Akrūra’s Mission to Hastināpura

This narrative comes from the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skandha, Chapters 48 and 49. After Uddhava came back from Gokula, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa kept his promise to visit Trivakrā, and then he visited Akrūra’s house. There he asked Akrūra to go to Hastināpura and find out how the Pāṇḍavas were living after the death of their father Pāṇḍu. Akrūra went, saw how the sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra treated the Pāṇḍavas, heard Kuntī’s prayer, spoke to Dhṛtarāshṭra on dharma, and came back to report to Kṛshṇa.

Kṛshṇa visits Trivakrā (Chapter 48)

Uddhava had come back from Gokula with his report. Kṛshṇa then remembered his promise to Trivakrā, the woman once called Kubja (the hunchback). He had made her straight in the streets of Mathurā when he first entered the city. She had invited him to her home, and he had promised to come.

Kṛshṇa went to her house. She had made it ready with great care, with garlands, perfumes, fine furnishings and lamps. Trivakrā received him with respect and seated him on a decorated seat. She had bathed, put on perfumes and dressed with the care of one who had been waiting for this moment since the day he touched her. Kṛshṇa took her hand and sat with her on the decorated bed.

When it was time to leave, Trivakrā held his hand and said, “Stay here, O lotus-eyed one. Stay even a few more days. I cannot let go of this company.” Kṛshṇa fulfils the wishes of his devotees. He gave her a vara (a boon) and went with Uddhava to his own palace.

Kṛshṇa and Balarāma visit Akrūra (Chapter 48)

Kṛshṇa then went with Balarāma and Uddhava to the house of Akrūra. Akrūra was a noble of the Yādavas and a true bhakta. He had been the one who brought the two brothers to Mathurā. He received them with great joy. He came out far ahead to meet them, embraced them, led them in and washed their feet. He sprinkled that water on his own head to purify himself. He gave them clothes, flowers, garlands and sandal paste. Then he took Kṛshṇa’s feet on his lap, pressed them gently and offered his stotra.

Akrūra’s stotra is one of the fullest statements about Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in the 10th Skandha. He named Kṛshṇa and Balarāma as the two principles of the world. Balarāma is the first material cause (upādāna-kāraṇa). Kṛshṇa is the working cause (nimitta-kāraṇa). He called them the māyā-śakti and the Parabrahman working together. He praised Kṛshṇa as the one who makes, keeps and dissolves all the worlds, by whose will the three guṇas act, and who has come as an avatāra (descent) to restore the Vedic path. He said that Kṛshṇa’s māyā ties him to home, family and possessions, and he begged to be freed from that delusion.

Kṛshṇa was pleased and answered with equal honour: “You are our elder, our teacher and our father’s brother. You are among the first of those who wish us well. Great souls like you deserve constant service.”

Kṛshṇa’s task for Akrūra (Chapter 48)

Kṛshṇa then asked Akrūra to go on a mission to Hastināpura. He had heard that Pāṇḍu had died. Pāṇḍu was the king who was the father of the Pāṇḍava princes and was a kinsman of the Yādavas through Kuntī. The five Pāṇḍava children now lived at Hastināpura under the care of Dhṛtarāshṭra. Kṛshṇa wanted to know if Dhṛtarāshṭra was treating the Pāṇḍavas fairly and if they were safe.

His words were clear: “Go and see how things stand. Watch how Dhṛtarāshṭra behaves. Find out how the Pāṇḍavas are. When you have seen, come back and tell me. Whatever help we can give them, we will give.”

Akrūra agreed and set out.

Akrūra at Hastināpura (Chapter 49)

Akrūra came to Hastināpura, the great city of the Kuru family, where every stone and tower spoke of the old glory of the Pūru line. He met Dhṛtarāshṭra, Bhīshma, Vidura, Kuntī and many great people of the court: Bāhlīka, Somadatta, Kṛpācārya, Droṇācārya, Aśvatthāmā, Karṇa, Duryodhana and the five Pāṇḍavas. He watched the court with care and stayed several months to understand the situation fully.

What he found was grim. Dhṛtarāshṭra was an elder who claimed to treat all alike. But his love for his own sons ruled him, and he had in effect let the Pāṇḍavas be treated as lesser people in their own family home. The Bhāgavata records that Duryodhana and his brothers had already tried to harm the Pāṇḍavas with poison and other plans. Kuntī and Vidura told Akrūra these things in private.

Kuntī’s prayer to Kṛshṇa (Chapter 49)

Kuntī was the sister of Vasudeva, so she was the sister of Kṛshṇa’s father, and she was the mother of the five Pāṇḍavas. She came privately to meet Akrūra. Her eyes were full of tears. She asked about her parents, her brothers and sisters and her nephew Kṛshṇa. Did they remember her and her sons? Then her grief broke out fully: “I am like a doe in the middle of a pack of wolves. My sons have no father. The only shelter I see is Kṛshṇa. Does he remember us? Will he come?”

Her prayer to Kṛshṇa, spoken through Akrūra, became a famous prayer. She called Kṛshṇa the Mahāyogī, the Ātmā of all creation, the one who rules the worlds, Govinda. She prayed, “O Govinda, I take refuge at your lotus feet, I and my children. I see no other refuge. Protect us.”

Akrūra and Vidura comforted Kuntī together. They recalled the glory of the line of the Pāṇḍavas and reminded her that the plan of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is never without reason.

Akrūra’s words on dharma to Dhṛtarāshṭra (Chapter 49)

Before he left, Akrūra asked for an audience with Dhṛtarāshṭra. Before the gathered nobles he spoke plainly on dharma. In short, he said this. Dhṛtarāshṭra had taken the throne when his brother Pāṇḍu died. The Pāṇḍavas were in his care. The right course was to treat them as his own sons, equally and without favour. A king who rules justly earns a good birth and lasting fame. A king who acts from love for his own children and against the children of his brother earns pāpa, shame and in the end a birth of suffering. The love of the world, the great qualities of the Pāṇḍavas and the natural order of dharma all asked for equal treatment.

He did not soften his advice. The Pāṇḍavas had already shown themselves to be great in wisdom, courage and conduct. The people of Hastināpura loved them. Duryodhana and his companions could not put out that love by their plots. Let Dhṛtarāshṭra choose the path of righteousness.

Dhṛtarāshṭra took the speech with seeming pleasure and agreed that it was true. But he also admitted, with rare honesty, that his heart could not hold these words. His love for his own sons led him wrong, but it was too strong for reason alone to overcome. He said, “The words are nectar, but they do not stay in my heart. My love for my sons is a river I cannot dam. It is the will of Īśvara.”

Akrūra went back to Mathurā and gave the whole report to Kṛshṇa and Balarāma.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skandha, Chapter 48
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skandha, Chapter 49