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Satrajit was one of the Yadava princes in the lineage of Satwata and enjoyed the friendship of Surya, the Sun God. Once when Satrajit was walking along the seashore, he thought of Surya and meditated in his memory. When Surya presented himself as a great ball of fire, he requested the Sun God to do him a favor and appear in a more distinguishable form. Acceding to this request, Surya took off the jewel called Syamantaka from his neck which allowed Satrajit to see Surya in his true form, with a body like burnished copper and slightly reddish eyes.
Being among the few mortals to have ever seen Surya in his true form, Satrajit was extremely thankful to him and started singing his praises. Pleased with the devotion shown in him Surya granted a boon to Satrajit, to which he requested that the Syamantaka gem be given to him. The Sun God then gave the gem to him and took back his place in the skies.
Satrajit wore the gem on his neck and was now as irradiant as Surya himself and when he returned to Dwaraka, the citizens thought that Purushottama, the eternal male who sustained the burden of earth for all time had come to visit Krishna. When they approached Krishna and informed him of this, he just smiled and told them that it was not Surya, but Satrajit who was coming back from the seashore wearing the Syamantaka gem that had been given to him.
Satrajit kept the jewel in his home which yielded eight loads of gold every day, which made him very wealthy. The gem also dispelled all fear of portents, wild beasts, fire, robbers and famine, which rendered its owner practically invulnerable.
As time went by and the marvelous powers of the gem became public knowledge, Krishna was of the opinion that Ugrasena, the Yadava king should be given possession of the same. Although Krishna could easily have taken the gem from Satrajit and given it to Ugrasena, he did not do so because he did not want to cause any unnecessary disagreements due to this in the family.
Satrajit however was very fearful that Krishna might forcibly take the gem away from him and therefore gave it to his brother, Prasena for safekeeping. The Syamantaka gem in addition to its wonderful attributes also had a peculiar property. Although it was an inexhaustible source of good to a virtuous person, if a man of bad character ever wore it, then it would cause his death.
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