Kṛshṇa Goes to Dvārakā

This is the journey of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa from the Kuru court to his home city Dvārakā, as told in the Aśvamedhika Parva of the Mahābhārata. It begins when Kṛshṇa finishes the Anugītā teaching to Arjuna and decides to visit his father Vasudeva and his kinsman Ugrasena, whom he has not seen for a long time. It ends with his return to Dvārakā during the joyful Raivataka festival and his meeting with his father Vasudeva and his mother Devakī.

Setting out after the Anugītā

At the end of the long teacher-student conversation (the Anugītā), Vāsudeva told Arjuna that he had not seen his father for a long while. With Arjuna’s leave he wished to go to Dvārakā. Arjuna proposed that they first go together to Hastināpura, to tell Dharmarāja Yudhishṭhira and get his permission. After that Kṛshṇa could go on to Dvārakā. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 51)

Kṛshṇa at once told Dāruka to get his chariot ready, and it was ready within a single muhūrta. Arjuna also told his own attendants to prepare. The two heroes, Kṛshṇa and Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), climbed into the chariot together and set out for Hastināpura, talking happily. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 52)

Arjuna’s stotra to Kṛshṇa

As they rode, the radiant Dhanañjaya turned to Vāsudeva, who sat beside him in the chariot, and offered a long stotra (hymn of praise). In it Arjuna showed that he knew Kṛshṇa’s Viśvarūpa nature in full. It echoes the vision Arjuna had already been given on the field of Kurukshetra. The content of the stotra is as follows.

Arjuna first named the fruit of Kṛshṇa’s grace in the war that had just ended: “O Mahānubhāva, who lifts up the Vṛshṇi family! Through your anugraha (grace) Dharmarāja has won. He has held back his enemies and gained a kingdom free of all trouble. With you as our raft, O Madhusūdana, we, the Pāṇḍavas, have crossed the great ocean that was the Kauravas.”

Then he called Kṛshṇa by names that state his place in the whole creation: “O Viśvakarma! O Viśvātmā! O Viśvaśreshṭha! I bow to you. I have come to know fully that you are dear to us in every way.” He went on: “O Madhusūdana, O Vibhu! The ātmā of all beings stands at all times through your own tejas (radiance) alone. Your love is līlāmaya, of the nature of divine play, and both svarga and earth are forms of your māyā.”

Arjuna went on to say that Kṛshṇa pervades everything: “This whole universe, the unmoving and the moving, rests on you alone. You alone give form to the four kinds of beings: those born from the womb (jarāyuja), from eggs (aṇḍaja), from sweat (svedaja) and from sprouts (udbhijja). O Madhusūdana! Earth (bhūmi), the space between (antarīksha) and the sky (divi) are all your own creation. Your smile is the pure moonlight. The seasons (ṛtus) are your senses.”

He praised Kṛshṇa’s power over space and time: “The ever-moving vāyu is your prāṇa (breath of life). Your anger is the eternal mṛtyu (death) itself. O Mahāmati, whose very nature is grace! Padmā, Lakshmī herself, lives always in you. O Puṇyātmā! Rati, tushṭi, dhṛti, kshamā, buddhi, kānti, and all that moves and does not move, all these are none but you. The knowers of tattva (the truth) declare that even the pralaya (dissolution) that comes at the end of the yugas is you.”

He ended the stotra by confessing the limit of praise and surrendering: “O Prabhu Kṛshṇa! Even across the longest span of time I could never fully tell your guṇas (qualities). You alone are the Ātmā, the Paramātmā. O Padmāksha! I bow to you. From Nārada, Devala, Kṛshṇa Dvaipāyana and Bhīshma, the grandsire of the Kauravas, and others, I have learned that you are never overcome by anyone, at any time. Everything rests on you. You alone are the master of all beings. O Puṇyātmā! That command of yours, that I should carry out this dharma faithfully, is itself a sign of your highest grace toward me.”

Then he spoke his thanks for the outcome of the war itself: “O Janārdana! I shall carry out all of this faithfully. For our good you have done something astonishing. That son of Dhṛtarāshṭra, the Kauravya, who was full of pāpa (sin), was killed by you in battle. You burned away his whole army, and yet the victory in that war became mine. It was your wisdom (buddhi) and your courage (parākrama) that won the war against Duryodhana, though it is counted as my triumph. At the right time and in the right way you showed me how to kill Karṇa. It was you alone who taught me how to bring about the deaths of Saindhava and of Bhūriśravas, who had done pāpa. Whatever you tell me out of your love, O Devakīnandana, I will surely do. Of this there is no doubt.” (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 52)

The journey to Hastināpura

Kṛshṇa heard the stotra. He told Arjuna that everything he owned, his jewels, his wealth, the whole earth and everything in his own household, belonged to Arjuna at every moment, as its true master. Great reverence was shown to Kṛshṇa, the elder brother of Gada (Gadāgraja). Respectful homage was paid to his aunt Kuntī, who was walked around and blessed in turn. Vidura and the others also honoured Kṛshṇa greatly.

Kṛshṇa then set out from Hastināpura in his divine chariot, with the permission of Yudhishṭhira and of his aunt Kuntī. He took Subhadrā up into the chariot while the people of the city gathered to watch him leave. Sātyaki walked beside the Mādhava as he set out. So did Arjuna, carrying his standard, the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, the deeply wise Vidura, and Bhīma, who moved with the gait of a great elephant.

Jānārdana then sent the Pāṇḍavas and Vidura back. He told Dāruka and Sātyaki to urge the horses on. So, with Sātyaki beside him, mighty Jānārdana set out for Dvārakā, like Devendra going up to svarga (heaven) after crushing the hosts of his enemies. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 52)

The meeting with Uttaṅka

Kṛshṇa reached the desert country beyond, and his journey there was marked by great omens. The wind cleared the road ahead of dust and thorns. Devendra himself sprinkled fragrant water and celestial flowers before the chariot of Kṛshṇa, the bearer of the Śārṅga bow.

In those level desert lands Kṛshṇa met the radiant muni Uttaṅka and stopped to greet him. This meeting grows into the full Uttaṅka Upākhyāna (Chapters 53 to 58). In it Kṛshṇa is nearly given a śāpa (curse) by the muni, shows him his Viśvarūpa, and grants Uttaṅka the vara (boon) of the “Uttaṅka clouds.” (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 52 to 55)

Arrival at Dvārakā during the Raivataka festival

After he had granted Uttaṅka his vara, Govinda went on with Sātyaki. Their swift horses carried them past lakes, rivers, forests and mountains until they reached the beautiful city of Dvārakā. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 59)

The great utsava (festival) of Raivataka was in full swing when Puṇḍarīkāksha arrived with Sātyaki. The mountain glittered with stores of rare and wonderful gems. It was decorated on every side with golden garlands, the finest flowers, splendid clothes and kalpavṛkshas (wish-granting trees). Golden lamp-trees blazed beside the great waterfalls, so that the mountain shone as if in daylight. Countless small-belled flags of many colours fluttered everywhere. The voices of men and women talking together rose like one unbroken song.

The mountain was crowded with joyful women and men, and it looked like Meru surrounded by hosts of munis, a most beautiful sight. The noise of the merry and the overjoyed, mixed with singing, seemed to reach the sky. Stalls of sweets, garlands and cloth were piled up everywhere. The vīṇā, the veṇu (flute) and the mṛdaṅga (drum) rang out. Sweet drinks and food of every kind were given freely, even to the poor, the blind and those who lived by begging, with never-ending generosity. The whole festival of the Vṛshṇi heroes on Raivataka was a place of great puṇya (merit) and of great puṇya-karma (acts of merit). (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 59)

With Kṛshṇa there, the mountain, already full of devas, shone like Devaloka itself, as bright as Indra’s own palace. Kṛshṇa was honoured on every side and went into his own house. Sātyaki went to his. Kṛshṇa was like Devendra after doing what no one else could do against the dānavas. He came back after his long absence with a heart full of great harsha (joy) and went into his home.

The Bhoja, Vṛshṇi and Andhaka kinsmen came forward to welcome the returning Mahātmā Kṛshṇa, as the devas come forward to welcome Devendra. Wise Kṛshṇa greeted and honoured each of them in turn with love. Then he performed abhivādana, saying his name and gotra, before his father and mother, Vasudeva and Devakī. They held their great son tight in their arms, and all the Vṛshṇi kinsmen gathered close around him in a circle. Kṛshṇa washed his parents’ feet and rested for a while. When his father asked, he told him the whole course of the great war. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 59)

This meeting, and the account of the eighteen-day war that Kṛshṇa then gives to Vasudeva, goes on into Chapter 60 of the Aśvamedhika Parva (the Vāsudeva-vākya), which is beyond this account. (Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 60)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 52 and 59
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 51 (the start of the journey)
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 52 to 55 and 53 to 58 (the meeting with Uttaṅka and the Uttaṅka Upākhyāna)
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 60 (the Vāsudeva-vākya, named as what follows)