Ābhīras
Ābhīra
The Ābhīras are a people of the west of Bhārata. In the Brahma Purāṇa they appear among the peoples who drink the waters of Bhārata’s rivers and among its southern countries, and again at the end of the account of Śrī Kṛshṇa: after he left the earth and Kali came, the Ābhīras, greedy and proud of their strength, fell upon Arjuna as he led the women of Dvārakā away, overcame him when his weapons failed, and carried off the women of the Vṛshṇi and Andhaka families.
A people of the west
Describing Bhārata-varsha, the Sūta tells the munis of the peoples who live along its rivers. In the west live the Saurāshṭras, the Śūdras, the Ābhīras, the Arbudas, the Mārukas, the Mālavas and the dwellers of Pāriyātra, and also the Madras, the Rāmas, the Ambashṭhas, the Pārasīkas and others. All of them drink the waters of these rivers.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 19
In the description of Bhārata-varsha that Brahmā, the lotus-born, gives Bhṛgu and the munis, Ābhīra is also named among the southern countries, after Kaliṅga and before Vaiśikya.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 27
The attack on Arjuna
Vyāsa tells the munis what happened after Śrī Kṛshṇa left the earth. Arjuna performed the last rites, took Vajra and the thousands of Kṛshṇa’s wives away from Dvāravatī, and settled the Yādava people in the Pañcanada country. On the very day Śrī Hari ascended, Kali had come down to the earth, and by its power greed sprouted among men.
The Ābhīras, steeped in pāpa (wrongdoing) and in the grip of greed, saw Arjuna alone, bow in hand, leading and guarding the women whose husbands had died. They grew arrogant and said to one another: “This Arjuna alone, with a bow, is taking away the women whose husbands are dead, and he takes no account of us. Proud of having killed heroes like Bhīshma, Droṇa, Jayadratha and Karṇa, he does not know the strength of us village-dwellers. Let us show our strength.”
Then thousands of dasyus rushed out with sticks and knives. Arjuna turned and said to them, “If you wish to live, go back.” They scorned his words and dragged the women, Kṛshṇa’s wives, from his side. Arjuna tried to string the Gāṇḍīva and could not; strung with great effort, it went slack in a moment. The divine astras did not even come to his memory. The other weapons he hurled at them sank down and did not pierce them, and even the inexhaustible arrows that Agni had given him at the burning of the Khāṇḍava forest were spent. While Arjuna watched, the Ābhīras dragged away the best of the women, and some went after the band of their own accord. As he struck at them with śastras and astras, they laughed aloud, and they carried off all the women of the Vṛshṇi and Andhaka families. In this chapter the same robbers are called Ābhīras, dasyus, cowherds, thieves and mlecchas.
Vyāsa’s words
Arjuna, weeping that he had been abandoned by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, came to Vyāsa. Vyāsa told him not to grieve at his defeat. Bhīshma, Droṇa and the others had fallen by Arjuna’s hand because of kāla, by the power of the Paramātmā, and now Arjuna had been defeated by lesser men. “Who would believe that you felled all the Kauravas with Gāṅgeya?” he said. “And who would believe that you were beaten by the Ābhīras? Both are the play (vilāsa) of Śrī Hari in all beings.” He then told Arjuna how the women had once received a śāpa from Ashṭāvakra Muni that they would fall into the hands of thieves, and he counselled Arjuna and his brothers to set out on the mahāprasthāna.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 212
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 27, 212