Syamantaka - Theft and Recovery

Theft and Recovery

Satrajit later presented it to Prasen, his brother, who was also the ruler of a Yadava province. Prasen wore it often, until once while hunting in the forest while wearing it, he was attacked by a lion, which killed him and fled with the jewel. But it couldn't get away with it, for shortly after, it was attacked by Jambavan, described as king of the 'bears' or 'gorillas' according to different scriptures, who killed it after a fierce fight and took off with the booty. Jambavan was loyal to Rama, and was considered one of the seven immortals or Chiranjeevi.

Now there was a rumour that Lord Krishna also had an eye on the Syamantaka jewel, and when the incident of Prasen's mysterious disappearance became public, the people accused Krishna of murder and theft. In order to prove his innocence, Krishna sought to find out the true culprit and recover the jewel. As he followed on the trail of the deceased Prasen, he came to the spot were the corpses of Prasen and his horse still lay, along with pieces of teeth and nails of a lion. From there he followed the footsteps of the lion, which led him to the spot of the second struggle, where the corpse of the lion was lying. From there, he followed the tracks of a bear, which finally led him to the entrance of Jambavan's cave, where the latter's children were playing with the priceless jewel. Thereafter, he engaged in furious, protracted combat with Jambavan for 28 days, and Jambavan gradually grew tired. As he was the strongest living entity at that time, he wondered who could be weakening him. It was then that Jambavan realized that he had been sparring with none other than Sri Krishna himself. Jambavan, who was hot-headed but pious by nature, returned the jewel to Krishna, who later married Jambavati, Jambavan's daughter.