In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna ascending back to Vaikunta after a 125-year-long stint in this world, which was to re-establish “Dharma” and to root out all the “Adharma” that was happening. As Bhagwan Krishna ascends back, there are lot of signs that confirm this important event. One such event is where Arjuna, who was once a prolific expert in employing the bow and arrow, suddenly was rendered powerless to defend his people even from a small and a petty ang of robbers. As Arjuna was reeling under this sudden powerlessness, Sage Veda Vyaasa appears before him and explains the situation. He drops an important hint to Arjuna that it is time for him to think of ways to reach the Svarga Lokha from here, as his powers were valid only until the point when Bhagawan Krishna was alive in this world. Upon Sage Vyaasa’s words, Arjuna was shell-shocked and asks him back as to what happened to Bhagawan. Sage Veda Vyaasa explains to Arjuna that Bhagawan Krishna’s divine incarnation is over and that, He had already ascended to Vaikunta. With this the Dwaapara Yuga comes to an end, and henceforth it is going to be the advent of the Kali Yuga.
It is to be noted that this Kali Yuga is going to span out a lifetime of 4,32,100 years and currently we’ve only crossed around 5,100 years. We’re still at the early stages of Kali Yuga and Sage Veda Vyaasa goes on in his accord to Arjuna to describe how is this Kali Yuga going to span out. Sage Vyaasa is narrating the characteristics of the Kali Yuga, how people in this Yuga would behave, what are the major landmark events that would take place in this Yuga, how would people react to them, etc. It’s a long discussion, but of course, we shall try and condense it into a shorter and an understandable form for our readers. But before we go into that discussion, we shall witness how the “Paandavas” attained Svarga Lokha.
As Sage Vyaasa explains thus, Arjuna understands the situation and he realizes that there’s no point in living in this world any further. He goes back to Yudishtra and explains the whole thing and all the five of them set out of Indraprastha. Yudishtra coronates Parikshit to be the next king of Indraprastha and with this, all five of them start off. The place where the five people ascended towards the Svarga Lokha is called “Satopanth” and we can worship this place even today. It’s a beautiful and a scenic place amidst the great Himalayan Mountain ranges in the north of India. Thus, one after the other attain Svarga Lokha and finally Yudishtra has a test of his life for one last time with the “Dharma Devata” taking the form of a dog and following him all the way up the mountains. As Yudishtra passes the test given by the “Dharma Devata”, he too attains the “Svarga Lokha” and with this, the Paandavas come to an end.
Thus, we can witness here that power, invincibility, etc. were with the Paandavas only when Bhagawan Krishna was around. Once He left the scene, all their powers were rendered useless. This clearly shows how Bhagawan Krishna utilised the Paandavas as His divine instruments to establish Dharma in this world. This is why we always emphasize that we’ve to surrender ourselves to Bhagawan completely. Yudishtra and Co. did that meticulously and we’re able to witness how Bhagawan used them for a noble cause that benefitted the whole world. We should always understand that all the actions that we perform in this world should be directed in some way or the other to benefit the world. For this, we might not be able to do it directly without the help of Bhagawan. Only if we surrender completely to Bhagawan’s lotus feet, will we be able to dedicate ourselves completely in the way Bhagawan wants us to perform.
So with this, we can clearly understand that if Bhagawan is present, everything is so powerful. But when Bhagawan is off, everything is off too! So for today, let us realize this important point and do the needful. In the next episode, we shall witness some minute details about how Bhagawan Krishna left for Vaikunta, before we enter into the discussion of the “Kali Yuga”! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 