JewelWoodcock19 at 06:28, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T06:28:07Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{short description|Daughter of Banasura and wife of Aniruddha in Hinduism}}
{{About|Daughter of Banasura|other uses|Usha (disambiguation){{!}}Usha}}

{{Infobox deity
| texts = [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Vishnu Purana]], [[Shiva Purana]], [[Mahabharata]]
| image = File:Raja Ravi Varma, Usha's Dream (oleographic print).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Usha dreaming of Aniruddha by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
| family =
| spouse = [[Aniruddha]]
| children = [[List_of_characters_in_the_Mahabharata#Vajra|Vajra]]
| type = Hindu
| father = [[Banasura]]
| birth_place = Shonitapura
| mother = Ambavati
| dynasty = [[Yadu|Yaduvamsha]] (by marriage)
}}

'''Usha''' ([[Sanskrit]]: उषा, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: Uṣā) is a character in [[Hindu history]]. She is the daughter of the [[asura]] king [[Banasura]] and the wife of [[Aniruddha]], the grandson of [[Krishna]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5iBAAAAMAAJ&q=banasur+Usha|title=Fables and Folk-tales of Assam|date=1998|publisher=Firma KLM|isbn=9788171020751|language=en}}</ref> Her story of falling in love with Aniruddha and wedding him is described in the [[Bhagavata Purana]].

== Legend ==
Banasura, ruling his kingdom from the city of [[Tezpur|Sonitapura]], was the son of Bali and the grandson of [[Prahlada]]. Banasura was a great devotee of Shiva and as a result of a boon granted to him from the deity, had gained 1000 arms. Intoxicated by his prowess, he observed to Shiva that he was the latter's equal, and that he had attempted to fight elephants, but the creatures had grown terrified of him. Shiva, enraged by his words, spoke thus: 'Your flag will be broken, oh fool, when your pride is vanquished in a battle you have with someone like me.'

One day, Usha saw a young man in her dream, made love to him, and fell in love with him. <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of Usha and Aniruddha |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2014/aug/01/the-story-of-usha-and-aniruddha-642616.html |access-date=2021-10-16 |website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> [[Chitralekha (deity)|Chitralekha]], a friend of Usha a talented artist, helped Usha to identify the young man seen in her dream by sketching various portraits of the [[Vrishni|Vrishnis]]. Usha realised that she had dreamt of [[Aniruddha]], the grandson of [[Krishna]]. Chitralekha, through her yogic powers, shrunk Aniruddha to the size of a doll, abducted him from the palace of Krishna and brought him to Shonitapura.<ref name="CompetitionShankar2004">{{cite book |author=M. Padmanabhan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39TA4-XyaQkC&pg=PT56 |title=Tales of Krishna from Mahabharatha |author2=Meera Ravi Shankar |date=1 August 2004 |publisher=Sura Books |isbn=978-81-7478-417-9 |pages=56–57}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Vanamali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFwoDwAAQBAJ&q=banasura+krishna+shiva&pg=PT170 |title=The Complete Life of Krishna |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2012 |isbn=978-1594776908}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Stephen Knapp |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fw_ODQAAQBAJ&q=banasura+krishna+shiva&pg=PT16 |title=Krishna Deities and Their Miracles |date=January 1, 2021 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L1SrCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |title=Krishna |publisher=Har Anand Publications |year=2009 |isbn=978-8124114223 |pages=68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Chandra Sekhar Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iifBDQAAQBAJ&q=banasura+krishna+shiva&pg=PT393 |title=The Purans volume-02 | date=8 December 2016 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1365593277}}</ref>
[[File:Union of Usha and Aniruddha.jpg|thumb|left|''Union of Usha and Aniruddha'' by M. V. Dhurandhar, c. 1934]]
Usha worshipped her lover and furnished him with priceless garments, garlands, fragrances, lamps, and with beverages, dishes, and words. Breaking her vow of chastity with him, she kept him hidden in her maiden quarters, and the lovers lost track of the days. Catching wind of his daughter's activities, Banasura rushed to her chambers to find her playing dice with doll sized Aniruddha. Even as the prince fended off the guards, Banasura subdued him with the mystical ropes of [[Varuna]] due to Aniruddha's shrunken state. Usha was overwhelmed with sorrow due to this incident. Aniruddha was held captive by Banasura for a month, until Narada informed the Yadus in [[Dvārakā|Dvaraka]], who were searching for Aniruddha.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 62 |url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter62.html |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=bhagavata.org}}</ref>

The Yadus' army attacked Banasura in a great battle. When the Yadu princes and their army besieged his kingdom with 12 [[Akshauhini|akshauhinis]], surrounding it completely. Banasura staged a fierce counterattack. During the war, [[Shiva]] appeared on the battlefield, riding on Nandi, to protect his devotee, Banasura. Balarama fought against Banasura's commander, while Samba fought against Banasura's son. To bear witness, the leaders of the godly souls headed by Brahma came in their celestial vehicles, as also the sages, the perfected souls, and the venerable personalities, the singers and [[Apsara|apsaras]] of heaven, and the [[Yakshini|yakshinis]]. Krishna and Shiva faced each other. Krishna used a ''brahmastra'' against Shiva's ''brahmastra'', a mountain weapon against a wind weapon, a rain weapon against a fire weapon, and his ''narayanastra'' against Shiva's ''pasupatiastra''. [[Kartikeya]], assaulted by Pradyumna's arrows, fled the battlefield on his peacock. After duelling with [[Satyaki]], Bana took up arms against [[Krishna]]. However, Krishna blew his conch and instantly, Banasura's charioteer was killed and his chariot broken and shattered.
In a desperate attempt to save Banasura, Kothara, his mother, stood naked before Krishna with her hair dishevelled. When the deity looked away, the asura fled to the city. When Shiva's forces had been defeated, [[Jvarasura|Jvara]], the embodiment of Shiva's fever, bearing three heads and three feet, attacked Krishna with scorching heat. Krishna produced his own Jvara of frigid coldness, and the two fought each other. Overwhelmed by Vishnu's fever, Shiva's Jvara offered its surrender and obeisance to Krishna and departed.

Meanwhile, Balarama defeated Banasura's commander. Bana rode forth upon his chariot to fight with Krishna, and the latter fought back with his Sudarshana Chakra. When Krishna started chopping Banasura's arms, [[Shiva]] returned to his senses and extolled the glories of [[Krishna]], not to kill Banasura, whom he had bestowed with fearlessness. Obliging, Krishna replied that he had never intended to kill Banasura, since he was the son of Bali and the grandson of the devout [[Prahlada]]. Vishnu had promised Bali not to kill any member of his family, and therefore would not slay him. However, Krishna severed Banasura's extra arms to destroy the latter's pride, leaving Banasura with only four arms.

Banasura realised his mistake and bowed his head before Krishna, arranging for a chariot to seat Aniruddha and Usha for their wedding in Dvaraka.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 63 |url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter63.html |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=bhagavata.org}}</ref>

=== Rebirth ===
{{Main|Behula}}
According to the Bengali text [[Manasamangal Kāvya|Manasamangala Kavya]], Usha and Aniruddha were reborn as Behula and Lakshmindara in the next life and married each other again.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McDaniel|first=June|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d21MCAAAQBAJ&q=behula+lakhindar+usha&pg=PT51|title=Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal|date=2004-08-05|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-029056-6|language=en}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Usha-Aniruddha Wedding.jpg|thumbnail|Sculpture of Usha-Aniruddha Wedding on [[Agnigarh]] hillock]]
The story of and Usha (as ''Okha'' in Gujarati) is depicted in the 18th century [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] [[Akhyana]] entitled ''Okhaharan'' by [[Premanand Bhatt]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sen|first=Siba Pada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HyhuAAAAMAAJ&q=okha+haran+Akhyan+Premanand|title=Sources of the History of India|date=1988|publisher=Institute of Historical Studies|language=en}}</ref>

A 1901 Telugu language play titled ''[[Usha Parinayam]]'' written by [[Vedam Venkataraya Sastry]] was based on story of Usha.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leiter|first=Samuel L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JttNAAAAYAAJ&q=Usha+Parinayam+play|title=Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N|date=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-33530-3|language=en}}</ref> The play was also taken as a Telugu film in 1961 by [[Kadaru Nagabhushanam]] under Rajarajeswari films.

''[[Usha Kalyanam]]'' is a 1936 Tamil-language film directed by [[K. Subramanyam|K. Subramaniam]].

== References ==
{{commons category}}
<references />
[[Category:People related to Krishna]]
[[Category:Mythological princesses]]
[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]

Usha (princess) - Revision history

JewelWoodcock19 at 06:28, 27 February 2026