Dantavakra () is the king of Karusha in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. Dantavakra is the third and last birth of Vishnu's gatekeeper,

Vijaya Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

, while his brother Jaya is

Shishupala Shishupala (, ; sometimes spelt Sisupala) was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashrava, the sister of Kunti, as well as the cousin of Nanda (Hinduism), Nanda. He was s ...

Legend

Puranas

According to the

Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' (, or ) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Brahma appeared, and includes large sections dedic ...

(VI.274.16-7), he is of Chaidya lineage.Pargiter, F.E. (1972) 922 ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp.118-9. According to the

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana () is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manuscripts of ''Vishnu Purana'' have survived into ...

(IV.XIV.40), and some editions of

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' (; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam)'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' () or simply ''Bhagavata (Bhāgavata)'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen major Puranas (''Mahapuranas'') and one ...

(X.78.5-6) he is a son of Vriddhasharman and Shrutadeva (or Shrutadevi), who is Kunti's and Vasudeva's sister. He is named "Dantavakra" as his teeth were crooked after his birth. Viduratha is his brother. Law, B.C. (1973). ''Tribes in Ancient India'', Bhandarkar Oriental Series No.4, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pp.87-9 He is an ally of

Jarasandha Jarasandha () is a king featured in the Hindu Mythology. He is the powerful monarch of Magadha, and a minor antagonist in Mahabharata. He is the son of the king Brihadratha, the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty of Magadha. According to popu ...

Kamsa Kamsa (, ) was the tyrant ruler of the Vrishni kingdom, with its capital at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura. He is variously described in Hindu texts, Hindu literature as either a human or an asura; The Puranas describe him as an asura, while ...

, and Paundraka, and an enemy of Vasudeva Krishna. The Harivamsha Purana depicts Dantavakra in a more sympathetic light. After learning of Krishna's intention of eloping with Princess

Rukmini Rukmini (, ) is a Devi, Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. She is described as the chief of Krishna's wives in Dvārakā. Rukmini is revered as the avatar of Lakshmi and is venerated primarily in Warkari, and Haridasa tradition, and ...

during her

svayamvara ''Svayaṃvara'' ( ) is a matrimonial tradition in ancient Indian society where a bride, usually from '' Kṣatriya'' (warrior) caste, selects her husband from a group of assembled suitors either by her own choice or a public contest between her ...

, he confers with his allies in the city of Kundina, and expresses the desire to contract a friendship with the deity, realising that he is

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

himself.

Mahabharata

In the epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

2:30, he is mentioned as the king of the Adhirajas. After the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

general

Sahadeva Sahadeva () was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the '' Mahabharata''. He and his twin brother Nakula were the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pandava patriarch Pandu, and Ashvini Kumaras, the ...

defeats him, making him pay tribute, he is reinstalled on his throne. He attacks Krishna, who is on his way to Dvaraka, after the

Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti – universal monarch, in which the tributary princes ...

sacrifice (which Dantavakra had not attended, to protest the killing of Jarasandha) to avenge Shishupala, and his friend Shalva. After announcing his intentions, he strikes his cousin on the head with his mace. Unfazed, Krishna strikes his chest with the

Kaumodaki Kaumodaki () is the gadā (mace) of the Hindu deity Vishnu. Vishnu is often depicted holding the Kaumodaki in one of his four hands; his other attributes are the chakra, the conch and the lotus. The ''gada'' is also found in the iconography of ...

, causing him to spit out blood and perish in the mace-duel. His brother, Viduratha also dies in the same battle.

References

{{Mahabharata Characters in the Mahabharata