The Destruction Caused by Kalakeyas – Stories from Aranyaka Parva

Indra used the weapon named vajra, made of Dadicha’s Bones, and killed Vritra, the powerful asura. However, the Kalakeyas had to be dealt with.

Indra was still in a daze and afraid of Vritra. He couldn’t believe that he released the vajra or killed the daityas and ran to hide in a lake. While the thirty other gods killed the remaining Kalakeyas, some of them ran and hid in the depths of an ocean. Down there, they continued to plot methods to destroy the three worlds and take control of the universe. They decided that wiping out rishis and Brahmins who performed austerities would make it easier to ruin the three worlds. Without the knowledge of dharma, it would be an easy task to control the regions. 

The Kalakeyas went out at night to attack various ashrams and kill the rishis. They targeted Vasishtha’s ashram, Chyavana’s hermitage, Bharadvaja’s ashram, and so on. The danavas gobbled up hundreds of fasting Brahmins and ascetics immersed in tapasya. 

During the day, they would hide in the ocean and sleep. When darkness took over, the Kelayas would go on a rampage and devour the ascetics. As this continued, many people stopped studying Shastras and performing yagnas out of fear. They left their homelands to flee in different directions. Some angry ones tried to find the danavas but couldn’t. 

This extensive destruction caused much anguish in the gods. They went to Narayana to request for his help. Narayana suggested they empty the ocean to force the Kelayas out of hiding. He said only Rishi Agastya had the capacity to empty an ocean (he was the son of Varuna, the god of water). 

The gods bowed to Agastya in respect and asked him to help them again. He had previously cursed Nahusha and dethroned him as the king of heaven. He had also controlled the Vindhya Mountain when it swelled and disrupted nature’s cycle. 

Rishi Agastya agreed to help. Read about what he did here: Rishi Agatsya Drank an Entire Ocean.