Bana is one of the sons of Mahabali – the king who was
pushed to the netherworld by the Vamana Avatar of Vishnu. The story of Bana is
mentioned in the Harivamsa and the Bhagavad Purana.
Legend has it that Bana was a very powerful ruler. Once he
left his kingdom and went to the Himalayas and
performed intense austerities to please Shiva. The tapas performed by Bana was
very severe and this forced Shiva to appear before him.
Bana asked for two boons from Shiva – that he be made son of
Goddess Parvati and second that he should have 1000 hands to destroy his
enemies. The boons were granted and Bana returned to his kingdom.
Bana had a daughter named Usha and she fell in love with
Aniruddha, grandson of Sri Krishna.
As Bana did not like the alliance, he captured Aniruddha and
imprisoned him. For this act, Bana had to face the wrath of Sri Krishna and was
defeated in the battle.
As per some accounts, Sri Krishna killed Bana. But some
versions state that Bana was saved because he was a devotee of Shiva and Parvati but was
left with only four arms.