The Indian Dharma

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The previous episode witnessed the grand finale of Bhagawan Krishna ascending back to Vaikunta, after a 125-year-stint in this world. As Bhagawan Himself proclaimed in His Bhagawad Gita, He had come down from Vaikunta to this world to protect “Saadhus” (Ardent devotees) and to destroy “Dushtas” (Raakshasas and the people who follow the path of Adharma). Within this stint, Bhagawan successfully established this single-pointed agenda and had returned back to His divine abode. Thus, we should recollect here that the Devas and Goddess Bhoomadevi had once requested Bhagawan Vishnu to incarnate in this world to reduce the “load” that this earth is taking up. When we say “load”, it refers mostly to those people who follow “Adharma” and how their population was ever-increasing, which resulted in Adharma becoming the order of the day! It is at this time Bhagawan Vishnu incarnated as Bhagawan Krishna and re-eatablished the Dharma in this world.

We’ve witnessed in the yesterday’s episode that as Bhagawan Krishna was making His way to Vaikunta, He was welcomed by all the Devas, Bhagawan Shiva and Devi Paarvati in unison and congratulated Him for His great feat! With this, Bhagawan Vishnu had accomplished what has to be accomplished as per the Dharma of the Dwaapara Yuga. After Bhagawan Krishna leaves this world, the Kali Yuga commences and till date, we’re all in this Kali Yuga, awaiting for Bhagawan’s return to this world eagerly! Having said thus, we now come to the all-important “Phalastuthi” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana, which explains the innumerable benefits that the devotee would gain by reading through or chanting the slokas of this sacred text. Sage Sukhaachaarya explains to King Pariskhit thus,

“Ya yetaam praatharutthaaya krishnasya padavim paraam!

Tathah keerthayeth bhaktyaa taameva aapnotyanuthhamaam!!”

Sage Sukhaachaarya explains clearly thus, “Oh Parikshit! All those devotees who listen or read or recite this sacred text and especially this context wherein Bhagawan Krishna is ascending back to Vaikunta, would be granted “Moksha” immediately by Bhagawan, without any prejudice! The devotees’ level of Bhakti would increase manifold after this recital. With this high level of Bhakti, the devotee is being pulled by Bhagawan to His divine Vaikunta, and is never left stranded anywhere in any other Lokha!”

“Dhaaruko dvaarakaametya vasudeva upasenayoho!

Patithvaa charanaavastrair nyancheth krishnavicchutaha!!”

Sage Sukhaachaarya continues thus, “Those who listen to Bhagawan Krishna’s entire Charithra – Right from His incarnation as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, to killing of Kamsa, to establishing of Dwaarakapuri, to playing an important role in helping out the Paandava brothers at Indraprastha, to preaching the Bhagawad Gita to this world, to protecting the Paandavas in the Kurukshetra war, to marrying Rukmini Devi and other important people, to blessing infinite number of devotees and finally the ascent of Bhagawan to Vaikunta – Would get a happy and peaceful life, both in this world as well as at Vaikunta! Those who worship this sacred text and read / write / listen to it everyday with ardent devotion, would be the most dearest people to Bhagawan Krishna, as He Himself had proclaimed that He resides in this Kali Yuga amidst this particular text! Thus, one can be rest-assured that he / she would be under constant protection of Bhagawan Krishna at all times, just like how Arjuna was. The devotee can be rest-assured that Bhagawan Krishna is executing all his / her Karma in this world without any blemish. The devotee can be rest-assured that all of his / her sins would be totally washed away by Bhagawan Krishna’s infinite grace, thus paving the way for attaining the highest Moksha!”

As Sage Sukhaachaarya explains thus, we come to the end of the eleventh “Skandha” of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. In this “Skandha”, we’ve mainly witnessed Bhagawan Krishna’s important pieces of advice to Uddhava as He is preparing to ascend back to Vaikunta. These pieces of advice form the “Keshava-Uddhava-Samvaadham”, which is quite similar to what Bhagawan explained to Arjuna in the Bhagawad Gita. In fact, we shall infer that this “Keshava-Uddhava-Samvaadham” is a condensed version of the Shrimad Bhagawad Gita put together. Bhagawan Krishna has explained almost all the important points that He had covered in elaborate detail in the Bhagawad Gita. Thus, if we’re able to understand this eleventh Skanda here, it is almost equivalent of understanding the crux of the Bhagawad Gita. This is why, this eleventh Skandha is extremely significant.

With this, we now move on to witness the twelfth Skandha, wherein Sage Sukhaachaarya is going to explain the important characteristics of the Kali Yuga. We were waiting to witness this interesting segment for a few episodes now, and this topic forms the crux of the twelfth Skandha. Sage Sukhaachaarya gives a detailed accord of how the Kali Yuga would span out, post Bhagawan Krishna’s tenure in this world. We shall wait till the next episode to commence the twelfth Skandha and to also witness the all-interesting features of this Kali-Yuga! An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna ascending towards Vaikunta. This is a landmark event in the entire Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text, wherein all the Devas, Gandharvas, and ardent devotees of Bhagawan were waiting for His arrival at Vaikunta. They were showering flowers on Him endlessly and with all that, Bhagawan ascends back to Vaikunta. Sage Shukaachaarya explains this very beautifully, wherein he says that Bhagawan Krishna sits in an upright position, closes His eyes and thinks of a glance from the day one when He took His divine incarnation. Right from that day wherein He incarnated inside the prison of Kamsa, Bhagawan recollects all the incidents that He was directly and indirectly part of, wherein His divine grace made innumerable people reach the highest Moksha. He thinks of His family members, parents, His dearest Arjuna and Co., etc. and made sure that all of them are safe and secure wherever they are.

As Bhagawan gets immersed into these recollections, He slowly starts ascending to Vaikunta, with His entire physical body too. Normally, when we pass away from this world, we would not be able to ascend to any other Lokha with our physical body, isn’t it? But Bhagawan has His own unique ways of doing things – He makes sure that He ascends with His same physical body, back to Vaikunta. As Bhagawan ascends, He enters into this very text – The sacred Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana and assures all His devotees in this world that whoever chants, recites, reads or writes this text with ardent devotion, Bhagawan would always be by his / her side and protect that person at will! This is where this Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text assumes so much of significance as compared to any other text in our Sanaatana Dharma. Of course, each text has its own significance – We’ve witnessed this already during our Ramayana and Vidura Neeti projects as well. However, as compared to all of those, this text assumes loads of significance because we can directly worship Bhagawan Krishna through this text! Thus, we should respect the text, pay our respects to Sage Sukhaachaarya who had authored this sacred text and worship both of them together!

We’ve concluded yesterday’s episode by saying that as Bhagawan Krishna ascended towards Vaikunta, there were few “followers” who went along with Him! Who were they? Let’s discuss today – The main followers of Bhagawan Krishna were not human beings, but virtues – Some important virtues that are to be remembered always as we progress through our life. They were, Satya, Dharma, Keerti, Dhruti and Shreehi! Few episodes ago, we had witnessed that nobody accompanied Bhagawan Krishna when He was ascending back to Vaikunta, but at that point, that reference was made to human beings. But here, we’re seeing that five main virtues are following Bhagawan Krishna! As they follow, they proclaim to the world thus, “As Bhagawan is leaving this world, we too do not have any more place here, however, if someone in this world calls us, we would come down again!” As we’re witnessing here, Satya means truth and honesty! All of us know what Dharma is. Shreehi means wealth and property. All of these virtues are also leaving this world once and forever as Bhagawan Krishna is ascending.

Thus, as Bhagawan Krishna ascended back, all the Devas, Bhagawan Shiva, Goddess Parvati, etc. were extremely happy of His return. The hunter who had hit Bhagawan Krishna with the arrow, also ascends to the Svarga Lokha with the divine blessings and grace of Bhagawan Krishna!

Such was the great incarnation of Bhagawan Krishna, and with this we come to the fag end of the Bhaagawatha Puraana text. In the next episode, we would commence the discussion on the important “Phalastuthi”, which means, the benefits a person would obtain by reading this text. Stay tuned for the important episode! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had emphasized on the important point that only with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine presence, other people including the Paandavas were powerful. However, once Bhagawan Krishna left for His divine abode, even the once invincible Arjuna became so powerless that he wasn’t able to handle a small gang of petty thieves. It is where Sage Veda Vyaasa highlights this important point that since Bhagawan Krishna had left for Vaikunta, it is also advisable that the Paandavas do not remain in this world any longer. Thus, during the yesterday’s episode, we had witnessed how the Paandavas ascended to the Svarga Lokha after coronating Parikshit as Yudhistra’s successor. Henceforth, we’ve to now witness in a bit of detail as to how Bhagawan Krishna left for Vaikunta, just for the continuation of the series of events that unfolded, and subsequently the salient features of the Kali Yuga.

Sage Sukhaachaarya narrates this important event to King Parikshit in a beautiful way thus:

“Athah tatraagamath brahma bhavaanyaacha samambhavaha!

Mahendrah pramukhaa devaa munayah svaprajeshwaraaha!!

Pitarah siddha gandharvaa vidyaadhara mahogaraaha!

Drashtukaama bhagawathaha divyaanam paramotsukhaaha!!”

Sage Sukhaachaarya explains this event beautifully wherein he says that all people including the Devas, etc. are flocking all around Him, eagerly awaiting His return back to Vaikunta. All the celestial beings, Maharishis, etc. were playing divine instruments and are showering flowers continuously on Bhagawan Krishna. It was a such a divine sight to watch through. It was as if Bhagawan was being carried away by all these divine flowers and music, all the way to Vaikunta.

“Bhagawan pitaamaham veekshya vibhoothiraatmano vibuhu!

Samyojyaatmanichaathmaanam pdmanetre nyameelayath!!”

As Bhagawan Krishna was sitting at the very place where the hunter had hit His foot, He slowly closes His eyes, for one last time in this world. He now thinks how He had incarnated 125 years ago, on the day when the Rohini star was dominant. He thus thinks of His mother Devaki and father Vasudeva. Subsequently, Bhagawan recollects all the events that He was part of in this world for the past 125 years. Right from His days at Gokula, He thinks of Mother Yashoda, father Nandagopa, all His childhood friends, how He killed all the Raakshasas there to save Gokula, the Kaaliya-Nardhana episode, the famous Govardhana episode, subsequently Bhagawan’s lovely time with Radha, etc. Subsequently, Bhaagwan Krishna thinks of how He and His brother Balarama together neutralized their treacherous uncle, Kamsa at Mathura. Henceforth, Bhaagwan Krishna thinks about His fights against Jaraasandha, how He ran all the way to Dwaaraka from Mathura, some events in the middle of that, etc. Then Bhagawan recollects how He spent loads of time with His favourite Arjuna and the Paandavas, His important role in the famous Kurukshetra war and how He singlehandedly made the Paandavas win the battle and how the entire Kaurava clan including Duryodhana were destroyed.

Then Bhagawan Krishna thinks about His favourite moments with His divine consortium Rukmini Devi, how He married others like Jaambhavati, Satyabhaama, etc. He also recollects His time with Kuchela, when he had come to meet Bhagawan at Dwaaraka after so many years. Thinking all of this thus, Bhagawan Krishna concludes His divine incarnation, as He decides that He would enter into this Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text! In fact, Bhagawan Krishna didn’t want to leave back to Vaikunta just like that – He buried His heart and soul into this sacred text of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana and only the remaining portion of His, left back to Vaikunta! From this, we can understand clearly, the significance of this sacred text! At that moment, Bhagawan Krishna declares to the world thus, “Henceforth, if anybody wants to have my divine darshan, they can have it through this very text! I’m omni-present at each and every “Skandha” and “Sloka” of this divine text and my ardent devotees can feel my presence as they read through or write about this sacred text!”

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna decides to descend back! As the Devas and all other ardent devotees were witnessing the divine event, Bhagawan Krishna leaves this world along with His physical body! Normal people like us cannot do that. If we’ve to ascend to Vaikunta or Svarga Lokha or wherever, we’ve to leave this physical body of ours in this world, assume a different form and thus ascend. But, this is not the case with Bhagawan – He ascends back to Vaikunta with the same physical body!

As Bhagawan Krishna ascends thus to Vaikunta, there are few who follow Him all the way! Who were those few who followed Bhagawan? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂

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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! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Dhaaruka, Bhagawan Krishna’s charioteer hurring towards Dwaaraka city to evacuate the remaining people who were still living there. Dhaaruka undertook this assignment on the urgent instructions given by Bhagawan Krishna and he hurries his way to Dwaaraka. He brings out all the women and children who were there and takes them all the way to Indraprastha wherein Arjuna and the Paandavas were ruling the kingdom. Dhaaruka explains the scenario to Arjuna and entrusts all the women and children under Arjuna’s protection. In due course, we’ve also witnessed that as Dhaaruka drives away all people from Dwaaraka city, the sea starts slowly engulfing the entire land. As we sometimes see in the movies, as Dhaaruka’s chariot moves swiftly across the streets of Dwaaraka, the ocean waters follow him. This happens until Dhaaruka moves out of the city. Once all of them leave, Dwaaraka was totally destroyed by the ocean waters, and Bhagawan Krishna knew that this would happen. This is why He made sure that all the people are moved away before this happens.

Moving on thus, as Dhaaruka is driving all of them towards Indraprastha, he traverses through the entire north-western stretches of the country, through the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. On the way, there were many thieves who blocked their way. As Arjuna was accompanying them through the way, he tried to attack the thieves with his “Gaandeepa” (Bow). However, he was so powerless suddenly that he wasn’t even able to lift his famed bow in his hands! Even if he had lifted his bow somehow, he wasn’t able to mount the arrow in it and shoot at the thieves! He felt so powerless that all the thieves were running away with all the ornaments, gold, etc. that these women were wearing. The entire wealth got stolen by, and Arjuna stood there helplessly! All of us know that Arjuna was once able to defeat the invincible Bhishmacharya and Guru Dhronacharya with his extraordinary skills of employing the bow and arrow, but now, this same Arjuna was not able to defeat these 10-11 thieves who were just like ants in front of a huge elephant!

After Arjuna was rendered powerless thus, he was so unhappy with what happened. In fact, more than being unhappy, he was ashamed that he couldn’t protect these women and children from afterall these petty thieves. As Arjuna is coming with his head down in shame and frustration, Sage Veda Vyaasa comes opposite to him. Sage Vyaasa asks Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! I’ve never seen you this dull! What happened? Why are you speechless and crying? Is everything fine with you?” As Sage Vyasa asks thus, Arjuna narrates what had just happened and how he was rendered so powerless all of a sudden! It is then, Sage Vyaasa reveals the truth – “Oh Arjuna! Didn’t you realize? Bhagawan Krishna has already left for Vaikunta! He is no more in this world! As He left, your powers and strength have also come down! It is only when Bhagawan was alive in this world, did you have all the strength and stamina. Now that He has left, all your powers have been taken away by Him! So, it is time for all of you, including Yudishtra to make your way towards the Svarga Lokha. Please search for the ways and means to do the same, as early as possible!”

Saying thus, Sage Vyaasa continues further, “Oh Arjuna! Please realize that with the descent of Bhagawan Krishna, the Dwaapara Yuga has come to an end. Now the treacherous Kali Yuga has began and this is also one reason why all your powers have been neutralized. All your strength was valid only during the previous Yuga, and not for this Kali Yuga. Here, people are going to be different and the nature of the world is going to undergo a phenomenal transformation – From bad to worse!”

Upon hearing this from Sage Vyaasa, Arjuna did not understand what was going on! He has never seen such a transition before in all his life. He asks Sage Vyaasa to explain in a bit more detail as to how different is this Kali Yuga going to be from the previous Dwaapara Yuga and the Tretha Yuga. It is only then, Sage Vyaasa is going to give a detailed description of how the Kali Yuga is going to be – This is an extremely important section of the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana and all of us can relate to many instances that are happening in the today’s scenario as well. It is quite amazing to see that our Maharishis have had such a long foresight that they’ve exactly predicted how this entire Kali Yuga would pan out to be! Of course, we are still at the early stages of the Kali Yuga and there’s a lot more to come!

So for today, let us stop at this point and let us wait till the next episode to have the detailed accord of how this Kali Yuga is going to be! Stay tuned for this interesting episode! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagwan Krishna being hit by a hunter, with that arrow wherein the metal piece was tied. Bhagawan Krishna realizes that this is the moment that He was waiting for, to ascend back to Vaikunta. At almost the same time, all the Devas, headed by Indra gathered around the skies, inviting Bhagawan back to His divine abode. Bhagawan Krishna too acknowledged the call by Indra and Co. and this was the time when He was hit by the hunter’s arrow. Although the hunter felt bad for his “misdeed” of hurting Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet, Bhagawan Krishna explained to him calmly that this was not his fault, and this incident was bound to happen. In fact, the hunter has done a great service to Bhagawan by enabling Him to ascend towards Vaikunta. Because of this, Bhagawan Krishna granted the opportunity to this hunter to reach “Svarga Lokha”, straightaway.

Once Bhagawan grants this to the hunter, he immediately ascends to the “Svarga Lokha” without any delay. Now after this hunter left, Bhagawan is all alone. It should be remembered that even Balarama, Bhagawan’s Shanka and Chakra, Rukmini Devi, etc. have all left too! It is at this time, Bhagawan’s charioteer Dhaaruka comes to see Bhagawan Krishna, and upon seeing Him all alone, he was moved to tears! How many people have Bhagawan Krishna helped to attain Moksha? How many people have benefitted from Bhagawan’s divine grace? How many people had approached Bhagawan Krishna for various reasons, all through these 125 years? Inspite of all this, when Bhagawan Krishna is passing through His last stages of incarnation, there is none near Him! How selfish can this world be, and that too to Bhagawan Himself? Seeing all this, Dhaaruka couldn’t hold back his tears. He proposes to Bhagawan Krishna that he could be with Him for the remaining time period and he could be of some service to Bhagawan. Upon seeing Dhaaruka in tears, Bhagawan consoles him and explains that He has some important work to be assigned to him.

Bhagawan Krishna says to Dhaaruka thus, “Oh Dhaaruka! Just go to Dwaaraka city once and check if anyone is still living there! I had asked all of them to vacate the city as quickly as possible, because there is a huge danger awaiting them if they stay there any longer. If there are women in Dwaaraka, please protect them for a while and take all of them to Indraprastha, wherein Arjuna is. Please request Arjuna to take care of all these women and children carefully. If you do this assignment meticulously, you shall reach the Svarga Lokha then and there!”

Hearing thus from Bhagawan Krishna, Dhaaruka sets off to Dwaaraka to execute Bhagawan’s words. He finds that there are many people still yet to leave Dwaaraka. He thus takes all of them with him and travels all the way to Indraprastha. This Indraprastha is today’s New Delhi, which is the capital of India even today! If we go to Delhi, even now there is a place called “Indraprastha Maarg”. Thus, we can infer that our entire Bhaarata Desha (India) is the land of “Sanaatana Dharma” and nobody can refute this reality. We might term India as “Secular”, etc. today, but each and every fabric of India is made up of our “Sanaatana Dharma” principles only. If not that, how would we find all these places still, in direct correlation with what is given here, Mahabhaarata and the Ramayana texts? Thus, we should understand that each and every place that our spiritual texts explain, is all present even today. It is only we who have to take the initiative to visit these places and understand their significances for ourselves. For instance, here we’re witnessing Indraprastha, wherein the Paandavas are ruling. In the Mahabharata text, all of us know of Kurukshetra, wherein the 18-day long war took place. We can worship this place even today. Similarly, Ayodhya in Ramayana is extremely significant even today, isn’t it? Not only Ayodhya, there are “n” number of places that are extremely significant in our Bhaarata Desha. Thus, with all of these, we should understand how significant our “Bhaarata Desha” is.

Thus, Dhaaruka drives all the women and children of Dwaaraka city to Indraprastha and hands them over to Arjuna. He also communicates Bhagawan Krishna’s message to Arjuna too, and with that, Dhaaruka too attains the “Svarga Lokha”! As Dhaaruka was bringing all of these people from Dwaaraka, the sea slowly started intruding into the city. Just like how we see in some movies and shows on the TV, as people start leaving the place, the sea is engulfing each and every house of the city, and a “tsunami-like” situation arises. Since many of us might have witnessed this tsunami disaster inn the year 2004, we might be able to relate the damage that was caused by this, to what happened at Dwaaraka too. The entire city was ravaged by the sea waters, and each and every house was destroyed, except the house of Bhagawan Krishna’s father, Vasudeva. This is why we say that the entire Dwaaraka city was destroyed after Bhagawan Krishna leaves the place. Even today, we would be able to find few remains of the city if we venture into the ocean for a little distance off the Gujarat coast. I had explained this already when we had witnessed the significance of the five “Dwaaraka Kshetras”. We had discussed this when Bhagawan Krishna first moved into Dwaaraka from Mathura. Readers can recollect this episode whenever you get time!

So for today, let us understand this event fully and let us wait till the next episode to witness what happened next! Stay tuned! 🙂

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In the previous episode, we had commenced to witness the series of events that led to Bhagawan Krishna departing back to His divine abode, Vaikunta. We had witnessed yesterday that Balarama, brother of Bhagawan Krishna took leave from Him and departed to Vaikunta. Simultaneously Bhagawan’s “Shanka” and “Chakra” too took permission from Bhagawan and left for Vaikunta. Finally it was only Bhagawan Krishna who was remaining. One fine day, Bhagawan was relaxing amidst a tall tree, in the reclining position, wherein His foot was up from the ground a little bit. Upon seeing Bhagawan’s foot, a hunter who passed by that way thought that this was a deer that had come there to drink some water. Thus, he quickly pulled out his arrow, locked it into his bow, let it go fiercely towards Bhagawan’s foot. Ultimately, as the arrow hits Bhagawan, blood oozes out from His divine feet! With this, Bhagawan Krishna takes the pain on to Himself, so as to allow Sage Vishwamitra’s curse to take its course. We should also remember the curse of Gaandhaari here, as she had also pledged that the entire Yaadava clan would be wiped out of this world, just like how her Kaurava clan was wiped out after the Kurukshetra war. Bhagawan Krishna was the only remaning person from the Yaadava clan at that point in time, and with Gaandhaari’s curse, He too had to bear the brunt of it. Thus, Bhagawan respected the sentiments and the prowess of people’s penance and “Prathignya” and thus decided to use these as the “ways and means” for Him to depart to Vaikunta.

Moving on thus, as the hunter sees the blood oozing out, he gets shell-shocked! He thus rushes forward to see what had happened. This hunter had hit his arrow, thinking that it was a deer, but to his dismay, he found Bhagawan Krishna there! Upon seeing this, the hunter realized the folly that he had committed and starts profusely crying! He was so helpless and was feeling gutted with his act! He thus falls on Bhagawan Krishna’s lotus feet and seeks unconditional refuge. Upon seeing the hunter’s unconditional surrender, Bhagwan replies thus, “Oh my dear son! Why are you feeling sad? You’re just an instrument in my divine hands! This was about to happen anyways, and this is not your fault. It was the curse of Sage Vishwamitra that has conspired through you! So please do not feel sad for what happened. I’m going to give you the highest “Moksha” for your unconditional surrender! In fact, you’ve done a great help to me – I was planning to ascend back to Vaikunta, and you were of a great service in making that happen! So, rather than feeling guilty, feel proud of yourself that you’ve helped Bhagawan in ascending back to Vaikunta! Thus, with my permission, you can now go to the “Swarga Lokha” for now, and from there, you can reach Vaikunta later!” 

Saying thus, Bhagwan Krishna sends Him to “Swarga Lokha” and this is the time Bhagawan Krishna’s charioteer called “Daaruka” comes near Him. He was sad to see Bhagawan Krishna all alone with a hurt foot! In fact, when Bhagawan Krishna left for Vaikunta, He left all alone and all by Himself! Whereas, when Bhagawan Rama descended to Vaikunta, the entire Ayodhya city was with Him, and with Bhagawan’s compassion, He took all the Ayodhya people along with Him to Vaikunta. But here, Bhagawan Krishna is all alone by Himself. Unable to bear this, Dhaaruka asks Bhagawan Krishna whether he can be alongside Bhagawan. At this time, Bhagawan replies back thus, “Oh Dhaaruka! Don’t worry! You don’t need to be alongside me. I shall manage by myself! I’m going to give you the opportunity to go to the “Svarga Lokha”, but I want you to do one important duty before that!”

Upon hearing from Bhagawan Krishna, Dhaaruka asks Him what should he do. Bhagawan Krishna is now going to entrust an important responsibility to Dhaaruka. What is that? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 😊

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed the aftermath of Gaandhaari’s and Sage Vishwamitra’s curse on the Yaadava clan. We’ve witnessed that after Bhagawan Krishna left Dwaaraka city to Praabhaasha Kshetra, there was a huge infighting within the Yaadava clan. People started feeling insecure suddenly and in turn, they started attacking each other with sticks, weapons, bows, arrows, etc. As the infighting intensified, scores and scores of people started dying overnight, and ultimately the entire Yaadava Clan got destroyed within no time! As mentioned yesterday, we should remember that Bhagawan Krishna had a curse from Gaandhaari that just like how her Kaurava clan was totally destroyed, Bhagawan Krishna’s Yaadava clan would also be totally destroyed as well. Similarly, Sage Vishwamitra too had cursed the Yaadava clan that they would be destroyed because of their arrogance that they had exhibited towards him. Thus, after this aftermath, Bhagawan Krishna was the lone surviver of the entire clash.

Moreover, to add on to Sage Vishwamitra’s curse, we’ve already witnessed that these Yaadavas had mocked his penance by tying a wooden log on to a male’s stomach, disguised him as a female and asked Sage Vishwamitra to predict if that person is going to deliver a male or a female child. Sage Vishwamitra understood the plot and cursed the entire Yaadava clan that it is only this wooden log that is going to serve as a huge destructive agent for them. This wooden log would answer their arrogance and pride. We should remember that Bhagawan Krishna is also part of the Yaadava clan and He was no exception to this curse. Although He was Bhagawan Himself, a Sage’s curse would always sustain on Him as well, and this is very powerful.

Thus, we’ve also witnessed that the Yaadavas tried to destroy the wooden log by throwing it into the ocean and by breaking the log into several pieces. But as the curse would still stay, the small metal piece that was sticking to the log, became the biggest enemy for the Yaadavas. It is only with this metal piece, were the entire group of Yaadavas destroyed. Currently, there was one small metal piece that was still remaining from the wooden log, and this piece was picked up by a hunter, who was looking out for some metal pieces for his hunting process. Eventually he tied that metal piece to his arrow. It is only because of this arrow hitting Bhagawan Krishna, is He going to descend back to Vaikunta. Let us witness what happened henceforth.

One fine day, Bhagawan Krishna was leaning towards a huge tree, taking some rest. At this point, Balarama, who was Bhagawan’s brother takes permission from Him, takes His real form of Bhagawan Aadisesha and descends back to Vaikunta. At the same time, Bhagawan Krishna’s chariot, His “Shanka” and “Chakra” also start descending back to Vaikunta. All the Devas were assembling all over the skies, awaiting Bhagawan’s arrival. They’re starting to shower flowers continuously, so as to welcome Bhagawan back to Vaikunta. We should remember that it was only on the request of the Devas and Mother Bhoomadevi did Bhagawan incarnate as Bhagawan Krishna. Thus, He had finished all His duties and is now getting ready to leave back. The Devas talk to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Your divine duties in this world are completed for this incarnation! Hence, it is time for you to come back to Vaikunta! We’re waiting for your return and we want to thank you for all what you’ve done to us, so as to protect Dharma! You’ve lived for 125 years in this world and finished all your duties, and hence, please return back to our abode!”

As the Devas explain thus, Bhagawan Krishna did not talk a word back! He too realized that it was time for Him to descend back, as the advent of Kali Yuga was very close. He thus, goes and leans on a gigantic tree and this is where, Bhagawan’s foot was seen by a hunter, which resembled like a deer for him. This hunter thinks that a deer is coming there to drink some water and this is the right time for him to have a shot at the deer. Immediately, the hunter takes his arrow, locks it into his bow, aims at the “deer” (Bhagawan’s feet), and releases the arrow towards it. On the other hand, Bhagawan Krishna was also waiting for that arrow to come and hit Him. Finally the arrow comes thick and fast and hits Bhagawan’s feet. Of course, nothing can harm Bhagawan, and this small arrow is just a miniscule thing to harm Him in any way. However, we should remember that this metal piece from that log of wood was tied to this particular arrow and it was this arrow that has come and hit Bhagawan. Thus, Bhagawan wanted to use this opportunity to pay His respect to Sage Vishwamitra and His prowess of his penance.

As the hunter witnesses that his arrow had hit the desired target, to his utter surprise and dismay, there was human blood oozing out from the point where the arrow had hit. It is only then he realizes that he had hit a wrong target. The target was supposed to be a deer, but unfortunately it was a human being – And that too, Bhagawan Krishna of all human beings! The hunter runs and comes to the vicinity of Bhagawan Krishna and he was shocked to see what has just conspired! What happened next? Let’s wait till the next episode to witness! Stay tuned! 😊

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In the previous episode, we had concluded the all-important “Keshava-Uddhava-Samvaadham” that we were discussing in detail for quite sometime now. We had witnessed important pieces of advice given by Bhagawan Krishna to Uddhava, with regards to some pertinent aspects of detachment, “Bhakti”, etc. and how these aspects are ruled by our three “Gunas” – Satva, Rajo and Tamo Gunas at all times. Bhagawan Krishna had even classified each and every aspect of life into three types, depending on these three “Gunas” and we’ve witnessed all of it at length. Moving on further, as Bhagawan Krishna finishes His accord, He decides that it is almost time for Him to return back to Vaikunta, as His duties were almost over. He is now thinking as to how can this happen. At the same time, it is also going to be the end of the Dvaapara Yuga, and all the omens were visibile for the commencement of “Kali Yuga”, which is one of the most treacherous Yugas so far. Bhagawan Krishna decides upon understanding this, that it is not going to be feasible for Him to be in this world during the advent of the Kali Yuga.

In that way, He calls for all His people at Dwaaraka city and explains to them that they would all go together to “Praabhaasha Kshetra” near Somnath in the western-Indian state of Gujarat, as there are so many bad omens visible in and around Dwaaraka. Bhagawan Krishna also explains that once He departs, the entire Dwaaraka city is going to be engulfed by the ocean waters and is going to be totally inhabitable after that. Moreover, Bhagawan Krishna adds another crucial point here to His people that after His departure to Vaikunta, “Dharma” in this world is never going to sustain any further, and hence, it would be ideal for all of them to leave at once!

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna starts off from Dwaaraka city, bids adieu to His place once and forever, and comes to Praabhaasha. As Bhagawan Krishna leaves the Dwaaraka palace, there was a huge fight that broke out between the fifty-two crore Yaadava people who were living there! The fight broke out due to an insecure feeling that creeped into all of them after Bhagawan Krishna’s departure. All of them took all possible weapons in their hands, like swords, knives, bows, arrows, etc. and started attacking one another, and with that, the entire Dwaaraka city became a battlefield – Just like how Kurukshetra was! With all this terrible fighting going on, all weapons were destroyed to pieces and so were the Yaadavas too! Truckloads of people started falling dead every passing day and at the end, the entire “Yaadava clan” got totally destroyed, except for Bhagawan Krishna alone.

Thus, at the end of the whole fight, it was only Bhagawan Krishna who survived. It should be remembered by readers that Bhagawan Krishna had a curse from Gaandhaari, who was the mother of Duryodhana. Many of us might have known this episode – As the Kurukshetra battle draws to a close and when Duryodhana was the last person to be killed by Bhima, Gaandhaari, who was the mother of all the Kauravas felt miserable that the entire Kaurava clan was destroyed by one person who was none other than Bhagawan Krishna. She was under the impression that it was Bhagawan Krishna who had viciously plotted against her sons, on the pretext of “protecting Dharma”. With that, she cursed Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Krishna! Just like how I’m standing here as a mother of a totally destroyed clan, one day you would also stand alone as a single person, with the complete destruction of your entire Yaadava clan!” It is that very day which has arrived now, wherein the entire Yaadava clan was destroyed due to infighting amongst themselves!

Moreover, it is not only Gaandhaari’s curse – It should also be remembered by readers that Sage Vishwaamitra had also cursed the same thing. Few episodes ago we had witnessed that the Yaadavas had gone and mocked Sage Vishwaamitra’s power of penance by asking him to predict the pregnancy of a male! At this particular day, Sage Vishwaamitra’s curse that the Yaadava clan would cease to exist, has come true as well! Hence, this day was a fateful day for the entire Yaadava clan and Bhagawan Krishna was left all alone to fend for Himself! So for today, let us understand this point and we shall wait till the next episode to witness what happened next! Stay tuned!

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In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important clarification when it comes to Bhagawan being omni-present amongst all of us and other living beings around. We had witnessed that a person is a true ardent devotee of Bhagawan only if he / she is able to exhibit “equality” amongst all living beings by experiencing Bhagawan amidst all of them. So we had asked a counter question while discussing this point at length – If we’re able to witness Bhagawan amidst all the beings around us, why should we particularly visit a temple to worship Bhagawan in the idol form? We had witnessed a justification for that in yesterday’s episode – Unlike great “Maharishis” who have the ability to “visualize” Bhagawan with their prowess of deep penance, we do not have such amounts of spiritual maturity and because of that, it is vvery difficult for us to visualize Bhagawan to that extent. This is where, idol worship assumes lot of significance. For spiritually “immature” people like all of us, visualizing Bhagawan in the form of a beautiful idol standing in front of us with a beaming smile and a charming face is the best way to attain spiritual progress.

Moreover, it becomes easier for us to focus a form which we can relate to quite well. As we’re human beings, it would be easier for us to relate Bhagawan to a human form, more than any other. If we’ve to imagine Bhagawan as a form other than a human, this is where we get disconnected. Psychologically it is easier for us to understand something when we relate to whatever we’re comfortable with. For instance, even when we study some concepts of management and leadership, it is always easier for us to study those concepts when we link them with relevant examples and anecdotes related to them. This enhances our understanding with greater depth. Similar is this concept of idol worship as well – If we’ve to be able to visualize Bhagawan in a beautiful idol form, it becomes easier for us to focus and meditate upon, which would in turn slowly enhance our spiritual maturity.

Moving on further thus, we enter into the 30’th “Adhyaaya” of this “Skandha”, wherein Bhagawan Krishna makes the final decision to ascend back to Vaikunta. With the above point, we come to the end of the “Keshava-Uddhava-Samvaadham”, wherein Bhagawn Krishna concludes His long addressal to Uddhava with regards to attaining spiritual progress, even without Him being in the forefront. We’ve witnessed that Uddhava was sad when he came to know that Bhagawan Krishna was descending to Vaikunta, leaving all of His devotees in the lurch. This is where, Bhagawan Krishna gives a lengthy accord to console Uddhava that he has to wait till the time comes for him to ascend to Vaikunta. It is only for this, Bhagawan Krishna teaches the “Maarga” (Way) to reach Vaikunta or Moksha, which is also important for all ardent devotees like us. Hence, we’ve to make sure that we read and re-read these important points that Bhagawan Krishna had emphasized to Uddhava, so that we get a hold on it.

Now, we’ve to witness how Bhagawan Krishna is going to ascend to Vaikunta. After Uddhava takes leave, Bhagawan Krishna is thinking as to which way should He adopt to ascend back. All these instances that had unfolded, have taken place at “Praabhaasha Kshetra”. This place is near to Somanath in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Now we’re going to witness the “Charitra” that conspired at this “Praabhaasha Kshetra”. At this juncture, when Bhagawan Krishna was still at Dwaaraka, He explains to His people thus, “Oh people! I’m somehow seeing some bad omens in and around Dwaaraka city! Things are not looking so good and feasible for us to stay here anymore. Hence, let us all pack our bags and leave Dwaaraka and go to a place which is filled with natural beauty! I feel that we should all go to this place towards the west wherein River Saraswathi is flowing by. This, I think, is a safe place for us to live the rest of our days!”

Bhagawan Krishna continues further thus, “I’m seeing all these bad omens because this Dvaapara Yuga is going to come to an end very soon. The treacherous Kali Yuga is going to commence anytime soon. Once the Kali Yuga commences, Dwaaraka city is going to be engulfed with the ocean waters. We’ve to leave this place before all of this takes place!”

So for today, let us understand this part and let us wait till the next episode to continue this “Charitra” forward. We’re going to witness how Bhagawan Krishna moves His base from Dwaaraka City to “Praabhaasha Kshetra”, and what happened after that! Stay tuned! 😊