Vajra

Vajra was a descendant of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa through his son Pradyumna’s son Aniruddha. He was the Yādava king installed at Indraprastha after the Yādavas had perished at Prabhāsa and the ocean had taken Dvārakā. Through him the line of Kṛṣṇa’s family went on.

The last Yādava king

After the Yādava destruction, Arjuna came to Dvārakā. The ocean had already begun to cover the city. Arjuna gathered the surviving women, children and elders and led them north.

On the way, robbers attacked the party. Arjuna found that his divine weapons had left him. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in its eleventh skandha (book), chapter 31. The survivors settled in Indraprastha and other northern lands, and Vajra was installed as king to continue the Yādava line.

Crowned at Indraprastha

The Mausala Parva of the Mahābhārata, chapter 7, records Vajra’s succession in detail.

• It names Vajra as the great-grandson of Kṛṣṇa through Aniruddha. Kṛṣṇa and Vasudeva had already marked Aniruddha out to reign.
• Arjuna followed the instructions of Kṛṣṇa and Vasudeva. He led the surviving Yādava women, elders and children out of Dvārakā before the ocean covered it.
• He set Vajra at the head of the sixteen thousand of Kṛṣṇa’s household as the appointed king.
• Arjuna performed the funeral rites for Vasudeva, for Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, and for all the Vṛṣṇis who died in the destruction at Prabhāsa.
• The survivors lost many women to Ābhīra robbers at Pañcanada.
• Arjuna then settled the remaining people in the northern lands. He gave the kingdom of Indraprastha to Vajra and crowned him there as the king who would carry on the line of Kṛṣṇa’s family.
• Arjuna also settled the Dvārakā citizens who had followed him in Vajra’s charge, each according to his worth.

Confirmed by Yudhiṣṭhira

The Mahā Prasthānika Parva, chapter 1, tells of the great departure of the Pāṇḍavas. Yudhiṣṭhira installed Parīkṣit at Hastināpura and the Yādava Vajra at Indraprastha. He charged Subhadrā to protect Vajra as well as Parīkṣit. Subhadrā was the last surviving elder of the Yādava line among the Pāṇḍavas. So two young kings, one of the Kuru line and one of the Yādava line, were left to rule as the Pāṇḍavas gave up the world.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 31
• Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 7
• Mahābhārata, Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapter 1