The story of Balarama, the elder brother of Sri Krishna, and
demon Dhenukasura (donkey demon) is found in the Vishnu Purana and Srimad Bhagavad Purana. Sri Krishna, Balarama and other
gopas used wander through the woods with their cattle. Once during their mini
excursions, they reached the region of forest controlled by demon Dhenukasura.
The area was filled with Palmyra Palm trees – known as Tal
or Taltar in Hindi and Panai in Tamil.
The trees were filled with ripe fruit and the gopas wanted
to taste them. They asked Balram and Sri Krishna to pluck some fruits.
The brothers shook some trees and brought down numerous
fruits.
The fruits made loud noise when they fell down. This alerted
Dhenukasura. He took the form of an ass and charged towards the brothers. As per some stories, Dhenuka is referred to as the donkey demon.
The demon in the form of ass began to kick Balram on his
breast with his hinder heels. Balrama seized both the hind legs and whirled the
demon around until he died.
He then tossed the dead body of the demon to the top of a
palm tree. Numerous fruit fell down due to this act.
Numerous other asses that were pets of the demon charged
towards Sri Krishna and Balarama. All of them met the same fate of their
master.
The ground was filled palm fruits. The brothers
and other gopas enjoyed fresh fruits. Cattle grazed unobstructed in the palm
grove thereafter.
Related
Story of Balaram and Kandarasura
Related
Story of Balaram and Kandarasura