledge that Bheema had taken, of smashing the very knee on which he had asked Bheema’s wife to sit on. Hearing this, Balarama calmed down a bit, and left the place.

 

Abhimanyu and Vatsala, the Daughter of Balarama

The story of Abhimanyu and Vatsala is unheard of by many people. Balaram and Revati had a beautiful daughter named Vatsala. Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra and Arjuna and Vatsala fell in love. The elders agree to their marriage, but unfortunately the Pandavas lose everything in their game of dice with the Kauravas, which makes Balaram and Revati rethink their decision of giving their daughter’s hand to a prince who had nothing.

They then realize that the new emperor was Duryodhana, and his son Lakshman was the crown prince. So, when Duryodhana asks for Vatsala’s hand for his son, Balarama readily agrees to it. Subhadra, living in Dwarka with his son, gets sad after knowing the change of plans, and Krishna talks to Balarama to rethink his decision, which he doesn’t heed to. When Abhimanyu comes to know of this, he is not able to bear the insult, and decides to live with his father in exile.

On their way to the forest, Subhadra and Abhimanyu pass through Hidimbavana, the forest which is ruled by Ghatotkach, the son of Bheema and Abhimanyu’s brother. As soon as they enter the forest, Ghatotkach blocks their path. Abhimanyu and Ghatotkach have a fight, a fight which results in Ghatotkach getting pinned with arrows, which makes his mother Hidimba console him and tell the story of Bheema and her love to Subhadra and Abhimanyu.

Hearing the story, Subhadra and Abhimanyu are shocked. Abhimanyu gets water for Ghatotkach, and Subhadra heals him. They then tell their plight to Ghatotkach, who gets really mad at Balaram for not keeping his word and getting his daughter married to the son of the person responsible for the downfall of the Pandavas.

He decides to get Abhimanyu married to Vatsala. He takes Abhimanyu to Dwarka, where he meets Vatsala and the young couple spend some time together. Meanwhile, Ghatotkach takes the form of Vatsala and scares Duryodhana and Lakshman. They get frightened and run away. This is really embarrassing for Balaram, so he has no other option but to get Vatsala married to Abhimanyu. Thus, the young couple get married, thanks to the help of Ghatotkach.

According to the Purana, Balaram had taken part in the war that ultimately led to the end of the Yadu dynasty. After the disappearance of Krishna, he could not bear the pain of being separated from his beloved brother, and sat down in a meditative state and soon left the world.

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