Naraka (Asura)
Naraka is a demon ( asura ) from the mythology of Hinduism . He is mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana ; in the Bhagavatapurana the legends are further embellished.
myth
Naraka was the son of Vishnu in his incarnation as a boar ( varaha ) and the earth goddess Bhudevi . His mother received from her husband the promise of long life and great power for her son, but it was precisely these two things that made him cocky and cruel. Together with the demon Banasura , Naraka brought many kingdoms under his control; then he turned his attention to Svargaloka , the paradise of the god Indra , who fled from the onslaught of the demon army. In this way Naraka rose to the Lord of heaven and earth. He stole the earrings of the sky goddess Aditi and kidnapped 16,000 women.
The gods ( devas ) with Indra at their head turned to Vishnu with the request for help, which - bearing in mind the promise made to his wife - he could not grant immediately, but only when he would be reborn as Krishna . Naraka thus led a long regiment of terror until Krishna finally appeared. Aditi turned to Krishna's wife Satyabhama with a similar request . Together the two flew on the sky eagle Garuda , Vishnu's mount ( vahana ) to Naraka's palace fortress Pragjyotisha, where Krishna severed the demon's head with his throwing disc ( chakra ) or split his body in two halves.
Another legend tells that one day Naraka wanted to marry the goddess ( devi ) Kamakhya - she consented on the condition that he would go up a staircase from the foot of Nilachal Mountain to the temple at its top within one night and before the rooster crows have to build. Naraka accepted the challenge and would probably have finished his work if Kamakhya had not turned the neck of a rooster, which, however, crowed loudly before.
