The King Who Slept in the Cave

The sages told the Pandavas of King Mucukunda, who slept for ages in a cave with a fiery glance to guard his rest, and of how Krishna used that sleeping king to destroy an enemy without lifting a weapon - a tale of cleverness over force, and of the vastness of time.

Long ago there lived a great and righteous king named Mucukunda, of the ancient solar line. In his day the gods were hard pressed in their endless war against the demons, and they had no general able to lead them. So they came to Mucukunda, mightiest of mortal warriors, and begged him to leave his kingdom and lead the armies of heaven against the demons. Mucukunda agreed, and for a very long age he fought at the head of the celestial hosts, defeating the demons again and again, guarding the gods through the long years of their war, until at last the war-god Skanda was born and took up the command of heaven's armies in his place.