Introduction

1. Balarama, is the elder brother of Krishna.

2. Balarama is worshipped as an avatar of Adishesha.

3. As brother of Krishna, he is worshipped either with his sibling as the eighth avatar of Vishnu, or with Rama, as the seventh.

4. In Jainism he is known as Baladeva.

5. He is often depicted with a drinking cup, pitcher, shield and sword.

6. In the Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa Mahabharata, an early version of Mahabhrata written by Vyasa, the Swargarohana Parva describes Balarama as an incarnation of the Adishesha, the serpent on which Vishnu rests.

Kansa Vadh

1. Balarama was a son of Yadav king Vasudeva.

2. The evil king Kamsa, the brother of Devaki, was intent upon killing the children of his sister because of a prediction that he would die at the hands of her eighth son.

2. Krishna and Balarama killed Kansa and Freed their parents.

Marriage to Revati

1. Balrama married Revati, the daughter of King Kakudmi, ruler of Kuśasthalī or Anarta, present day Rewari(Haryana) was his capital.

2. City of Rewari in Haryana, is named after Revati.

3. Revati was the daughter to king Raivata, a mighty king who ruled the kingdom of Kushasthali and Anarta - the ancient name of Dwarka in Gujarat.

4. Some accounts suggest that Kushasthali was a powerful and prosperous kingdom under sea - something like the Atlantis, while Anarta corresponds to the present-day North Kathiawad region of Gujarat state.

5. Raivata, also called Kakudmi, was the last known ruler of the dynasty of Sharyatas, who claimed their descent from Sharyati, a son of Vikukshi, son of Ikshvaku (founder of the surya vamsa and ruler of Ayodhya), who in turn was the son of Vivasvan Manu, son of Surya.

6. Sharyati had three sons: Uttanabarhi, Anarta, and Bhurisena. Raivata was the son of Revata, son of Anarta.

7. It is said that Revata, Raivata's father, constructed the city of Kushasthali beneath the sea, and ruled the underwater city as well as large tracts of land, including the kingdom of Anarta.

8. Raivata (Kakudmi) was a good and benevolent ruler.

9. He was also a doting father and thought the world of his daughter.

10. On her part, Revati was exceedingly fair, beautiful and good-natured, as well as talented and wise.

11. Once Revati came of age, Raivata decided to marry her off to a worthy suitor. But after trying a lot, and traveling the world over, he could not find anyone worthy of her. Revati was unique, and no worldly suitor appealed to her. Dejected, her father decided to travel with her to Brahma-loka (abode of Lord Brahma) and seek the creator's guidance in the matter.

12. So he got his vehicle ready (some claim it was a plane or shuttle capable of inter-stellar travel!) and traveled with Revati to Brahmaloka.

13. When they reached the place, they were told that Brahma was busy listening to a music recitation by celestial musicians Gandharvas, and were invited to attend the assembly. Both agreed and humbly entered the palace. In the assembly, they found various minor gods and goddesses, with Lord Brahma sitting in the middle, attending to a performance by the Gandharvas.

14. The father-daughter duo also sat along with the others and listened to the wonderful music. With this, Revati also got the distinction of being one of the very few humans known to have heard the celestial musicians play and sing songs.

15. After the performance was over, Brahma gave King Raivata and Revati an audience. When he heard the reason for his visit, he smiled and told him that he should go back to Earth and he will find a suitor for his daughter. The father and the daugher were confused. Raivata said he had already traveled around the world and found no one suitable. He gave a list of suitors, or rather a shortlist of candidates to the lord.

16. However, Brahma laughed and explained that Raivata was speaking of a different time. He explained that the time that took Raivata to travel to him, stay with Brahma for the day, and then back - although from Brahma's point of view was just a few hours, but on Earth, more than 27 chatur-yugas had passed - which is the equivalent of 116 million man-years.

17.Consider the extent of this time span. 116 million man-years! One Chatur-yuga, also called Maha yuga = 4,320,000 man-years or 4.32 million years of man. So 27 chatur-yugas = 116,640,000 man-years or 116.64 man-years.

18. Considering that the time you and I are reading this post is the 28th Mahayuga in our Manvantara, the actual time of Raivata - when he was the ruler of Kushasthali - goes back to the very beginning of this epoch or this Manvantara (which is the 7th Manvantara).

19. Anyway, Brahma explained to the king that those upon whom he may have already decided were now gone, and so were their sons, grandsons and other descendants. You cannot even hear about their names now, so much is the passage of time. All the king's kin and relations had passed away, and it was a new era now on Earth.

20. The father-daughter duo were alarmed and highly stressed to hear this. Brahma comforted the king, and said that Lord Vishnu and Adi Shesha - the eternal Serpant - had taken avatara on the Earth during this time in the form of Krishna and Balarama respectively, and he recommended Balarama as a worthy husband for Revati.

21. Still a little confused in mind, Raivata returned to Earth with Revati. When he landed, he found Brahma's words to be true. It was indeed a new era. The land was different, the people were different. In fact, they were somehow dimished. Small in size, shorter in life span, lower in intellect, less strong and less godlike. Among them, the two looked like giants. Everyone around was bewildered to see two giant people walking the roads. Revati almost broke in tears considering what they had lost in this time due to the travel (time travel ?? ... Maybe!) ...

22. As the time passed, Raivata and Revati ruled over Dwaraka, waiting as instructed by the Creator Lord for the arrival of the chosen One. Finally, the king heard from his men about a great retinue of men, women and folk traveling across the land towards them.

23. When the convoy reached King Raivata's place, he found the column led by two young men - one slightly mischievous looking dark person with a twinkle in his eyes, and another fair and handsome one, built like a bull and extremely regal in appearance. The duo asked Raivata's permission to settle in his land.

24. Raivata was happy to welcome visitors, and came to know that these were the Vrishnis, who had left Mathura due to the menace of Jarasandha.

25. Raivata wondered if one of these men was the chosen One. .... But, but they are also very small, just like the rest of the people of this era ... In his dilemma, Raivata explained his story to Krishna and Balarama.

26. When he heard it, Balarama smiled mildly as he know what to do. He took his famous plough, his weapon of choice, and tapped the far taller and larger Revati on her head. Revati was astonished to see that her size suddenly shrank to one more appropriate for the times.

27. Amazed to see this, Raivata Kakudmi quickly realized that this is the man he was looking for his daughter. So he happily got Revati married to Balarama, and went off back to Brahma-loka.

28. Revati and Balarama spent their married life in Mathura and then in Dwaraka - Revati's paternal region, and Revati begot two sons Nishatha and Ulmuka.

29. The story of Revati's time travel is a matter of much speculation. Many believe that this is an evidence that ancient Indians knew about inter-stellar travels. At least, even if the journey did not take place, some believe that the very fact that the story exists is a testimony of the fact that ancient sages knew about the time dialation due to celestial travels at light speed as modern physics suggests.

30. The distance to the center of our galaxy is around 27,000 light years, so if you travel by the speed of light, it will take you 27,000 man-years to reach it.

Rukmi Vadha

1. Sri Balaramaji was not a very expert chess player, and this was known to the King of Kalinga. So Rukmi was advised to retaliate against the family members of Krsna by challenging Balarama to play chess.

2. Balaram accepted the challenge of Rukmi and sat down to play. Each time, Balarama lost, and Rukmi became victorious.

3. Sri Balarama's losing the game was an opportunity for the King of Kalinga to criticize Krsna and Balarama. Because Balarama was the loser in the game, He was a little intolerant of the sarcastic joking words.

4. He became a little agitated, and when Rukmi again challenged Balarama, he made a bet of 100,000 gold coins. Fortunately, this time Balarama won. Although Balaramaji had won, Rukmi, out of his cunningness, began to claim that Balarama has cheated and that he himself had won. Balaram was angry on being called a cheater, but he didn't lost his cool.

5. This time He challenged and made a bet of a hundred million coins. Again Balarama was the winner according to the rules of chess, but Rukmi again cunningly started bad mouthing Balarama and began to claim that he had won.

6. Rukmi appealed to the princes present, and he especially mentioned the name of the King of Kalinga.

7. Everyone else in the court announced that for all honest purposes Balarama, the actual winner of this game, was being abused and that the statement of Rukmi that he had won was absolutely false.

8. In spite of this, Rukmi insisted that Balarama had lost, and he began to criticize Balaramaji. He said, "My dear Balaramaji, You two brothers, cowherd boys only, may be very expert in tending cows, but how can You be expert in playing chess or shooting arrows on the battlefield? These arts are well-known only to the princely order." Hearing this kind of pinching talk by Rukmi and hearing the loud laughter of all the other princes present there, Lord Balarama became as agitated as burning cinders.

9. He immediately took a club in His hand and, without any further talk, struck Rukmi on the head. From that one blow, Rukmi fell down immediately and was dead and gone. Thus Rukmi was killed by Balarama on that auspicious occasion of Aniruddha's marriage.

10. King of Kalinga, being afraid that he would be the next to be attacked, fled from the scene. Before he could escape even a few steps, however, Balaramaji immediately captured him and, because the king was involved in bad mouthing ancestors of Lord Balarama, and since he was laughing and showing his teeth while criticizing Balarama and Krsna's parent, Balarama broke all the his teeth with His club.

11. The other princes who were supporting the King of Kalinga and Rukmi were also captured, and Balarama beat them with His club, breaking their legs and hands. They did not try to retaliate but thought it wise to run away from the bloody scene.

Balarama Captured the whole Hastinapura army Singlehandedly in Lord Krishna's Sons Wedding

1. Lakshmana, who was the daughter of Duryodhana had come of age, and was very beautiful with fair colour, long hair, flawless skin, lean & tall stature.

2. SAMBA son of Lord Krishna & JAMBAVATI, was in love with Lakshamana, and had earlier eloped with Duryodhana's daughter Lakshamana.

3. Her father arranged her swayamvara and many princes were called to win her hand.

4. Samba was sent a message by Lakshmana, who asked him to take her away before or during the swayamwar, and upon knowing the state of affairs, he knew he had to do something immediately.

5. Because Duryodhana had a dislike towards Krishna, Samba knew that Duryodhana would not approve of his marriage to Lakshamana, he abducted Lakshamana in the swayamwar itself.

6. None of the princes who came in the swayamwar said anything, as everyone was afraid of Lord Krishna and Samba.

7. All kurus in the assembly convene a meeting to discuss & decide to attack Samba. Bhisma, Dronacharya , Arjuna decide to attack Samba & Karna is made the Chief of Staff. Fierce battle ensued & finally Samba was arrested

8. Duryodhana forcibly detained Samba in Hastinapura, claiming that Samba was trying to abduct Lakshamana, and refused to let him go.

9. Balrama got to know about this and he camped outside the City limits & send Uddhava as his messenger to meet the Kurus, with a message for Duryodhana to free Samba.

10. Duryodhana was angry and refused to let go of Samba.

11. Balrama declared war on Hastinapura, and when Balrama came face to face with the Hastinapura army, he singlehandedly captured the whole army with his plough. Then he started to destroy buildings in Hastinapura

12. Duryodhana and his army were devastated, and after a meeting between the Kurus, they surrendered to Lord Balrama.

13. Lord Balrama took Samba & Lakshamana back to Dwarka, and freed the Hastinapura army too.

14. Lord Balrama didn't tell anything about this incident to Lord Krishna, because he didn't want Lord Krishna to destroy the Kingdom of Hastinapura.

15. Duryodhana later acknowledged the marriage, and accepted Samba as his son in law.

Mahabharat

1. Balarama taught both Duryodhana of the Kauravas and Bhima of the Pandavas the art of fighting with a mace.

2. When war broke between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Balarama cared for both sides, and so remained neutral.

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