Banasur was the 10th descendant of Prahlad and the eldest among 100 sons of King Bali. Since he was fond of Lord Shiva from childhood, he meditated and worshiped hard to appease Lord Shiva when he was grown up.
Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him the boon of a thousand powerful arms, which made him very powerful. Banasur also asked for the boon that Shiva would always protect him whenever he was in trouble, and Lord Shiva granted him that too.
After receiving the boon from Lord Shiva, Banasur became egotistic and arrogant. He even attacked Kailash, an abode of Lord Shiva. Seeing this, Lord Shiva got angry and reminded him that his demise was near. He also reminded him that the reason for his demise had already been born, and he would notice this when the flag on his kingdom gate would be broken.
Banasura had a daughter Usha who saw a handsome prince in her dream and fell in lust with him. One day she told one of her maids, Chitralekha, about her dream. Chitralekha, with her black magic, draws a portrait of the prince seen in Usha’s dream. Usha confirmed that the portrait was the same person she saw in her dream. Chitralekha said that the prince was Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna. Usha asked her to bring him to her.
Chitralekha reached Dwaraka and made Aniruddha unconscious while he was asleep. Then she took Aniruddha to Banasura’s palace while he was still sleeping. When Aniruddha woke up, he found himself in front of Usha, and she explained about her dream and how she fell in love with him. Aniruddha looking at the beauty of Usha, fell in love with her. They stay together in her compartment for several days.
While Aniruddha stayed with Usha, the flag on the gate of the kingdom broke and fell off. Noticing this, Banasura became suspicious that there was somebody outside his palace. Banasura finds out Aniruddha is in Usha’s compartment, taking Aniruddha captive.
Shiva vs. Krishna
Meanwhile, there was already huge havoc in Dwarka about the loss of Aniruddha. Lord Krishna received the message that Banasura held Aniruddha captive. He then attacked Banasura’s kingdom along with Balarama and some army. Balarama, with his power, destroyed all of Banasura’s army. Banasura confronted Krishna, but he was powerless in front of Lord Krishna. Then Banasura prays for Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva, confined by his boon, came to rescue Banasura and started the war with Krishna to protect Banasur. Both Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna battled with each other. When Krishna found out that he was helpless to kill Banasur when Lord Shiva was protecting him, he prayed to Lord Shiva silently. Then Lord Shiva gives him a trick to follow. Krishna threw an arrow that made Lord Shiva fall asleep.
Krishna took out his Sudarshan Chakra and cut off all the arms of Banasur. Finally, when he threw the Sudarshan Chakra to cut off Banasur’s head, Shiva woke up and blocked the Chakra. Shiva then pledges Krishna to forgive Banasur as he is one of his great devotees.
Seeing all these pictures, Banasur felt ashamed and asked for forgiveness. He also promised to let down his arrogance and be good in the future. Banasura then married Aniruddha and Usha to each other and left them with Krishna respectfully.