प्रद्युम्नpradyumnaAn epithet of Cupid, the god of love. [He was a son of Kṛiṣṇa and Rukmiṇī. When only six years old, he was…
An epithet of Cupid, the god of love. [He was a son of Kṛiṣṇa and Rukmiṇī. When only six years old, he was stolen away by the demon Śambara for he was foretold that Pradyumna would be his destroyer. Śambara cast the child into the roaring sea, and a large fish swallowed it. This fish was caught by a fisherman and taken to the demon; and when it was cut up, a beautiful child came out from the belly, and Māyāvatī, the mistress of Śambara's household, at the desire of Nārada, carefully reared him from childhood. As he grew up, she was fascinated by the beauty of his person, but Pradyumna reproved her for entertaining towards himself feelings so unbecoming a mother as he considered her. But when he was told that he was not her son, but of Viṣṇu and was cast into the sea by Śambara, he became enraged, and, challenging him to fight, succeeded in killing him by the force of illusions. He and Māyāvatī afterwards repaired to the house of Kṛiṣṇa, where Nārada told him and Rukmiṇī that the boy was their own and that Māyāvatī was his wife.]
