Paundraka was the king of the Pundra kingdom. He had hostility with Vasudeva and imitated the attire and style of Lord Krishna. Paundraka always imitated foolishness and the signs that distinguish Lord Krishna who appeared in Bhagavata Purana. He was the son of King Vriddhasharma and Queen Shrutadeva. Shrutadeva was the sister of Vasudeva, Krishna`s father. Paundraka`s brother was Dantavakra, who was the rebirth of Kumbhakarna.
Myths of Paundraka
Paundraka`s story is described in the 66th Chapter of the 10th Canto of Bhagavad Gita. He began thinking himself to be an avatara of Lord Vishnu as the ministers of Paundraka once told him how great he was, similar to Lord Vishnu. As people already believed that Krishna was Lord Vishnu`s avatara, hence he decided to kill Krishna and wanted to prove that he was the real Vasudeva.
Paundraka sent a message to Lord Krishna insulting him and ordering Lord Krishna to give Paundraka his "Sudarshana Chakra", "Panchajanya Conch", "Kaumodaki Gada" and other weapons. Lord Krishna laughed at this and started his journey towards Kashi. Paundaka also moved with two Akshahaunis of army to face Lord Krishna when he came to know that Lord Krishna was coming. His friend, the King of Kashi too joined the battle with three Akshaunis of army. Paundraka carried all the symbols of the Lord carrying conch, disc like the Sudarshan, bow and sword and mace.
After a ferocious battle, Lord Krishna threw his "Sudarshana Chakra" at Paundraka and killed him, as well as Paundraka`s friend the King of Kashi. Afterwards, the King of Kashi"s son Sudakshina wanted to take revenge on Lord Krishna. He performed a "Tantrik Yajna" and created a demoness to destroy Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna once again sent his "Sudarshana Chakra" and since the demoness was afraid of that, she returned to Kashi to kill Sudakshina. The "Sudarshana Chakra" followed her and after destroying Sudakshina and the demoness, it burnt the city of Kashi and returned to Dwaraka.
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