Tales from the Bhagwan

The Parijata Tree

This mythical (Parijata) tree rose of the milk ocean and Indra planted it in his garden.

“Its bark was gold, and it was embellished with young sprouting leaves of a copper colour, and fruit stalks bearing numerous clusters of fragrant fruits.”

It is related that once Narada brought a flower of this tree to Dwaraka and presented it to his friend Krishna. He waited to see to to which of his wives Krishna gave the flower. The flower was given to Rukmini, and Narada went straight to Satyabhama and made a show of sorrow. On her enquiring why he was not in good cheer, the sage told Satyabhama, that he had presented Krishna with a flower of the Parijata tree thinking that she was her favourite wife and he would present it to her, but was grieved to find that Krishna had given it to Rukmini.

Satyabhama’s jealousy was roused and she asked Narada what could be done to spite Rukmini. The sage advised her to ask Krishna to bring the Parijata tree itself from heaven and plant it near her house. After giving this advice, he went back to the celestial region and told Indra to guard the Parijata tree carefully as thieves were about.

Satyabhama repaired to the anger-chamber, (ancient Hindu kings who had more than one wife had room or house, called anger-chamber, set apart for a dissatisfied queen to occupy and demand redress of her grievances) and when Krishna came to her shereviled him for cheating her.

“You pretend that I am your favourite wife, but treat me as Rukmini’s handmaid she said, and asked him what made him present the Parijata flower to Rukmini. “

Krishna admitted his guilt and asked her what he could do in expiation. She wanted possession of the tree. Krishna immediately proceeded to Amaravati, Capital City of Indra’s Empire. Krishna stole into Indra’s grove and started uprooting the tree. The king of the gods came upon the scene and caught the thief red-handed but seeing who his despoiler was, he allowed him, after some show of resentment, to take the tree to Dwaraka, Capital city of Krishna’s empire.

It is fabled that, after Krishna’s death, Dwaraka was submerged in the ocean and the Parijata tree was taken back to heaven.

Subhadra

Subhadra in Mahabharat is the sister of Bhagavan Sri Krishna and wife of Arjuna. The Kuru race survived through her. When every family member of Pandavas and Kauravas were killed in the Kurukshetra war, it was through her grandson, Parikshit, that Kuru clan was saved from extinction.

Subhadra was the daughter of Vasudeva by his wife Devaki. He was the second wife of Arjuna. They had one valiant son named Abhimanyu. Parikshit was the son of Abhimanyu and Uttara.

Bhadra is another name of Subhadra.

Marriage of Subhadra

During his one-year pilgrimage period in the Mahabharata, Arjuna visited Dwaraka, the abode of Sri Krishna, as a learned recluse. Subhadra was given the task of looking after the young recluse. He narrated to her stories about the exploits of Arjuna. Subhadra fell in love with Arjuna of his narrations.

Finally, the young man had to reveal that he was Arjuna himself. Subhadra expressed her desire to marry Arjuna. However, it was difficult to convince Balarama, the elder brother of Sri Krishna.

A great festival of Yadavas was being held during the period. Arjuna with the consent of Sri Krishna took Subhadra away.

Balarama and Yadavas were ready to fight Arjuna but Sri Krishna pacified them. Later Bhagavan Sri Krishna got them married.

Subhadra After The Death Of Her Son Abhimanyu

Krishna advises Subhadra – Subhadra, you are the daughter of the House of Vrishni. You are the wife of Arjuna, the greatest archer in the world. Your brothers are kshatriyas. Your son was a great kshatriya. You must not cry.

Subhadra says – How can I not cry, Krishna? I think of my boy, who I carried as a golden baby in my arms, whom I nursed at my breast. I think of him lying on Kurukshetra, his body torn and bloody, his dead crushed: and how can I not cry? The five Pandavas are alive, peerless Arjuna and Krishna are alive. Yet, my child lies dead, with kites and hyenas picking his bones. … with his uncles beside, how was my son killed? He was just sixteen and you tell me that I should not cry because he died a kshatriya's death. What do I care about that? To me, my child is dead and that is all?”

In the end of the Bhagwan it is said she now lives in a jungle eight her daughter in law.

The Syamantaka Gem

Satrajit, a nobleman of Dwarka, was a devotee of Surya, the sun God. Surya being pleased with Satrajit's devotion appeared before him and gifted him the Syamantaka gem. The Syamantaka gem's specialty was that it could magically produce eight measures of gold a day.

Satrajit became a really wealthy man. Krishna then approached Satrajit and told him that he should share the gem with the other people of Dwarka and give it to King Ugrasena. Satrajit declined saying that the jewel belonged to him.

A few days later, Satrajit's brother Prasena wore the jewel as a necklace and went out on a hunt. He climbed a tree waiting for some game, a lion came by and just as Prasena was about to shoot it, a snake, which dropped from the branch above, surprised him. Now Prasena was startled and he fell from the tree. As he was falling, the necklace with the Syamantaka gem got caught in a branch and Prasena hung by the neck, and was killed instantly.

Now the lion below, being attracted to the glow of the gem, picked it up and carried it away. As the lion walked away with the gem, Jambavan the king of the bears saw him. Being seduced by the glow of the gem, he attacked the lion and killed it and took the gem to his cave and gifted it to his infant son.

Prasena did not return to Dwarka and people were wondering what had happened to him. Satrajit suspected that Krishna might have killed Prasena in order to attain the gem. Krishna, in order to prove his innocence, gathered a search party and went into the forest.

A few hours later, they found Prasena's body. Krishna noticed lion tracks around the body and assumed that a lion must have killed Prasena. On following the lion tracks, they came across the body of the dead lion. Krishna noticed that the lion had the marks of a bear's claws and noticed that there were bear tracks around the body. On following the bear tracks Krishna reached Jambavan's cave. Krishna sensing the danger ordered the rest of the party to stay outside while he entered the cave alone. Krishna found Jambavan's son playing with the Syamantaka gem. Frightened by the stranger, Jambavan's son let out a wail that alerted Jambavan. Now Jambavan thought someone was attacking his child and attacked Krishna. Krishna fought Jambavan for twenty-eight days after which Jambavan recognised Krishna's divinity and surrendered to him. Along with the gem, Jambavan offered Krishna his daughter Jambavati's hand in marriage. This Krishna accepted.

Krishna then returned to Dwarka with the Syamantaka gem and his new bride. Krishna returned the gem to its rightful owner Satrajit who by then was ashamed of accusing Krishna. In order to make up for his accusations and show his good will towards Krishna, Satrajit offered his daughter Satyabhama to Krishna.

But Satyabhama already had three suitors - Akrura, Kritavarma and Shatadhanwa. They were angered by the fact that Satrajit have given Satyabhama to Krishna and not to one of them. Shatadhanwa in his rage killed Satrajit while he slept and stole the Syamantaka gem from him. On realizing what he had done, Shatadhanwa left the gem with Akrura and fled from Dwarka. Krishna and Balrama gave chase and killed Shatadhanwa for his crime. Not finding the gem on Shatadhanwa, Krishna knew that he must have left it with Akrura for safekeeping.

Krishna approached Akrura and requested him to tell the people of Dwarka that he possessed the gem otherwise the people of Dwarka would think that he had killed his father in law in order to possess the gem. This Akrura did and Krishna's name was cleared.

Nagnajiti

Nagnajit, often referred to as Kumbagan, was a devout ruler who adhered closely to the Vedic texts. He had made it a requirement that Satya's husband win her hand in marriage by slaying seven of his vicious bulls. No prince who attempted the feat, though, was able to subdue the seven bulls and secure Satya's hand. After being informed of the challenge, Krishna departed for the Kosala Kingdom with a sizable entourage.

The king got up from his throne as Krishna approached Nagnajit in his court, honored him with presents, and extended a hearty welcome to Kosala. In addition to being overjoyed to see Krishna, Naganjiti requested to have Krishna as her husband. The king and his daughter were both conscious of Krishna's omnipotence. Nagnajit bowed before Krishna and enquired as to the reason for his presence. The King said that Satya would make the ideal husband for his daughter when Krishna announced his intention to wed him, but he had made a pledge to marry his daughter to a valiant prince who would tame the seven bulls.

Krishna's bravery was also lauded by the king, who assured him that he could easily subdue the seven bulls that had nearly attacked the other princes who had attempted it.

As soon as Krishna heard the king, he transformed into seven different forms, entered the arena, and with ease, noosed the seven bulls, bringing them to their knees. King Naganajit was happy with the result, and his daughter was thrilled to wed Krishna.

Mitravinda

She chooses Krishna as her husband in a Swayamvara ceremony, in which a bride chooses a groom from assembled suitors. However, her brothers do not like it and forbid the marriage. They join forces with the Kauravas and fight Krishna. Krishna defeats the princes and takes Mitravinda away forcibly, as the other suitors keep looking. Vallabhacharya's commentary on the Bhagavata Purana adds that Mitravinda and Krishna were deeply in love with each other, but her brothers and father were opposed to this and wanted Duryodhana for her husband. A svayamvara was arranged by her father for her to choose a husband. All the princes including Duryodhana were present for this competition. When Krishna learned of this, he also came to the venue of the svayamvara and Mitravinda appraised Krishna of her problem and requested him to abduct her. Complying with her wishes, Krishna abducted her from the venue of the svayamavara. He was challenged by her brothers, Duryodhana and other princes who wanted to marry Mitravinda. Krishna defeated all of them and took Mitravinda to Dwaraka where he formally married her.

In another version, Krishna and his elder brother Balarama are described to be intentionally not invited for the svayamvara. Balarama was upset that they had been excluded from the marriage of their cousin Mitravinda. Balarama had also conveyed to Krishna that the svayamvara was a ruse as Vinda and Anuvinda wished to marry their sister to Duryodhana of the Kuru Empire. The marriage would forge an alliance between Kuru and Avanti and also garner the support of Vidarbha and Magadha Kingdoms, which make the Kauravas very powerful. Balarama told his younger brother to abduct Mitravinda as she loved Krishna. As Krishna was not sure of the love of Mitravinda, he took his younger sister Subhadra along with him to quietly ascertain the wish of Mirtravinda. After Subhadra confirmed Mitravinda's love for Krishna, Krishna and Balarama stormed the svayamvara venue and abducted Mitravinda, defeating the princes of Avanti, Duryodhana and other suitors.

Bhadra

She was the sister of Kunti and the sister (or cousin) of Vasudeva (Krishna's father), making her Krishna's cousin. She was the daughter of King Dhrishtaketu and his wife Shrutakirti. Bhadra was married to Krishna by his five brothers, including the eldest prince Santardana.

She is said to have selected Krishna as her husband during a Swayamvara rite, in which a woman choose a groom from a group of suitors, in another scripture.

At one point, Kunti, the Pandavas, and Draupadi, the common wife of the Pandavas, were all present when Krishna and his queens traveled to Hastinapura. Draupadi worships and presents gifts to Bhadra and other queens as instructed by Kunti. Bhadra also tells Draupadi the story of how she wed Krishna.

Bhadra had 10 sons, named Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Shura, Praharana, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vama, Ayur, and Satyaka, according to the Bhagavata Purana. Bhadra and the other seven principal queens wept and then jumped into Krishna's funeral pyre, immolating themselves, as described in the Hindu epic Mahabharata's Mausala Parva, which also chronicles Krishna's death and the end of his race (see sati). While the Mahabharata mentions just four queens, including Bhadra, the Bhagavata Purana claims that all queens committed sati.

Lakshmana

A svayamvara ritual, in which a bride selects a groom from a group of suitors, was planned by Lakshmana's father. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna kidnaps Lakshmana from the swayamvara in a manner similar to how the bird-man Garuda stole the amrita jar from the gods. In another story, Krishna defeats Lakshmana in the swayamvara by winning the archery match. Jarasandha and Duryodhana, the kings, miss the mark. Arjuna, the Pandava prince and Krishna's cousin who was sometimes referred to be the best archer, missed the mark with his arrow so that Krishna could capture Lakshmana's attention. Bhima, the brother of Arjuna, declined to take part out of respect for Krishna. Krishna ultimately triumphs by striking the mark.

Krishna once traveled to Hastinapur with his queens to meet the Pandavas and Draupadi, Yudhishthira's wife. Lakshmana, who is both proud and shy, tells Draupadi that her marriage was also very exciting and shares her story.

Praghosha, Gatravan, Simha, Bala, Prabala, Urdhvaga, Mahashakti, Saha, Oja, and Aparajita are listed as her ten sons by the Bhagavata Purana. According to the Vishnu Purana, she has a large family led by Gatravan's sons.

The Bhagavata Purana describes how Krishna's queens wept before leaping onto his burial pyre and self-immolating (see sati). Only four are said to have committed suicide; the other victims burned themselves to death after being attacked by robbers, according to the Mausala Parva of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, which chronicles Krishna's death and the end of his race.