Arunima

Arunima

Ek Naye Aakash Mein

The 8th child of Devki, Born on Ashtami in the month of Shravan is regarded as the 8th incarnation of Vishnu sent to Earth to re-establish the social order. My understanding?of Krishna has been small and insignificant. Whatever little I have learnt is mostly based upon the teachings and writings of His Holiness, the Divine Grace of Swami AC Bhakti Vedanta Prabhupada-the founder of ISCKON. So here it goes.?

The Vrishnis

Popularly known as Vasudeva Krishna, in truth the Lord was born into a Vrishni clan. An ancient?Vedic ?Indian ?clan who were believed to be the descendants of Vrishni. It is believed that Vrishni was the son of?Satvata , a descendant of?Yadu , the son of?Yayati . He had two wives, Gandhari and Madri. He had a son named Devamidhusha by his wife Madri. Vasudeva, the father of?Krishna ?was the grandson of Devamidhusha.?According to the?Puranas , the Vrishnis were residents of?Dwaraka .

Why Dwarka and not Mathura?

Jarasandha , father-in-law of?Kamsa , invaded?Mathura ?with a vast army; and though Krishna destroyed his army of?demons , another?asura ,?Kalayavan ?by name, surrounded Mathura with another army of thirty million monstrous fiends. Then Krishna thought it well to depart to Dwarka.

An Epic Battle & An Epic Curse

Kurukshetra had gone silent after an 18 day war. No longer were there the hysterical voices of those who had slain and the pain and grief of those who had been killed. What was left was gore and the remains of the once living beings. The Pandu sons having won, had no heart to celebrate instead mentally and physically devastated they went around the battle field to seek those in pain and those who could be helped.

They saw Gandhari crying over the mortal remains of Suyodhan (who names their child Duryodhana?). Again and again she asked Suyodhan to open up his eyes. The 75 year old Dhritrashtra stood in silence. Moving away from the mangled remains of Duryodhana, she turned towards the Blind King and asked, "Was it for this end that I bore 100 sons?".?"Answer me?", she asked the King.?"How many times did I ask you to mend the errant ways of Duryodhana? But you were so blinded by Power and the Love for your son. See where it has brought us" she wailed. The Pandu sons and Vrishni Krishna stood silently, respectfully, in equal grief having seen so much destruction for such a small reward.

Sanjaya, the King's escort gently bent down and helped Gandhari stand. He whispered that Krishna and the Pandu sons had arrived to pay their respects and condolences. In a tearing rage Gandhari side stepped the Pandus and addressed Krishna. "You. You the young King of Dwarka. You, the one I worshipped all my life as Vishnu, the Supreme Lord. Are you not ashamed of your doings? My children had no quarrel with you, if you had wished so, you could have stopped the War and saved my children".?

Gandhari continued to wail, " O Lord of the Universe, is this what you do to your own creation? Each day I prayed to you and each day my prayers remained unanswered. If you do not understand pain, then go ask Devki what it felt to lose 7 children". All through the Lord kept smiling and Gandhari guessed so. "I wish to wipe away the smirk, the smile on your face. Listen to this O mocking God, if my years of Bhakti have been true, and if I have been true to my husband then, may you too die in 36 years from today. The entire Vrishni, Yaduvanshi clan will fight amongst themselves, kill each other and Dwarka shall be swallowed by the Sea".?

Having bawled out all her venom, Gandhari fell upon the feet of the Lord. She said, "forgive me supreme lord. This is the pain of a grief stricken mother speaking to you. I did not wish to shame you". The Lord smiled, he gently helped Gandhari to her feet and said, "Every mother is equivalent to my own mother. I accept your curse too as a Prasada and assure you that it will come true. For the simple reason, that a Mother is never wrong. But more so, ek yug ka ant ho raha hai, kal aasman mein ek ajeeb si nayi Arunima hogi jo shaiyad ek aur yug ko prakash or roshni mein vileen kar degi".?"Par abhi hame apne sabhi mrit sanghi aur saathiyon ko ek aakhri vidayi deni hai".?

The Burden of Being Krishna

Under the protection of Krishna-the yaduvansh had become so powerful that it was becoming a danger to human race. Bowing to the curse of Gandhari, Krishna began to shape up the end of his clan. As they say power corrupts, and too much power corrupts ever so more. In this madness the Yadavas sealed their own fate. One day the great sages Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashishta and Narada came over to meet Krishna and Balarama. The Yadavas included Vrishnis, Bhodakas, Kekeyas and Andakas, now left no more than a bunch of hooligans. Without realising the Powers of the Sages, they dressed Krishna's son Samba as a pregnant girl and asked the sages to predict whether the girl will bear a son or a daughter.?Angered by this shameful deceit and an insult to their intellect, they cursed the Vrishnis that the child will bear a ball of iron, which in turn will destroy Dwarka and the entire Yadava clan. And indeed Samba bore an iron Mace. Stunned the Vrishnis ran towards Rukmini and Ugrasen, narrated the events and asked what should they do.?

Krishna smiled, he did not answer but knew the End was near. So it goes, 36 years ago Krishna had prayed to Shiva asked for a son like him. This son was Samba and through this Son would come true the curse of Gandhari and the end of the Vrishnis. In due curse, Gandhari's prayers had been answered. Quite soon the Sudarshana chakra, the Panchjanya Shankh, Krishna's chariot and the Plough of Haldar disappeared from Dwarka. Satyaki and Kritvarma instigated their own death. Krishna's other son Pradyumna is killed by the Yadavas. The mace born to Samba, ground and thrown into the Sea came back to the shores and each blade of grass turned into an iron mace, with which the Yadavas ended killing each other. Durvasas curse too had come to fruition. A small triangular piece swallowed by a fish, appears again into the hands of a fisherman named Jara. Who shaped this triangle into a poisoned Arrowhead.

Krishna and Balarama

After the devastation of Dwarka, only the 2 charioteers of Krishna remain alive and the women of Dwarka. They suggest to go and find Balarama. Balarama was seen in meditation and Krishna says, "Brother let me join you in meditation". As the Lord sits alongside, Balarama an incarnation of Adi Sesha Anant takes the shape of a serpent and slides into the Sea, where he is welcomed by the Naga community and from there he goes back to Vishnu Lok.?

The Final Dilemma

Left all alone Krishna starts planning his own Death. He recalled rubbing Payasam on the body of the sage Durvasa. Having ignored his feet, the sage puts a curse on Krishna that, "he too will die from his feet". Crestfallen, Broken and Disheartened Krishna takes a Yog Samadhi lying under a tree. Covered by leaves, only his foot remains visible. Jara assuming the movement in the leaves to be that of a Deer fires the same poisoned arrow. Realising the mistake he rushes towards Krishna. The Lord tells him, "this too I owed you. In the Treta Yuga as Rama I had killed Bali, hiding from behind a tree". Jara, was the re-birth of Baali. In Krishna's death, the karmic cycle had been completed fully. Bali's death had been avenged.

After such a long story, it is but pertinent to ask what indeed was the purpose of such a long discourse. Well then, it is, "that even for the Ruler of the Universe, the Laws of Karma remain the same. You shall Reap, What You Sow". The Death of Krishna resulted in the start of the Kali-Yuga. Unlike perceived wisdom, that Krishna was the Sutradhar of Mahabharata, it was actually each and every individual who was responsible for their fate. The Lord took no part in the destruction of humanity. Rather he never intervened un-necessarily in the life of any individual. Is Bhav Sagar mein wohi jeetata hai jo apna jeevan jeeta hai, na kisi ki burayi mein na kisi ki acchaiye mein.