Mushala Utpatti and Ṛshi Śāpa

In the thirty-sixth year of Yudhishṭhira’s rule, terrible omens showed that the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas were doomed. At Dvārakā, Vṛshṇi youths led by Sāraṇa dressed Sāmba, the son of Kṛshṇa, as a pregnant woman. They mockingly asked the ṛshis Viśvāmitra, Kaṇva and Nārada to say what “she” would bear. The ṛshis were angry at the trick and spoke a śāpa (a curse): Sāmba would bring forth an iron mushala (pestle) that would destroy the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas. Balarāma would give up his body in the sea, and Kṛshṇa would be struck down by a hunter. The next day Sāmba brought forth the pestle. King Āhuka had it ground to powder and thrown into the sea, and liquor was banned in all the clans. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Mausala Parva.

The dreadful omens

Yudhishṭhira, the joy of the Kuru line, had ruled for thirty-six years when he saw signs of universal ruin. Fierce winds blew, carrying thunderbolts and showers of sand. Birds wheeled in ill-omened circles to the left. Great rivers ran dry. The quarters of the sky were veiled in mist. Meteors that rained sparks of fire fell from the sky to the earth. Each morning the Sun rose ringed with dust, his rays unable to spread, as if wrapped in headless trunks. Dreadful haloes of three colours, dark, ash-grey and red, ringed the Sun and the Moon. These signs and many more appeared, and fear stirred in every heart.

In time Kṛshṇa knew that the appointed hour had come and made ready. What follows is told by Vaiśampāyana to King Janamejaya. Janamejaya had asked how the Bhojas, Andhakas and Vṛshṇis came to die while Vāsudeva looked on, and who had cursed them.

The mockery of the ṛshis

The ṛshis of great tapas (austerity), Viśvāmitra, Kaṇva and Nārada, came to Dvārakā. The Vṛshṇi youths, led by Sāraṇa and driven on by the rod of destiny, dressed Sāmba, Kṛshṇa’s son, in a woman’s ornaments. They set him before the ṛshis as if he were a pregnant wife. They came to the ṛshis with false respect and said that this was the radiant wife of Babhru, who longed for a son. They asked the ṛshis to say truly what she would bring forth.

The ṛshis were angered at the trick. Their eyes red with wrath, they spoke their śāpa.

The śāpa and the birth of the mushala

The ṛshis said that Sāmba, this son of Vāsudeva, would bring forth a fierce iron mushala for the destruction of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas. With it the fierce and cruel among them, swollen with anger, would grind their whole clan to ruin and become the destroyers of their own line. Only Kṛshṇa and Balarāma would be spared this killing of each other. The glorious Balarāma would give up his body and enter the sea. The great-souled Kṛshṇa, lying on the ground, would be struck by the hunter Jarā.

Having spoken, the ṛshis looked at one another and went away. They did not go to Kṛshṇa in person, but in their minds they prayed that he forgive the śāpa they had spoken. Kṛshṇa knows the end of all things. When he heard the whole account, he told the Vṛshṇis only that it was destined to be so, and he went into the city. He, the master of the worlds, did not wish to make Yama act otherwise. The next day Sāmba brought forth the iron pestle. It was dreadful, like the servant of Yama appointed for the death of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas.

The grinding of the pestle and the ban on liquor

The birth of the terrible mushala, sprung from the śāpa, was reported to the king. Āhuka was troubled in heart and had it ground to a fine powder. The king’s men threw the powder into the sea. On Āhuka’s word a proclamation was made, and it was made known also to Janārdana, to Balarāma and to the great-souled Babhru. From that day no one living in the cities of the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas was to make or drink liquor. Whoever was found to have drunk it was to be impaled on a stake alive, together with all his kin. The people kept this rule out of fear of the king, and because they knew the decree of Balarāma, whose deeds were never in vain.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 1