In the previous episode, we had witnessed Mother Gandhari cursing Bhagawan Krishna that His entire “Yaadava-Kulam” at Dwaraka will see a similar fate after thirty-six years. Just like how the entire Kaurava Kulam was banished in the Kurukshetra war, the entire Yaadava-Kulam will also banish completely from this world as Bhagawan Krishna’s tenure comes to an end. As Mother Gandhari inflicted this curse out of sheer frustration and grief of losing all her sons, Bhagawan Krishna took it happily with a smile. He replies politely by saying that He too was waiting for such a thing to happen. In other words, Bhagawan Krishna feels that He can use Mother Gandhari’s curse to call it quits from this world! With this, we come to the end of the “Sthree-Vilaapa Parva” – The second “Upa-Parva” under the main “Sthree Parva”. Now, we will enter into the next and the last “Upa-Parva” of this “Sthree Parva”, which is called “Shraadha Parva”. Here is where all the people who are currently alive, are going to perform the “Jala-Tarpanam” for all the departed souls. This is going to be a very important “Upa-Parva”, which commences with Bhagawan Krishna’s reply to everyone who are trying to pin the blame for the debacle on Bhagawan Krishna.
So moving on further thus, Bhagawan Krishna feels that He has taken enough blame upon Himself. Several people including King Dhritarashtra, Mother Gandhari, the wives of all the warriors who had died in the battlefield on both the sides cry aloud and come forward to squarely blame Bhagawna Krishna for the entire devastation. Bhagawan Krishna too is patiently listening to all these accusations, even though He is no way responsible for whatever has happened. Finally as Mother Gandhari’s curse comes by, Bhagawan Krishna decides that He has to speak up now and life has to move on from this. Bhagawan says thus, “Oh people! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Oh Mother Gandhari! All of you are squarely blaming me for the entire catastrophe – Aren’t you? Not even a single person in this gathering is realizing that it is the individual’s “Karma” that has played a role in this devastation. Little do you understand that I tried my best to stop this war from happening. Who was the orchestrator of this entire Kurukshetra battle? It was none other than Duryodhana himself! It was because of his arrogance and ego, all these people had to sacrifice their lives! If such is the case, why are you blaming me? What wrong did I do? Anyway, now that the blame is on me, do you think that this is going to solve the grief and pain? It is only going to get bigger and bigger! Hence, rather than simply playing the blame game, let us collectively move on to do what has to be done further. Even if you keep mourning and blaming, are those dead people going to come back to life again? The answer is a big “No”! All of them have attained the respective “Lokhas” where they are destined to attain. Everything in this world has to come to an end at some point in time. Hence, let us accept this moment and move on further with the other duties that we’ve to perform! Let us do the “Jala-Tarpanam” and “Shraadham” for all the departed “Atmans” in this nearby lake!”
It is worth noting here that the lake where the “Jala-Tarpanam” was performed by all of them can be worshipped in its entire presence even today – In Kurukshetra city, there is a lake by name “Brahma-Sarovaram”. This is the very lake where the “Jala-Tarpanam” of the entire set of dead warriors was performed. This is a very sacred place even today and if we get an opportunity to visit Kurukshetra, we should not miss being here! Moving on further, Bhagawan Krishna asks Yudishtra to take a count of how many people have died on the battlefield on both sides. This includes frontline warriors, foot soldiers, etc. along with the animals like horses, elephants, etc. which have died in the war. As Bhagawan Krishna asks Yudishtra to take stock of the situation, Yudishtra replies with a very important set of statistics with regards to the loss on both sides. We shall wait till the next episode to witness this and move on further! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 