Pradyumna

Pradyumna (Sanskrit: प्रद्‍युम्‍न) is lord Keshava (Vishnu) himself. He is one in 24 Keshava Namas (names), praised in all poojas.

Pradyumna (Sanskrit: प्रद्‍युम्‍न) is also a character in Hindu mythology. He was the son of Krishna and Rukmini. When he was a baby he was abducted by the demon Sambara. He was then cast into the sea and swallowed by a fish, but that fish was caught and carried to the house of Sambara. The fish was opened and the child was found inside. He was given to a woman in Sambara's house to raise. Narada informed her about the true identity of the child. When Pradyumna grew up, he battled the demon Sambara, defeated him. Pradyumna was later killed in a drunken brawl in his father's court at Dwaraka. According to some accounts, Pradyumna was an incarnation of Kama, the god of love.

External links

* [http://www.krsnabook.com/ch55.html - describes history and meaning of Pradyumna in detail]

PRADYUMNA. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] A son of Krishna by Rukmini.

When a child only six days old, he was stolen by the demon Sambara and thrown into the ocean. There he was swallowed by a fish, which was afterwards caught and carried to the house of Sambara. When the fish was opened, a beautiful child was discovered, and Mayadevi or Mayavati, the mistress of Sambara's household, took him under her care. The sage Narada informed her who the child was, and she reared him carefully.

When he grew up she fell in love with him, and informed him who he was and how he had been carried off by Sambara. He defied the demon to battle, and after a long conflict slew him. Then he flew through the air with Mayavati, and alighted in the inner apartments of his father's palace.

Krishna presented him to his mother Rukmini "with the virtuous Mayavati his wife," declaring her really to be the goddess Rati.

Pradyumna also married Kakudmati, the daughter of Rukmin, and had by her a son named Aniruddha.

Pradyumna was killed at Dwaraka in the presence of his father during a drunken brawl.

Though Pradyumna passed as the son of Krishna, he was, according to the legend, a revival or resuscitation of Kama, the god of love, who was reduced to ashes by the fiery glance of Siva, and so the name Pradyumna is used for Kama.

The Vishnu Purana puts the following words into the mouth of Narada when he presented Pradyumna to Rukmini: "When Manmatha (the deity of love) had perished, the goddess of beauty (Rati), desirous to secure his revival, assumed a delusive form, and by her charms fascinated the demon Sambara, and exhibited herself to him in various illusory enjoyments. This thy son is the descended Kama ; and this is (the goddess) Rati, his wife. There is no occasion for any uncertainty; this is thy daughter-in-law."

In the Harivansa he has a wife named Prabhavati, daughter of King Vajranabha. When he went to see her for the first time, he changed himself into a bee and lived in a garland of flowers which had been prepared for her.

According to the Mahabharata, he was Sanatkumara, the son of Brahma.

http://www.mythfolklore.net/india/encyclopedia/pradyumna.htm