Kālayavana Vadha
Kālayavana was a Yavana king who marched on Mathurā with a huge army to fight Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa did not meet him in open battle. He led Kālayavana into a mountain cave where the ancient king Mucukunda lay asleep, and the fire from Mucukunda’s eyes burnt Kālayavana to ash. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then spoke with Mucukunda, and the Yādavas moved from Mathurā to the new sea-shore city of Dvārakā, built by the divine builder Viśvakarma on land given by Samudra.
The birth of Kālayavana
Kālayavana was not born of ordinary parents. The ṛshi Gārgya, a brāhmaṇa, had been insulted by the Yādavas. Hurt in his pride, and unable to take revenge by spiritual power alone, he took a vow of hard tapas (austerity) to get a son who would be the enemy of the Yādavas. The apsarā Gopālī had a part in bringing about this union, and Gārgya arranged through the king of the Yavanas that Kālayavana should be born as his tool of revenge. So Kālayavana was born a Yavana king, but with a brāhmaṇa’s fixed purpose: to destroy the Yādava clan. (Vishṇu Parva, chapters 56 to 57)
Kālayavana marches on Mathurā
When he had grown very strong and had gathered a vast army of Yavanas, Kālayavana declared that he would march on Mathurā and defeat Kṛshṇa. He set out with a huge army, described as more than a million soldiers, and moved toward Mathurā. His coming was a threat of a different kind from Jarāsaṃdha’s, because Kālayavana came from outside the usual order of Bhārata. (Vishṇu Parva, chapter 55)
The snake in the pot
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa did not want a plain battle with Kālayavana. It would have cost the people of Mathurā heavy bloodshed, on top of the long and tiring wars with Jarāsaṃdha. So he used a quiet plan. He sent Kālayavana a hidden message in the form of a pot with a snake in it. This was a sign of his intent and not a challenge to open war. At the same time, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa began the plan to move the Yādava people from Mathurā to Dvārakā, which was soon to be built. (Vishṇu Parva, chapters 56 to 57)
Kṛshṇa leads Kālayavana into the cave
Kālayavana reached Mathurā and demanded battle. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa came before him on foot and without weapons, and then turned and ran. Kālayavana ran after him, unable to believe that Kṛshṇa was running away. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa ran at just the speed that kept him a little out of Kālayavana’s reach. He led the Yavana king across the country and into a great mountain cave. In the cave lay the ancient king Mucukunda, who had slept there for an immeasurably long time. He was guarded by a vara (boon): whoever woke him would at once be burnt up by the fire of his gaze. (Vishṇu Parva, chapter 58)
Mucukunda burns Kālayavana
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa went into the cave, stepped over the sleeping Mucukunda, and hid himself. Kālayavana, in his pride, took the sleeping figure to be Kṛshṇa lying still or hiding, and kicked Mucukunda to wake him. The ancient king opened his eyes. The fire of his gaze, built up over ages of divine sleep and strengthened by his vara, blazed out and burnt Kālayavana up in an instant. The Yavana king was turned to ash. (Vishṇu Parva, chapter 58)
Kṛshṇa speaks with Mucukunda
Then Bhagavān Kṛshṇa showed himself to Mucukunda. In an earlier age the ancient king had served the devas, and afterwards he had asked for rest. Indra had given him the vara of sleep that no one could break, in the cave. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa told Mucukunda that the age had changed. The time in which Mucukunda had served the devas and gone into the cave was long past, and time had now moved through the yugas to Kaliyuga. Mucukunda, awake in a new age, received the darśana (sacred sight) of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and was blessed. (Vishṇu Parva, chapter 58)
The building of Dvārakā
With the danger from Kālayavana gone, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa went on to found Dvārakā. Samudra, the ocean, gave twelve yojanas of land on his shore, drawing back from the coast and making a peninsula. The divine builder Viśvakarma planned and built the city on this land with the skill of the devas. When the city was ready, the wonderful Śaṅkha-nidhi (a divine treasure of the conch, and of wealth) filled Dvārakā with plenty. The Yādava people were moved from Mathurā to this new and splendid city by the sea. Dvārakā became the jewel of the western coast and the seat of Kṛshṇa’s kingdom for the rest of his life on earth. (Vishṇu Parva, chapter 59)
Sources
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapter 55 (Kālayavana’s march)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapters 56 to 57 (the birth of Kālayavana, the snake in the pot)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapter 58 (the cave, Mucukunda, the meeting with Kṛshṇa)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, chapter 59 (the building of Dvārakā)