The Arrogance of Utkaca

Separated from his hunting party, Utkaca had been walking long and hard, meandering through dense jungles, and now he was angry, hungry, thirsty, and tired. He suddenly heard the gushing sound of water. 

Delighted, he ran towards the sound and found a beautiful brook flowing nearby. In the middle of this rather wide brook, he found a small pool offset between two big rocks that was perfect to sit down and rest while he quenched his thirst.

He walked across the stream, sat on one of the two rocks, and reached down to cup some water in his palms. But he stopped because his reflection in the clear water of the pool caught his attention. Despite his thirst, he couldn’t stop admiring himself-a handsome face adorned by dark, intense eyes, rippling biceps, strong and sturdy shoulders, and a wide chest. 

He smiled, his vanity emanating unashamedly through his eyes. 

I am so strong. After all, I am Hiranyaksha’s son. It is but natural that I got his genes. Even the little water shrubs shine in the reflection of my glorious body. 

Satisfied with watching his reflection, he drank water and quenched his thirst. Next, his hunger came to the fore. He walked for a while more and reached a lovely orchard of fruit trees. He was so overcome with hunger that he grabbed the lowlying fruits that were nothing short of delicious, even more so because of his starving state. He ate to his heart’s fill, 

In a fit of inexplicable emotional fit, perhaps driven by the quenching of his thirst and the satiation of his hunger or the remembrance of his esteemed, powerful parentage, he started felling the trees and plants in the orchard. He tore down entire branches of fruit-laden trees, leading to screeches and squawks of frightened birds who had made their nests in these branches.

He wrenched out shrubs by their roots, throwing them afar, as if practicing for a throwing game. His heinous laughter rang through the forest as he yelled into the silence. “My body is so strong I can do anything I want.”

Utkaca and Sage Lomasa’s Curse

Suddenly, a loud voice cracked like lightning through the air, “You fool! What are you doing?”

Holding a little tree he had uprooted midair, he turned towards the voice and found a sage staring, livid rage writ large in his eyes. Dropping the tree to the ground, he turned, laughed derisively, and said, “I’m doing what I do best. Exercising my body to keep it in best shape. Can’t you see my rippling muscles? Can’t you see how strong I am?”

The sage sneered, “If you are physically strong, does that give you the right to wreak havoc on my orchard?”

Utkaca replied, flippancy oozing out of every word. “Oh! Is this place yours? I’m sorry I didn’t know that. But a few uprooted trees shouldn’t impact it much, considering the size ‌. My congratulations on  creating such a beautiful orchard. I must say I’m impressed. It’s even better than some of the gardens in my father’s spectacular city.”

The sage’s rage turned to unbridled fury when he heard callous words. He roared, “Don’t let your pride in yourself and your family ruin you.”

“Ha! Nothing can ruin it, dear sire. Do you know I am?”

The sage stared at the youth without responding.

Unrelenting, the vain boy continued, “I am Utkaca, the son of Hiranyaksha. You know the great asura, right? The elder brother of Hiranyakashipu? The two Asura brothers who have received the near-immortality boon from Lord Brahma?”

Speaking thus, Utkaca, pulled his sword out of its scabbard tied to the side of his armour and swung it in a circle, slicing through the stalks of a hundred flowers adorning little plants and shrubs. His derisive laughter as the petals scattered all around stung the sage. 

In an instant, he cursed, “Since you are so proud of your physical strength, may you be nothing more than a shapeless entity until the end of this Kalpa.”

Utkaca suddenly felt the power of the sage’s curse. He felt himself turning into air, his body painfully losing its shape. 

Like a bolt from the blue, he realised his folly. Utkaca fell at the sage’s feet, fear and regret oozing out of his every pour, “My arrogance and narcissistic attitude have cost me irreparable damage. Pray, undo your curse, O great sage! Now I realise my mistake is so great. I didn’t even ask you who you are. Nor did I have the humility to introduce myself.”

He sobbed as his body started to slowly and painfully disintegrate. 

Utkaca Finds Humility and Regret

The mightily humbled Utkaca bowed even lower and said, “I am Utkaca, the son of Hiranyaksha. May I know who you are?”

Somewhat mollified by this act of humility, the sage replied, “I am Lomasha.”

“Oh dear! The one who is famous for living longer than most living beings. Aren’t you the great one whose only one strand of hair falls off at the end of every Kalpa?”

The sage’s eyes twinkled. “So, you’re not as dumb as I thought. You know things.”

“I’m not proud of my earlier actions. Given my status, I have had a good upbringing. The power of my father and his brother, Hiranyakashipu, is known to one and all. I hope you know of them too.”

“Of course! Who hasn’t heard of the powerful Asura brothers? But I must say, their arrogance seemed to have passed on to you.” The sage’s ire for the young lad’s arrogance returned. 

Utkaca looked down ashamedly. “I reiterate my apologies. I may deserve your curse. But I plead with you, O great sire, undo your curse. Spare me a life of ignominy.”

“I’m afraid you will not be able to undo the curse. You will become air and roam around the world. You can enter into any inanimate object and use your will to make it do anything.”

Utkaca looked horrified. “Is there no respite for me?”

The sage thought for a while and said, “Your family has a long and not-very-respectful connection with Lord Vishnu. Your father and uncle hate him with an unforgivable vengeance. Horrible deaths await both of them, although their end will also redeem them. In the same way, you will find redemption from Lord Vishnu when he will be born to restore Dharma in the Dwapara Yuga. Until then, your spirit will live on without a body.”

The sage went away. Utterly defeated, Utkaca accepted his fate. From that instant onwards, he lived with the only purpose of waiting for the Dwapara Yuga and his redemption.

He flitted from object to object, using his power of invisibility to, sometimes, prank others with no ill-will, but often to cause intentional harm. With the start of the Dwapara Yuga, his impatience for redemption reached new peaks. He hunted high and low for his redeemer, roaming the length and breadth of Bharatavarsha looking for Vishnu’s new avatar. 

Utkaca Becomes Sakatasura

He heard of the prophecy of Kamsa’s death and realised the imminent birth of his redeemer. He joined forces with the King of the Vrishni Kingdom, helping him in his rise to become one of the most powerful kings in the country, ruling from Mathura. All that Utkaca sought for relief from his curse. In this search, he felt compelled to side with the wrong people. 

When Utkaca heard of Putana’s death at the hands of a baby at Gokul, he knew his release was near too. Just a few more days of waiting.

As expected, Kamsa ordered him to go to Gokul and finish Putana’s unfinished task.

With a smile on his face, Utkaca left for Gokul. It had been three months since the arrival of Kanha. Utkaca easily found Nand’s house, which was always teeming with admirers of the little baby who had caught the love and attention of the entire Vrindavan.

After Putana’s incident, Yashoda had become wary of all strangers and refused to let her baby alone ever. She was always with him, or she found a trusted friend or neighbour to make sure Kanha was safe from the clutches of murdering demons. 

When Utkaca arrived at Nand’s house, he found himself amidst some kind of frenzied festivity. Everyone was busy running errands, doing chores, cleaning, cooking, and more. As an invisible ghost, Utkaca stood behind all the women carrying infants as they went about their chores, hoping to get a glimpse of the famous, beloved Kanha. 

Finally, he saw who he guessed to be an important woman of the household place a child under a household cart that held a collection of pots and pans. The pride in her eyes and her delighted smile was unmistakable as she tucked her baby into a soft blanket.

Making sure the baby was safe and comfortable, she went back to her cooking. Utkaca flitted to the cart, breezed his way under it, and looked into the baby’s eyes. What he saw both shocked and surprised him.

For the first time since the day of Sage Lomasa’s curse, he found someone meeting his eyes, and that too, eyes filled with compassion and kindness. It was as if the child was telling him, “Yes, my dear Utkaca. I am he, the one who can release you from your curse. Today, your long wait will end.”

Utkaca, in an impulsive reaction, entered the body of the cart and started rocking it back and forth, first gently, then with force. As the cart touched Kanha’s feet, Utkaca felt the pressure of the universe on his soul, and his ghostly body manifested for an instant before his soul was released and the body lay lifeless next to Kanha.

When the women heard the commotion caused by the disintegrating cart scattering the pots and pans with an amazing din, they rushed to where Kanha was lying peacefully, in the same spot where his mother had tucked him, a smile on his beautiful face and his toes in his mouth. His eyes twinkled merrily as he took in the confused looks of the men and women of Gokul at the sight of the demon lying dead next to him. 

Utkaca was immortalised as Sakatasura, the cart demon, redeemed by Krishna’s gentle kick. 

Author’s Note:

The story of Sakatasura is found in Bhagavata Purana, and the story of Utkaca is found in Brahma Vaivarta Purana. Sakata in Sanskrit means “cart”. 

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Cerebration – Think with body, mind & soul.