Departure of Balarāma and Kṛshṇa
This is the account in the Mausala Parva of how Balarāma and Kṛshṇa left the world after the Yādavas were destroyed at Prabhāsa. Kṛshṇa sent Dāruka to the Kurus to call Arjuna, and sent Babhru to guard the Vṛshṇi women. A leftover piece of the iron musala (club), lodged in a hunter’s club, killed Babhru. Kṛshṇa went to Dvārakā, left the women in the care of his father Vasudeva until Arjuna should come, and touched his father’s feet.
Returning to Balarāma, Kṛshṇa saw a great white serpent with a thousand hoods come out of his brother’s mouth and enter the sea. Ocean, the divine serpents and King Varuṇa welcomed it. Kṛshṇa then sat in the forest, entered mahāyoga (great yoga) and lay down. The hunter Jara mistook his foot for a deer and pierced the sole. The four-armed Purusha in yellow silk rose to his supreme abode. Indra and all the hosts of svarga came to welcome him.
The messages of Kṛshṇa and the death of Babhru
Dāruka, Keśava (Kṛshṇa) and Babhru ran to the place where Balarāma was. They found him sitting alone under a tree, deep in meditation. His strength was like that of Ananta. Kṛshṇa went up to his great-souled brother. He told Dāruka to go to the Kuru line and tell them of this great slaughter of the Yadus. He also told Dāruka to inform Arjuna, so that Arjuna would hurry to Dvārakā when he heard that all the Yādavas had died through the curse of the brāhmaṇas. Dāruka’s heart was heavy. He set out by chariot for the Kurus.
Then Kṛshṇa told Babhru to go at once and guard the women, in case robbers who wanted their wealth should harm them. Babhru took Keśava’s order and set out. He was weighed down by the fumes of drink and by the killing of his kinsmen. While he was still near Kṛshṇa, a piece of the iron musala, lodged in the club of a certain hunter, struck Babhru, who was already doomed by the śāpa (curse), and killed him. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4)
Kṛshṇa leaves the women with Vasudeva
Kṛshṇa saw Babhru fallen. He told Balarāma to wait for him there while he left the women with their close kin. Then he entered Dvārakā. He said to his father Vasudeva: “Guard all our women until Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) comes. Balarāma is waiting for me in the forest, and I must join him. I have seen the complete ruin of the Yadus, as before I saw the ruin of the foremost kings of the Kuru line. I cannot look at this city of the Yādavas without the Yadus. Know my resolve: I will join Balarāma, go to the forest and perform tapas (austerity).”
Kṛshṇa bowed his head, touched his father’s feet with devotion, and left in haste.
A great cry rose from the women and children. Kṛshṇa turned back and said that Arjuna would come to the city and free them from their sorrow. Then Keśava went to the forest where Balarāma sat alone. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4)
Balarāma’s departure into the sea
There Kṛshṇa saw a great white serpent come out of the mouth of Balarāma, who sat lost in yoga. It had a thousand hoods, its body was like mountain peaks, and its face was red. It left his body and went toward the great sea. Ocean himself, the divine serpents and the holy rivers came out to welcome it.
These came forward to greet and honour it with arghya, pādya and every rite of welcome: Karkoṭaka, Vāsuki, Takshaka, Pṛthuśravas, Aruṇa, Kuñjara, Miśri, Śaṅkha, Kumuda, Puṇḍarīka, the great serpent-king Dhṛtarāshṭra, Hrāda, Krātha, Śitikaṇṭha of fierce splendour, Cakramanda, Atishaṇḍa, the noble serpent Durmukha, Ambarīsha, and King Varuṇa himself. So the elder brother returned to his former place. The welcome by the divine serpents is told in its own account, the Serpents’ Welcome to Balarāma. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4)
Kṛshṇa enters mahāyoga
Vāsudeva Kṛshṇa had divine sight and knew all destinies. In his great radiance he walked through the empty forest and sat on the ground, deep in thought. He remembered all that Gāndhārī had said. He also remembered the words Durvāsa had spoken when the remnant of the pāyasa (milk pudding) was smeared on his foot. He thought of the ruin of the Andhakas and Vṛshṇis and the decline of the Kuru line. He understood that the time had come to merge into his own true nature, and he held back the workings of all his senses.
He waited for the appointed end and honoured the word of the ṛshi of the Ātreya line. He knew all things and their essence. He held his senses, speech and mind steady, entered mahāyoga and lay down. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4)
The hunter Jara and the ascent
A hunter named Jara came to that place, looking for deer. He saw Kṛshṇa lying in yoga and mistook his foot for a deer. He struck the sole with an arrow. He hurried close to seize his prey. Instead he saw a Purusha dressed in yellow silk, with many arms, wrapped in yoga. Jara thought he had done a wrong. He trembled and clasped the feet of Kṛshṇa. The great-souled Kṛshṇa comforted him. Then he filled the space between earth and sky with the splendour of his glory and rose upward.
When Kṛshṇa reached svarga, Indra, the Aśvins, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Viśvedevas, the munis, the siddhas and the chief gandharvas with the apsarās came out to welcome him. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, fierce in splendour, the cause of all causes, imperishable, the teacher of yoga, filled the sky with the wealth of his radiance and reached his own station, beyond all thought. The devas, ṛshis, cāraṇas, gandharvas, siddhas, sādhyas and apsarās all bowed before him. Kṛshṇa received their pūjā. The munis honoured him with mantras of the Ṛk, the gandharvas stood singing his praise, and Indra welcomed him with joy. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 4