Sudharmā Sabhā

Sudharmā Sabhā · su-dharmā sabhā, “the hall of good dharma”

Sudharmā is the sabhā, the great assembly hall, of the devas. When Śrī Kṛshṇa built Dvārakā in the sea, Mahendra (Indra) sent it to him together with the Pārijāta tree of svarga, and it became the royal sabhā of Dvārakā. It is fit to be sat in by Indra and the other lokapālas. A man who sits in it is freed from old age and the other conditions of mortals: the six waves of life, old age and death, hunger and thirst, joy and sorrow, do not trouble those who sit there. In it Śrī Kṛshṇa sat on the siṃhāsana among the Yādavas like the moon among the stars, and from it he spoke to the Yādavas when the omens of the end appeared. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa speaks of it from Skandha 1 to Skandha 12.

The gift of Mahendra

Śrī Śuka Maharshi tells King Parīkshit that when Śrī Kṛshṇa had Dvārakā built in the sea, the lokapālas sent their gifts. Mahendra sent to Śrī Hari the sabhā of the devas named Sudharmā, and with it the Pārijāta tree. A man who sits in that sabhā is freed from old age and the other conditions of mortals. Varuṇa sent white horses swift as the mind, each with one ear black; Kubera sent the eight nidhis; every lokapāla sent his own vibhūtis. Śrī Hari had given the lokapālas those powers and siddhis so that they could carry out their offices, and when he descended on earth they offered them all back to him.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 50

Śrī Kṛshṇa’s court in the sabhā

Śuka describes a morning of Śrī Kṛshṇa at Dvārakā. After his rites and his gifts, he mounted his chariot and, surrounded by all the Yādavas, entered the sabhā called Sudharmā. Those who sit in that sabhā are not troubled by the six waves of life: old age and death, which afflict the body; hunger and thirst, which afflict the prāṇa; joy and sorrow, which afflict the mind.

There Śrī Kṛshṇa sat on the siṃhāsana and shone, lighting the directions with his radiance, surrounded by the Yādavas as the moon in the sky is by the hosts of stars. Jesters served him with humour of many kinds, and dance-masters and dancing women with their dances. To the sound of mṛdaṅgas, vīṇās, drums, flutes, cymbals and conches, the sūtas, māgadhas and vandīs sang, danced and recited stotras. Some brāhmaṇas seated in the sabhā explained the Veda mantras, and some told the accounts of the kings of old of holy fame. It was in this sabhā that the messenger of the kings imprisoned by Jarāsandha came before Śrī Kṛshṇa.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 70

Spoken of by Yudhishṭhira and Balarāma

When Arjuna returned from Dvārakā, Yudhishṭhira asked after all the Yādavas, and asked whether Śrī Kṛshṇa, who loves the knowers of Brahman and the bhaktas, was happy with his friends in the royal assembly called Sudharmā in the city of Dvārakā. Living by the might of Śrī Kṛshṇa’s arms, he said, the Yādava heroes fear nothing; they walk at ease in Sudharmā, which is fit for Indra and the other lokapālas and which was brought by force. (Sūta tells this to the ṛshis of Naimisha.)

At Hastināpura, when the Kauravas spoke with contempt of the Yādavas, Balarāma answered that Indra, Agni and the other lokapālas obey the command of Ugrasena, and that Śrī Kṛshṇa had taken possession of the deva-sabhā called Sudharmā and brought the Pārijāta, the tree of svarga, and enjoys them: was he not worthy of the royal throne?

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 14; Skandha 10, Chapter 68

The last assembly

When great ill omens arose in the sky, in the mid-space and on the earth, Śrī Kṛshṇa spoke to the Yādavas seated in the sabhā called Sudharmā. These omens, he said, were banners announcing the devatā of death; they must not stay in Dvārakā even an hour. The women, children and old people were to go to the kshetra called Śaṅkhoddhāra, and the Yādavas to Prabhāsa, where the Sarasvatī flows west, to bathe, fast, worship the devatās and honour the brāhmaṇas with gifts.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 30

In the summary of Śrī Kṛshṇa’s deeds

Sūta, recounting to the maharshis the contents of the Bhāgavata, names among Śrī Kṛshṇa‘s deeds that he brought the Pārijāta tree and the sabhā called Sudharmā from svarga, the dwelling of the devatās.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 12

Sources

• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 14; Skandha 10, Chapters 50, 68, 70; Skandha 11, Chapter 30; Skandha 12, Chapter 12