Source
Texts:
The
Curse Upon the Yadu Dynasty
Text
1
S'rî
S'uka said: 'After Lord Krishna surrounded by the Yadus
together with Râma realized the elimination of the
daityas and reduced the burden of the earth, rose very soon a
conflict [among the Yadus].
S'rî
S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said - Lord S'rî
Krishna, accompanied by Balarâma and surrounded by the
Yadu dynasty, executed the killing of many demons. Then,
further to remove the burden of the earth, the Lord arranged
for the great Battle of Kurukshetra, which suddenly erupted
in violence between the Kurus and the Pândavas.
Text
2
The
Supreme Lord, relieving the earth of its burden by killing all
the kings that assembled to confront on opposite sides, made
the ones who time and again were driven mad by the duplicitous
gambling, the insults, the grabbing by the hair [of
Draupadî] and the other transgressions of their
enemies, the immediate cause [of the dynastic struggle, see
also Yayâti
and 10.49
& 10.68].
Because
the sons of Pându were enraged by the numerous
offenses of their enemies, such as duplicitous gambling,
verbal insults, the seizing of Draupadî's hair, and
many other cruel transgressions, the Supreme Lord engaged
those Pândavas as the immediate cause to execute His
will. On the pretext of the Battle of Kurukshetra, Lord
Krishna arranged for all the kings who were burdening the
earth to assemble with their armies on opposite sides of the
battlefield, and when the Lord killed them through the
agency of war, the earth was relieved of its burden.
Text
3
The
Unfathomable Lord weighed the elimination of the earth her
burden of royal armies by the Yadus, who were protected by His
arms: 'One indeed may say the earth's burden is gone, but I
think it's not gone; because of the Yadu-dynasty the
intolerable alas remains [see also 4.16:
13].
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead used the Yadu dynasty, which
was protected by His own arms, to eliminate the kings who
with their armies had been the burden of this earth. Then
the unfathomable Lord thought to Himself, 'Although some may
say that the earth's burden is now gone, in My opinion it is
not yet gone, because there still remains the Yâdava
dynasty itself, whose strength is unbearable for the
earth.'
Text
4
Of
these ones never frustrated in their control who by all means
took shelter of Me, there most certainly will never be defeat
from another cause; inspiring a quarrel within the Yadu-dynasty
like fire in a bamboo-grove, shall I achieve [My
purpose:] My abode of peace [see also
3.3:
14
and 8.8:
37].'
Lord
Krishna thought, 'No outside force could ever bring about
the defeat of this family, the Yadu dynasty, whose members
have always been fully surrendered to Me and are
unrestricted in their opulence. But if I inspire a quarrel
within the dynasty, that quarrel will act just like a fire
created from the friction of bamboo in a grove, and then I
shall achieve My real purpose and return to My eternal
abode.'
Text
5
Thus
making up His mind, o King, withdrew the Controller, the
Almighty One whose every desire comes to pass, His family by
manifesting a curse from the learned.
My
dear King Parîkshit, when the supreme almighty Lord,
whose desire always comes to pass, had thus made up His
mind, He withdrew His own family on the pretext of a curse
spoken by an assembly of brâhmanas.
Text
6-7
By His own
form, the beauty of all the worlds, delivering the eyes of men,
by His words delivering the minds of all who remembered them
and by His feet delivering the actions of those who saw them,
was the Lord, who thus having been of attraction attained His
own position, certain that the people indeed being ignorant,
with on earth the spreading of His glories in the best of
verses, with ease would reach through [the hearing and
chanting of] them [see also 7.5.23-24].'
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the reservoir of
all beauty. All beautiful things emanate from Him, and His
personal form is so attractive that it steals the eyes away
from all other objects, which then seem devoid of beauty in
comparison to Him. When Lord Krishna was on the earth, He
attracted the eyes of all people. When Krishna spoke, His
words attracted the minds of all who remembered them. By
seeing the footsteps of Lord Krishna, people became
attracted to Him, and thus they wanted to offer their bodily
activities to the Lord as His followers. In this way Krishna
very easily spread His glories, which are sung throughout
the world by the most sublime and essential Vedic verses.
Lord Krishna considered that simply by hearing and chanting
those glories, conditioned souls born in the future would
cross beyond the darkness of ignorance. Being satisfied with
this arrangement, He left for His desired
destination.
Text
8
The
King said: 'How did this curse come about of the learned ones
against the Vrishnis, who totally absorbed in Krishna, always
charitable and respectful with the brahmins were serving the
elders?
King
Parîkshit inquired - How could the brâhmanas
curse the Vrishnis, who were always respectful to the
brâhmanas, charitable, and inclined to serve senior
and exalted personalities and whose minds were always fully
absorbed in thought of Lord Krishna?
Text
9
What caused the
rise of that serious curse, what was its nature, o purest of
the twice-born; please tell me how there, with those who shared
the same soul [of Krishna], could be this
discord?'
King
Parîkshit continued inquiring - What was the motive
for this curse? What did it consist of, O purest of the
twice-born? And how could such a disagreement have arisen
among the Yadus, who all shared the same goal of life?
Please tell me all these things.
Text
10
The son of
Vyâsa said: 'Carrying a body that was the amalgamation of
all things beautiful, on earth performing the most auspicious
activities and all-satisfied enjoying His life residing in His
abode [of Dvârakâ], wanted He, so greatly
sung, to destroy His dynasty; the only thing left to
do.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said - The Lord, who bore His body as
the amalgamation of everything beautiful, dutifully executed
the most auspicious activities while on the earth, although
He was, in fact, without any endeavor already satisfied in
all desires. Residing in His abode and enjoying life, the
Lord, whose glorification is in itself magnanimous, now
wanted to annihilate His dynasty, as there still remained
some small part of His duty to be carried out.
Text
11-12
Having
performed fruitive rituals bestowing piety stayed the sages
Vis'vâmitra, Asita, Kanva, Durvâsâ, Bhrigu,
Angirâ, Kas'yapa, Vâmadeva, Atri, Vasishthha, along
with Nârada and others, [once] in the house of
the lord of the Yadus [Vasudeva]. Bid farewell by Him,
the Soul of Time of whom chanting about most auspiciously for
the whole world the impurities of Kali-yuga are taken away,
they went to Pindâraka [a site of
pilgrimage].
The
sages Vis'vâmitra, Asita, Kanva, Durvâsâ,
Bhrigu, Angirâ, Kas'yapa, Vâmadeva, Atri and
Vasishthha, along with Nârada and others, once
performed fruitive rituals that award abundant pious
results, bring great happiness and take away the sins of
Kali-yuga for the whole world by merely being recounted. The
sages duly executed these rituals in the home of the chief
of the Yadus, Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krishna. After
Lord Krishna, who was staying in Vasudeva's house as time
personified, respectfully sent the sages off at the
conclusion of the ceremonies, they went to the holy place
called Pindâraka.
Text
13-15
The
young boys of the Yadu dynasty playing [there]
approached them with Sâmba the son of Jâmbavati
[see also 10.68]
dressed up in woman's clothes. Taking hold of their feet they,
feigning humility, impudently asked: 'This black-eyed pregnant
woman wishing for a son, o learned ones, too embarrassed to ask
it herself, is asking you whether you, with your vision never
clouded, can tell if she'll give birth to a son or
not?'
To
that holy place, the young boys of the Yadu dynasty had
brought Sâmba, son of Jâmbavatî, dressed
in woman's garb. Playfully approaching the great sages
gathered there, the boys grabbed hold of the sages' feet and
impudently asked them with feigned humility, 'O learned
brâhmanas, this black-eyed pregnant woman has
something to ask you. She is too embarrassed to inquire for
herself. She is just about to give birth and is very
desirous of having a son. Since all of you are great sages
with infallible vision, please tell us whether her child
will be a boy or a girl.'
Text
16
The sages thus
tricked said angered to the boys, o King: 'For you, o fools,
she'll give birth to a mace which will destroy the
dynasty!'.
Thus
ridiculed by deceit, the sages became angry, O King, and
told the boys, 'Fools! She will bear you an iron club that
will destroy your entire dynasty.'
Text
17
They, greatly
terrified to hear that, hastily uncovered the belly of
Sâmba wherein they indeed found a club made of
iron.
Upon
hearing the curse of the sages, the terrified boys quickly
uncovered the belly of Sâmba, and indeed they observed
that therein was an iron club.
Text
18
'What
have we done, what will the family say of us so very
unfortunate?' and thus overwhelmed speaking took they the club
en went they home.
The
young men of the Yadu dynasty said, 'Oh, what have we done?
We are so unfortunate! What will our family members say to
us?' Speaking thus and being very disturbed, they returned
to their homes, taking the club with them.
Text
19
Bringing
it consequently into the assembly with the beauty of their
faces faded, informed they the king [Ugrasena] in the
presence of all Yadus.
The
Yadu boys, the luster of their faces completely faded,
brought the club into the royal assembly, and in the
presence of all the Yâdavas they told King Ugrasena
what had happened.
Text
20
Amazed to see
the club hearing about the infallible curse of the learned, o
King, became the inhabitants of Dvârakâ distraught
with fear.
O
King Parîkshit, when the inhabitants of
Dvârakâ heard of the infallible curse of the
brâhmanas and saw the club, they were astonished and
distraught with fear.
Text
21
Having
that club ground to bits threw Âhuka [Ugrasena],
the Yadu king, them together with the iron left over from the
club into the water of the ocean.
after
having the club ground to bits, King Âhuka
[Ugrasena] of the Yadus personally threw the pieces,
along with the remaining lump of iron, into the water of the
ocean.
Text
22
Some
fish swallowed the lump while the bits being carried by the
waves from that place washed on shore to grow there into sharp
canes [called eraka].
a
certain fish swallowed the iron lump, and the bits of iron,
carried back to the shore by the waves, implanted themselves
there and grew into tall, sharp canes.
Text
23
The
fish in the ocean was together with others caught in a net by a
fisherman. The piece of iron contained in the fish's stomach
was fixed by a hunter [called Jarâ] on an arrow
[as an arrowhead].
The
fish was caught in the ocean along with other fish in a
fishermen's net. The iron lump in the fish's stomach was
taken by the hunter Jarâ, who fixed it as an arrowhead
at the end of his shaft.
Text
24
The Supreme
Lord quite capable knowing the meaning of everything, didn't
want to make things different though and was, exhibiting His
form of Time, glad to sanction the curse of the learned.
Knowing
fully the significance of all these events, the Supreme
Lord, though capable of reversing the brâhmanas'
curse, did not wish to do so. Rather, in His form of time,
He gladly sanctioned the events.
