Stories From The Bhagavatham - End Of An Era

 

Krishna will be in the earth for a very short period of time. Your time on earth will be only till the Lord remains. These words of Narada filled Yudhisthira’s heart with dread and he worried constantly. He saw many ill omens that signified doom. Further, Arjuna who had accompanied Krishna to Dwaraka had not returned for a long time.

Yudhisthira shared his worries with Bhima. “Ever since Narada told me that the Lord will lay down His human form soon, I am greatly despairing. Is this possible? Can Krishna, who has been everything for us, really leave us and go away?? I am so afraid that this will come to pass, for I see many ill omens. Look at the state of the world, Bhima. Things have taken a sudden change for the worse, as if Kali has already descended on earth realizing that Krishna’s feet will no more roam on it. People are inclining more and more towards Adharma. Anger, greed and many other vices have taken control of people and Mother Earth is slowly losing her original glory. I am afraid, Bhima.”

Soon, Arjuna returned from Dwaraka. When the Pandav brothers saw him, they saw a man who had lost everything. Arjuna, the mighty warrior, walked with bowed head, his face showing the strains of many a tear shed. When he saw Yudhisthira, he fell at his feet and refused to get up. With great difficulty, Yudhisthira made him stand and enquired of him urgently. “What happened? Are you not well? Is Krishna well? Is everything all right in Dwaraka?” Arjuna stood silent for a moment, wiping his eyes as the tears came yet again. “We have been greatly deceived by fate. There is no Krishna in Dwaraka. Why, there is no Dwaraka at all now!” Just saying this made Arjuna faint.

When he gained consciousness, he recounted to his brothers, the great tragedy at Prabhas where the entire Yadava clan had killed each other and how, with Krishna’s departure from the earth, Dwaraka submerged into the waters of the sea.

Even as Arjuna recounted and relived the tragedy of Krishna’s passing, he attained a calm sense of detachment. He had been constantly thinking about Krishna for a long time and this focus on the Lord had cleared his mind of all illusions of life. He finally realized what Krishna had been teaching him through the Gita – to not to give in to the illusion of sorrow and grief. He realized that he was one with Krishna.

When Kunti heard about Krishna’s departure, she dropped down dead, her soul becoming one with the Lord.

Yudhisthira pondered in silence over the events which he had been dreading since a long time and which had come true. Narada’s words yet again resonated in his mind. Your time on earth will only be till the Lord remains. His mind reached a state of calm after months of agitation and dread over what would happen. He realized that it was time for renunciation.

He handed over the kingdom to Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna. After donating all his possessions, Yudhisthira left the kingdom, his mind devoid of any kind of emotion. The other Pandavas followed him. With their minds devoted to the Lord, they made their final journey northward where they finally attained liberation from the mortal life. And thus ended one era in the earth – an era of Krishna, of the Pandavas and of the greatest war on earth, the Mahabharata.

The details about the events in Prabhasa have been mentioned in another chapter of the Bhagavatham which will follow shortly.

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!