Kṛshṇa Kailāsa Yātrā
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa goes from Dvārakā to Kailāsa, the mountain of Bhagavān Śiva. He goes because his queen Rukmiṇī wants a son of great excellence. At Kailāsa he does tapas (austerity) for twelve years. Bhagavān Śiva then comes. Each praises the other with a Sanskrit stotra (hymn of praise), and Śiva teaches the assembled ṛshis about the true nature of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. The Harivaṃśa tells this in the Bhavishya Parva.
Why Kṛshṇa went
Rukmiṇī wished for a son of the highest quality, a son whose birth would be won by the strongest tapas. For this purpose Kailāsa was the natural place, for it is the home of Bhagavān Śiva and a great Śaiva tīrtha (holy place). Out of love for Rukmiṇī, Kṛshṇa decided to make this journey.
Preparations and departure
Kṛshṇa put Balarāma and Sātyaki in charge of Dvārakā and its people. They were the two greatest warriors among the Yādavas. He set the defences of the city in order. Then he mounted Garuḍa, the divine eagle and vāhana (mount) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and flew north from Dvārakā.
The way led through holy lands and at last to the heights of the Himālaya. On the way Kṛshṇa stopped at Badarikāśrama, the āśrama of Nara and Nārāyaṇa. There the liberation of Ghaṇṭākarṇa took place.
Twelve years of tapas at Kailāsa
Kṛshṇa came to Kailāsa, the silver mountain that is the eternal home of Bhagavān Śiva. For twelve years Bhagavān Kṛshṇa stayed there in tapas. He sat still and deep in contemplation, and his form gave off a great light that filled the mountain. The devas and ṛshis watched in awe as Kṛshṇa did tapas at the home of Śiva.
Bhagavān Śiva arrives
Bhagavān Śiva then came to Kailāsa. He came in his divine form with his followers, the Gaṇas and Bhūtas, in the full splendour of his rule. The meeting of Kṛshṇa and Śiva at Kailāsa was the meeting of Hari and Hara, the Vaishṇava and Śaiva sides of the one divine reality.
Kṛshṇa’s stotra to Śiva
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa first offered a Sanskrit stotra to Śiva. It praises Śiva as the supreme ruler and the lord of dissolution. It speaks of the Gaṅgā flowing from his brow, and of the marks he bears: the half-moon, the sacred serpent and the trident. It names Śiva as the form of the universe at the moment of its dissolution, and as the giver of all that is auspicious (śiva).
Śiva’s stotra to Kṛshṇa
Bhagavān Śiva then offered a Sanskrit stotra to Kṛshṇa. It names Kṛshṇa as the supreme Parābrahman, the cause that has no cause. It says that he holds up all the worlds even while he seems to be born among them, and that his māyā (power of illusion) cannot be measured even by the greatest ṛshis. In it Śiva says that what he dissolves is what Kṛshṇa creates, and that the turning of the universe is the endless play of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Through these two stotras Hari and Hara are shown as one, and devotion to one is devotion to the other.
Śiva teaches Kṛshṇa-tattva to the ṛshis
After the two stotras Bhagavān Śiva turned to the ṛshis gathered at Kailāsa. He taught them Kṛshṇa-tattva, the true nature of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. This teaching runs over several chapters.
Śiva taught that Kṛshṇa is not only an avatāra in the usual sense. He is the Parābrahman himself, the source of all avatāras, Śiva included. He is both saguṇa (with qualities) and nirguṇa (without qualities). He is the ātmā in all bodies. He is worshipped through the Vedas, through yoga, through jñāna (knowledge) and above all through bhakti (devotion). Those who know Kṛshṇa-tattva as Śiva teaches it are freed from saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).
Return by Badarī
When the meeting at Kailāsa was complete and Śiva had blessed him, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa went back first to Badarikāśrama. This is the old tīrtha where his own form as Nara-Nārāyaṇa has always lived. From there he returned south to Dvārakā.
Sources
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapters 74–75 (the reason for the journey)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapters 74–78 (preparations and departure)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapters 79–80 (twelve years of tapas)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapter 81 (Śiva arrives)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapters 82–83 (Kṛshṇa’s stotra to Śiva)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapter 84 (Śiva’s stotra to Kṛshṇa)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapters 85–90 (Śiva’s teaching)
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapter 91 (the return)