The Unbeatable Warrior Kaalyawan

Kaalyawan was an undefeated and valiant king. Even Lord Krishna had to use tactics to kill him. The story also indicates the reason why Lord Krishna had to leave the battlefield and came to be known as RANCHORR.

The Story Of The Birth Of Kaalyawan

Kaalyawan's father sage Gargaye was a priest at the kingdom of Trigatraj. He was a great Sage. He had knowledge of all the disciplines. Although he was married, he had been performing Yagya for quite some time by holding a celibacy vow to achieve a deep Siddhi. But his brother-in-law, who was the priest of the Yadavas, made a stigma of being impotent over Gargaye in front of the king and his ministers in the discussion house.

Being humiliated in the discussion house Sage Gargaye was filled with fury. He was very angry with Yadavs. He started the harsh penance of Lord Shiva for the destruction of Yadavs.  

Sage Gargaye

He consumed iron only. He did harsh penance of Shiva for 12 years. Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and asked to get a boon. Sage Gargaye wished for an invincible son and also said that he could not be defeated by any Mathura resident. Lord Shiva gave him the desired blessing.   

  

Lord Shiva

There was a king in the forest. When he heard that sage Gargaye had taken the blessing of an invincible son from Mahadev, he brought sage Gargaye to his palace. He respected the sage at his palace. The king had no son but he wanted to have a son.    

That king ordained Sage with gop-girls in his palace. Among those gop-girls, there was a nymph named Gopali. She was living as  disguised  gop-girl over there. 

Gargaye married Gopali in a temple. In time, Gopali gave birth to a very stunning and mighty son.

The infant began to be reared in the palace of the King. The king also considered the child as his son. The child was named Kaalyawan. After the death of the king, Kaalyawan became king of the Yawan.

Kaalyawan

King Shalva As Messenger

Kalaywan was a very mighty and powerful king. He was downright undefeated because of Shiva's blessing. When Jarasandh, the King of Magadha, heard that no one from Mathura could defeat Kaalyawan, he sent king Shalva to the court of Kaalyawan by making him an emissary.

King Shalva praised Kaalyawan there and narrated the message of Jarsandh. He told that no one can defeat Krishna on Earth except him. He also narrated the story of how Krishna and Balram alone defeated the great-formed armies of kings in Gomantak mountain. "Only you can defeat Krishna because of Lord Shiva's blessing." He said. 

Kaalyawan was delighted to hear king Shalva. He assured him and told that he will invade Mathura soon and does not need help of any king to do that. 

Attack On Mathura By Kaalyawan 

Kaalyawan came to attack Mathura with a huge army, All Yadavas went to Krishna and said,"It is a time of great crisis for the people of Mathura. O Krishna! please save us. Due to the blessing of Lord Shiva, Kaalyawan is undefeated by all of us."                                  

                              

Lord Krishna said,"Now is the time to leave Mathura. We would have to settle in a new city." Lord Krishna settled in a new city called Dwarka in the westernmost part of Aryavrat with the help of great architect  Vishvakarma. He sent all the Yadavs to Dwarka. After securing all the Yadavs, Lord Krishna came to battle with Kaalyawan in Mathura alone. 

Lord Krishna challenged Kaalyawan for war and he began to flee from the battlefield. Kaalyawan was delighted to see Krishna running away. He also began to flee behind him to catch him. While fleeing, Lord Krishna approached a mountain range. He entered one of the caves of that mountain range. Kaalyawan also entered the same cave to catch Krishna. 

Death Of Kaalyawan 

inside that cave, a king named Muchkund had been sleeping for centuries. He had helped Gods in the Devasur war and won the battle. So deities wanted to give him a gift. Indra the king of deities asked him to seek a blessing. 

Muchkund said, "I am very tired because of the extreme war and I need rest, so I want to sleep". He also asked that one who awakens him from the sleep shall be burnt into ashes as soon as he comes before him.    

With such a blessing from Gods Muchkund had been sleeping there for centuries. When Krishna entered that cave, he put his veil over Muchkund. When kaalyawan came into the cave, he thought Muchkund as Lord Krishna. So he tried to make him wake up by stumbling block of his foot. 

Intense fire released from the eyes of Muchkund

When King Muchkund woke up, he saw Kaalyawan standing before him. At the same time, a terrible fire was released from the eyes of King Muchkund, and the flame of that fire burnt Kaalyawan into ashes. Now the crisis on the people of Mathura was over. 

By the time King Muchkund could understand something, Kaalyawan had been burnt into ashes. Lord Krishna came to Muchkund and narrated the story to him. Lord Krishna appeared before King Muchkund in his quadrilateral form. Muchkund praised him in many ways. 

Lord Krishna

Krishna asked him to go to Badrinath and do penance. King Muchkund departed to Badrinath for penance. Due to this incident, Lord Krishna is also known as Ranchhor.

।। OM NAMO NARAYANA।। 

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