Cārudeshṇa

Cārudeshṇa was a son of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and a warrior of the Vṛshṇi line. He lived at Dvārakā. The Mahābhārata names him among the Yādava fighters who defended Dvārakā when Śālva attacked it with the Saubha vimāna (flying city). Later he died in the mutual slaughter at Prabhāsa, which the Mausala Parva tells. The Vṛshṇis had been struck by the brāhmaṇa-śāpa (a curse from the brāhmaṇas), and Kāla (time and fate) was at work. The kinsmen killed one another with the iron musala (pestle) that came from the curse of the ṛshis.

Lineage and who he was

Cārudeshṇa was born among the sons of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, the Vāsudeva, in the house of the Vṛshṇis at Dvārakā. The Mausala Parva counts him with Sāmba, Pradyumna and Aniruddha as one of the great princes of Kṛshṇa’s line. They were mahārathas (great chariot warriors) of the Yādava army, who lived in the city by the sea before its appointed end. This is in Chapter 3.

The defence of Dvārakā

The Vana Parva tells of Śālva’s great attack on Dvārakā with the Saubha vimāna. It came after Kṛshṇa killed Śiśupāla. In the Saubhavadha Upākhyāna (the account of the slaying of Saubha), Cārudeshṇa is listed among the Yādava fighters who defended the city. He stood with Pradyumna, Sāmba and other Yādava heroes, alongside his father and brothers. The account does not give the details of his own fighting. His name in the list of defenders shows that he was an active warrior among Kṛshṇa’s sons at that time. This is in Vana Parva, Chapters 14–16.

Death at Prabhāsa

The Vṛshṇis and Andhakas gathered for a drinking festival at the tīrtha (holy place) of Prabhāsa. Fighting broke out among the drunken warriors. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa took up a handful of eraka grass, and it turned in his hand into an iron pestle. In the hand of every angry man the reeds became hard clubs in the same way.

The brāhmaṇa-śāpa had ordained this mutual killing. In it Cārudeshṇa fell, together with Sāmba, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. When Mādhava saw these sons of his slain, he was moved to anger. He left the Yādava line almost without a survivor. This is in Chapter 3.

Kṛshṇa and the end of the Vṛshṇis

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was able to turn aside the curse, but he chose to let fate run its course. His own sons were not spared from the end that had been ordained for the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas. This is in Chapters 3 and 8 of the Mausala Parva.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapters 1–8 (the passages on Cārudeshṇa are in Chapters 3 and 8)
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 14–16