01Son of Rohini
The Adi Parva names Balarama, Rama with the plough, as a portion of Shesha, the serpent on whom Vishnu rests. He was born to Rohini, Vasudeva’s other wife, and grew up with Krishna. When Arjuna carried Subhadra off from Raivataka, the Vrishni and Andhaka chiefs called for war, and Balarama was the angriest of them, flushed with wine and rage. Krishna talked them round: Arjuna was a worthy husband, and had taken her the way a kshatriya may. Balarama gave way, and the wedding was held at Dwaraka.
02Neither side
Both Bhima and Duryodhana learned the mace from him, and he loved them both. As the armies gathered he came to the Pandava camp at Upaplavya, sat with Yudhishthira, and said plainly that he could not watch the Kurus destroyed and would fight for neither. Then he set out on pilgrimage. The Shalya Parva follows him along the Sarasvati from tirtha to tirtha, Prabhasa and Udapana and Vinashana, where the river vanishes into the sand, bathing and giving gifts, while the war ran its eighteen days.
03The last duel
Narada told him the end was near, and he reached the lake where Duryodhana and Bhima were about to fight. Both greeted their teacher. When Bhima struck Duryodhana on the thighs, a blow below the navel that the rules of the mace forbid, Balarama raised his plough and ran at Bhima. Krishna caught his arms and reminded him of Bhima’s vow in the dice hall, and that the Kali age was at hand. Balarama was not satisfied. He said Bhima would be known as a crooked fighter and Duryodhana would reach the worlds of the righteous, mounted his chariot and left for Dwaraka.
04Ananta goes home
At Prabhasa, after the Yadavas had destroyed one another, Krishna found his brother sitting alone under a tree at the edge of the forest, deep in yoga. As he watched, a great white serpent came out of Balarama’s mouth, a thousand-headed naga as large as a mountain, with red mouths, and went down into the sea. The ocean, the great nagas and Varuna came to receive him. Krishna then went into the forest alone. Balarama’s other deeds, the killing of Dhenuka and Pralamba, the dragging of Hastinapura towards the Ganga with his plough, are told in the Harivamsha and the Puranas.