Death of Krishna and the Pandavas

Gandhari’s Curse on Krishna

After the war a shocked Gandhari vents her fury out by cursing Krishna and saying, “And you smile after all this? What a nerve you have. Listen to this, oh mocking God! If my years of Vishnu Bhakti have been true, and if I have been true to my husband, then, may you die in 36 years from today. May Dwaraka be flooded and may every one of your Yadava kin perish by killing each other, just as you made the kins of Kuru kill one another. May the Yadavas die out.. May the Yadavas die out.”

Saying this she broke down, all her anger gone and she fell down on her knees to the Lord’s feet. Krishna, lifted her up, his smile stuck onto his face and said, “Maatey, that curse of yours will take effect, not only because of your true devotion towards me and your husband, but also due to the ever changing sands of time. In the mean time, let’s attend to the tending of the dead and sending them away on their journey to the heavens.”

Consoling Gandhari, Krishna walked away startling the Pandavas.

Days flew by after the coronation of Yudhishtra as the king of Hastinapur and Krishna went back to Dwaraka to rule over the beautiful island kingdom. Blessed by the presence of the Goddess of Wealth (Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly the curse of Gandhari started taking form. The Yadavas were in eternal bliss in Dwaraka, so much of bliss, that they forgot good conduct, morals and the importance of discipline and humility. Consequently, once when some learned men came to Dwarka, the Yadavas sealed their destiny.

The Rishis Curse Samba, Krishna’s Son

It so happened that once great sages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista, Narada among others were on a pilgrimage. After visiting various places, they visited Dwaraka to meet Lord Krishna and Balarama. The Yadavas, which included Bhodakas, Vrishnis, Kekeyas and Andakas, who were once virtuous devotees of Krishna, had lost their sense of culture and discipline and had become a little more than hooligans. A group of Yadava boys who saw the great sages decided to play a prank on them in order to test their powers.

They dressed Samba, the son of Krishna and Jambavati, as a woman and tied many robes to his belly so he’d appear as a pregnant woman. They approached the sages and asked them to predict whether the ‘lady’ would give birth to a boy or a girl. The Rishis realised the truth through their divine vision and were enraged. In anger, the sages cursed them saying that the disguised boy will give birth to a lump of Iron which will destroy the entire Yadava race.

The Yadavas, though shocked, were too arrogant to even apologize. They left the scene, laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost all his sanity. Things were however very different the next morning. Sambha developed labour pains and soon delivered a mace from within him. The Yadavas were now struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace to Akroora and Ugrasena and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated the weird tide of events.

Akroora immediately ordered them to grind the mace to a fine powder and cast it into the seas. The Yadavas nodded and retreated. Akroora cast his gaze at Krishna, his eyes full of questions. Krishna simply smiled back. “The wheels of time are turning Uncle”, he said, “and Samba has played his part perfectly.” He left without another word, leaving both of them bewildered. As Ugrasena asked what Krishna had meant, his daughter Rukmini replied, “Thirty six years ago, Krishna prayed to Shiva for a son like him. Does that ring any bell?” Ugrasena, said very slowly, his eyes bright, “A son like Shiva. A son like the god of destruction! Krishna wanted Sambha to aid in destruction…” And even more slowly, his voice down several levels, he uttered, “Gandhari’s curse. The time for her curse to act has arrived. A reward for her devotion in him”, he ended, leaving Akroora agape and Rukmini nodding in agreement.

Outside the palace, the Yadavas had obeyed Akroora’s command to the dot. They had grinded the mace finely. Everything was alright and grinded to pieces except a sharp triangular piece which appeared to be very hard indeed. And then they had thrown the fine powder and the lone piece into the sea. Happy that they had taken care of the matter so easily, they returned back to their general state of intoxication and bliss.

Time rolled by and the triangular piece of the mace was swallowed by a fish. The fish was caught by a hunter, who upon finding the piece in the fish’s entrails immediately used it to craft a fine poisonous arrow. The fine powder, on the other hand, washed back ashore and deposited itself by the beautiful coast of Dwaraka. A certain grass grew in lush abundance in the area where the powder was deposited. Everything was set for the final showdown.

The Demis of Yadavas

The Yadavas soon forgot all about their curses. The consumption of alcohol was banned in the entire kingdom of Dwaraka. However, after 36 years of Mahabharat war, lots of omen started appearing in the Dwaraka city. The Sudarshana chakra, Panchajanya shankh, the chariot of lord Krishna and the plough weapon of Balarama disappeared from earth. One day, the Yadavas gathered on the beach. The liquor that they drank made them lose their senses completely.

They started teasing one another, bringing up the gory pasts and gruesome mistakes of each other. Satyaki and Krithavarma acted as the starting points of the doom of Dwaraka. Satyaki had fought on Pandava’s side in the battle of Kurukshetra and Krithavarma, on the Kaurava side. They taunted one another, bringing back memories of the horrific war. In a fit of rage, Satyaki, jumped on Krithaverma and cut his head off. The friends of Krithavarma pounced on Satyaki and a great brawl followed.

Pradyumna, the son of Krishna, innocent as he was, found himself in the thick of the fight and was killed. As they have come to the sea shore for pleasure, they did not carry any weapon along with them. They saw the long grown grass in abundance along the sea shore, picked up the grass stems, beat and killed each other with them. Those grass stems were nothing but blades made of the powder of the same lump of Iron born to Samba. Thus, the curse of saints fructified.

Each blade of grass became a mace, smashing into the Yadavas, killing them instantly. It was a matter of moments before the Yadavas lay dead, killed by their own clan members and in front of their very King. Except Krishna, all Yadavas were killed. Krishna’s charioteer Daruka and another one called Babhru only survived. They both approached Sri Krishna and said : “O Krishna! All Yadavas were killed. Whereabouts of Balarama are not known. It is better to search for him.”

Balarama was in deep meditation under a tree. Seeing this, Krishna told Daruka, “O Daruka! You should immediately go to Hastinapura and inform Dharmaja about the mass massacre of Yadavas and bring Arjuna here. He will look after everything.” Accordingly, Daruka rushed towards Hastinapura in a chariot and Krishna went to the place where Balarama was sitting and said “O brother Balarama! I will sit in meditation along with you.”

To this, no reply came from Balarama and instead a long serpent came out of the face of Balarama. This marked the leaving of Balarama’s mortal body. As Krishna saw Balarama putting an end to his incarnation, Krishna realized that time had come for him to leave this world and go back to his original abode.

Krishna’s Death

Krishna started thinking about the ways and means to leave this body. He remembered the words of Rishi Durvasa and at once, as per the wish of saint Durvasa, he applied Payasam (liquid food prepared with milk, sugar and rice) throughout his body. As his legs were resting on ground, he could not apply it to his feet. Durvasa observed this and said : “Krishna! You have not applied Payasam to your foot. Your death is in your foot.”

Krishna laid down under a tree and went into Yoga Samadhi. At that time a hunter named Jara entered that forest and misunderstood the moving foot of Krishna as a lurking deer. So he shot a lethal arrow that pierced into Krishna’s feet. As soon as the hunter reached Krishna, he realized his mistake and pleaded the lord for forgiveness. Lord Krishna consoled him and told him how his death was inevitable. Hence, Lord Krishna left the mortal world and the time from which Lord Krishna died is considered to be the beginning of Kaliyuga

The trail to heaven

When the Kurukshetra war was over and its immediate after effects subsided, Yudhisthira was crowned the king of Hastinapura and ruled for 36 years. He performed the Ashwamedha yajna.

When their purpose of life on earth was over, the Pandavas installed Prince Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna, as king of Hastinapura.

After the coronation, the Pandavas along with Draupadi started for their Mahaprasthanam towards the north. Literally Mahaprasthanam means the Great Journey but stands for departure from this world (death).

A dog followed the Pandavas on their journey towards the north.

As they moved towards the east direction, they saw Agni, the fire god, standing in human form. He was there for the Gandiva bow and the two inexhaustible quiver which Arjuna was carrying. The bow and the quivers were given to Arjuna by Agni. Agni asked Arjuna to throw the bow and quivers into water as it originally belonged to Varuna, the god of waters.

The Pandavas then moved towards the southern direction and then in the southwestern direction and in the western direction they saw Dwaraka city of Sri Krishna flooded by the ocean.

From here they moved towards north, and started climbing the Himalayas.

During the climb, Draupadi fell down and died when Bhima asked for the reason, Yudhisthira told him that she had great partiality for Arjuna. The five brothers moved ahead.

Next Sahadeva fell and died, Yudhisthira told Bhima that Sahadeva thought that there was no one who was equal in wisdom to him.

Next Nakula fell down and died and the explanation given was that he thought there was no one who was superior to him in beauty.

Arjuna always said that he would burn down the enemy in a single day. Though he was proud of his valor, he wasn’t able to accomplish this feat and for this he too fell down and died.

When Bhima fell down Yudhishthira told him that he ate too much and you boasted about your vigor and you disrespected others. This is the reason why you too are not reaching heaven not in your body.

As Yudhisthira, move forward, followed by the dog, Indra appeared before him in a divine chariot, desiring him to enter so that he could be taken to heaven.

But Yudhisthira wanted Draupadi and his brothers to be taken along.

When he was assured that they had already reached heaven, he insisted upon the devoted dog being taken. The dog then revealed itself to be his father, Dharma, who had come to test his magnanimity.

This was ended the life of the Pandavas on earth.

Indra and Yudhisthira

Indra took Yudhisthira to heaven in his chariot. As soon as he stepped into heaven, he was surprised to see Duryodhana there and he asked Indra how a person like him could be in heaven Yudhisthira couldn't see Draupadi and his brothers anywhere and he questioned Indra about them. Indra called a guard and asked him to take Yudhisthira to his brothers and Draupadi. The guard took Yudhisthira through a foul-smelling path strewn with the bodies of dead animals. Yudhisthira was finding it very difficult to follow the

guard but did not say a word. Suddenly, he heard some cries and familiar sounds. He heard a voice saying , " I am Bhima" and another one said, "I am Abhimanyu." Yudhisthira realised that his brothers and wife were in hell. Furious to see his loved one suffering he said, "I have no right to live in heaven while my loved ones are suffering here." Suddenly, Dharmaraja appeared and the foul smell changed to a sweet fragrance. He blessed Yudhisthira and said that he had put Yudhisthira through a test by showing him that his brothers and Draupadi were suffering in hell. Since Yudhisthira had decided to stay with them in hell., Dharmaraja had come to bless Yudhisthira in person. He continued, saying, "None of your loved ones are in hell. This is just an illusion to test you. You have always been an ideal king and it is essential for you to see the suffering people go through in hell." Yudhisthira was delighted to hear that his brothers and Draupadi were in heaven and he joined them there.