129 - Submerging of Dvaraka and departure of Krishna for the eternal Abode

Narayana said - The complete lord Krishna, together with the people of Gokula finding the Salokya type of salvation there, sat under the banyan tree in the Bhandira-vana accompanied by five cowherds. He had a glance on the entire Gokula. At that point of time, Gokula seemed upset, without a protector and extremely busy. Vrundavana too looked deserted. At that point of time the merciful lord Krishna filled Gokula with cowherds and cowherdesses sprinkling the nectar there. He made Vrundavana quite charming and beautiful.

The people of Gokula were assured by Krishna, who spoke to them the sweet and beneficial words.

Sri Krishna said- "O cowherd, O brothers, you remain happy and be stable, you enjoy your spouses in the beautiful Rasamandala, Krishna would remain present in Vrundavana till the time of sun and moon".

Thus speaking, the lord of the universe went to the Bhandira-vana. Thereafter Sesha, Dharma, Gauri and Shiva, Surya, Indra, moon, Agni, Kubera, Varuna, the wind god, Yama, Ishana the gods, eight Vasus, all the planets, the sages and Manus reached the place where lord Krishna was seated. Brahma reaching there prostrated before the lord and said-.

Brahma said- O eternal form of Brahman and complete lord, the form of flame, eternal, beyond Prakruti, I bow in, reverence to you.

You are completely unattached, invisible and visible only to the devotees, you are the one who moves at will, the eternal abode, the supreme soul, I offer my salutation to you.

You are the lord and the form of all the deeds, cause of all the causes, you are Brahma, Shiva and Sesha, the lord of the gods, the lord of all, I offer my salutation to you.

You are the lord of Sarsvati Lakshmi Parvati and you are the lord of Savitri Radha and divine dance, I offer my salutation to you.

You are the beginning of all, the lord of all, the protector of all, destroyer of all and creator of all, I offer my salutation to you.

With the touch of the dust from your lotus-like feet, the earth has been purified, becoming graceful, but O lord, with your departure for your eternal abode, it will get deserted.

A hundred and twenty-five years have passed and now you are proceeding to your divine abode deserting the earth.

Mahadeva said- 0 virtues one, you had incarnated on earth at the request of Brahma and relieved the earth of her burden; now you are going back to your abode.

Of all the three worlds, earth is quite graceful over which you have placed your feet purifying the same by witnessing your lotus-like feet, all the gods and the sages, have been feeling graceful.

The one who is beyond the comprehension of the great sages who is difficult to be adored the same lord has appeared before us.

Vishnu happens to be the abode of all, in the hair-pits of whom innumerable globes reside. The same lord Mahavishnu incarnated on earth in the form of Krishna.

Whose lotus-like feet are beyond the reach of the siddhas and would be achieved only by performing tapas for prolonged periods, the same lord has become visible to us.

Ananta said- You are the lord without limitations and I happen to be and amsa of your ray. Lodged in a secluded place in the universe remain on the head of the tortoise like a small mosquito on the elephant head. There are innumerable Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and the serpents Sesha beside tortoise. There are innumerable globe's but you happen to be the the lord of all.

O lord when shall the auspicious day arrive? The lord who is. invisible even in dream, the same lord appeared before all the creatures. O lord, you are leaving for Goloka purifying the earth and the same earth who has been plunged in grief is now crying.

The gods said- The one who is beyond the comprehension of the Vedas, Brahma, Shiva and all the gods, who are unable to offer prayer to him, what type of prayer can be offered to him. We offer our salutation to you.

Thus speaking all the gods getting filled with delight, huiTiedly left the place and reached the city of Dvaraka to have an audience with the lord.

Thereafter Gopala left for the blissful Goloka. The earth started shaking together with the seven oceans.

Dvaraka was deserted because of the curse of Brahma and Sri Krishna the lord of Radha left the city and entered the image that was lying under the foot of kadamba tree.

Thereafter all the Yadavas were destroyed fighting among themselves, using the red-grass as the weapon. Their spouses also met with their end jumping in the burning flames together with their husbands.

Thereafter, Arjuna went to Hastinapur and communicated the news to Yudhisthira who also together with his wife and brothers went to the heaven.

Finding lord Krishna lodged in the form of an image in the root of the kadamba tree, all the gods including Brahma went there and bowed to him with devotion.

He was having the dark complexion, of the tender age of a boy and his body was adorned with all the gem-studded ornaments. He was clad in the divine garments, having the lustre of the fire. He was wearing the long garland of forest flowers, was extremely beautiful, peaceful, lord of Lakshmi, holding divine weapon in the hand, served by Lakshmi and other goddesses at his feet. All the gods then offered their prayer to Narayana the supreme soul and pervading god. Lord Krishna also looking at the gods provided protection to them smilingly.

The lord assured the earth who was upset and was crying and gave the hunter his eternal abode.

O Narada, the illumining lustre of Balarama enter Seshanaga, the lustre of Pradyumna entered Kamadeva and that of Aniruddha in Brahma. The eternal goddess Rukmini in the form of MahaLakshmi proceeded on to Vaikuntha with her human body.

Satyabhama who happened to be the arhsa of Lakshmi, entered into the earth. Thereafter Jambavati entered the body of Parvati, the mother of the universe.

All the goddesses who happened to be the amsas of whichever goddess entered their bodies separately.

The unique tejas of Samba entered the body of Skanda, the tejas of Vasudeva entered Kashyapa while that of Devaki entered Aditi.

The ocean having a delightful face and the eyes submerged the entire city of Dvaraka under water leaving aside the abode of Rukminl.

Thereafter the ocean of saline water arrived and offered prayer to Purushottama and started crying, filling his eyes with tears, as a result of the separation from the lord.

O sage, all the rivers like Gahga, Sarasvati, Padma, Yamuna, Godavari, Svarnarekha, Kaveri, Narmada, Sarasvati, Bahuda and the auspicious Krutamala arrived there and started offering their salutation to the lord.

Getting upset with the fever of separation her eyes filled with tears, the Gahga spoke to lord Krishna while crying.

Bhagirathi said- O lovable lord, you are now proceeding to Goloka. What shall be our position during the age of Kali?

Sri Krishna said- O Ganga, you remain on earth I for five thousand years during Kaliyuga. All the I sins that are washed in your water would disappear with the reciting of the mantras by the devotees and by the people who earn merit by having a look at you.

You would also listen to the reciting of the name of Hari and the reciting of the Puranas.

With the reciting of the Puranas and the name of Hari, the sins like Brahmahatya get destroyed in no time.

These sins are reduced to ashes with the touch of a Vaishnavas in the same way as the strew is burn it out in the fire flames or the dry-wood is also burnt out in fire. O Ganga, all the holy places which are located on earth, are all enshrined in the bodies of my devotees. The earth gets purified with the dust from the feet of my devotees.

All the holy places get purified at once with the fall of the dust from the feet of my devotee. A Brahmana who is devoted to me and recites my mantras also consumes the naivedya and always remains devoted to me, he becomes dearer to me than my life. With the very touch of his body, the wind as well as the fire get purified.

During Kaliyuga my devotees would remain on earth for ten thousand years. In the meantime, the four-armed from, having the lustre of hundreds of moons, illumining all the directions, holding samkha, chakra, gada and padma, with Srivatsa mark on his chest, emerged from the body of Krishna.

He at once mounted on the beautiful chariot and proceeded towards the ocean of milk. Lakshmi, the daughter of the ocean also transformed herself into a goddess and left the place.

With the departure of lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, to Sveta-dvipa, MartyaLakshmi was born from the mind of Sri Krishna. In his pure and spotless form, Sri Krishna was divided into two forms, his right hand side was having two arms and appeared in the form of a cowherd boy.

That form had the dark-complexioned of a new cloud, wore pitambara, placing a flute on his mouth, filled with glory, having smiling face, the eyes like the lotus flowers and possessed the lustre of a hundred crores of the moons. He was blissful, having the glory of crores of gods of love, complete lord, like the eternal abode, eternal Brahman, devoid of gums, the supreme soul, the one who was always graceful to his devotees and takes to human form for their benefit only, having eternal body and was beyond Prakruti. The yogis always adored him as the everlasting flame.

The devotees consider him to be the eternal flame of their minds and the Vedas described him as the eternal truth. The great intellectuals conceived him as eternal and everlasting. All the gods describe him as the lord who moved at will. The siddhas and the ascetics conceived him to be omnipresent.

Shiva, the lord of yogis describes him as inexplicable. The creator of the universe describes him to be the cause of all the causes.

The serpent Sesha conceives him to be the lord who could be achieved by nine types of devotion and beyond measure, the divine six types of philosophies project him in six different form.

He has been described to possess the nine forms including one of the Vaishnavas, one of the Vedas, one of the Puranas.

The jurisprudence defines him as the one who is beyond conception and this theory is also I accepted by Sankara. The Vaiseshika doctrine: describes him as eternal and primeval,

The Samkhya people, the Samkhya philosophers described him as the forn of everlasting flame. The Mimansa philosophers call him as the form of everything and the Widmta philosophy describes him to be the cause of all.

The Yogasastra of Patanjali described him to be beyond measure and the Vedas take him to be the form of truth. The Puranas described him as the one who moves at will and the devotees always take him to be the one having the eternal form.

The same supreme soul happens to be the lord of Goloka and the beloved of Radha besides being the son of Nanda. He remains in Gokula and Vrundavana in the form of a cowherd.

In Vaikuntha he appears as the four armed lord of Mahalakshmi. He happens to be the form of Narayana, the reciting of whose name bestows salvation.

O Narada, by reciting the name of Narayana once, a person earns the merit of having a bath in the Ganga for a hundred kalpas.

Thereafter lord Vishnu went to Vaikuntha surrounded by Sunanda, Nanda and Kumuda, holding samkha, gada, chakra and padma in the hands beside displaying the Srivatsa mark on the chest, adorned with the kaustubha gem wearing the long garland of forest flowers, mounted on a plane and adored by the gods,

After the departure of the lord of Vaikuntha, Sri Krishna the lord gf Radha played on the flute which attracted the three worlds.

O Narada, on hearing the voice of the flute, all the gods and the sages fainted or all those present there were fainted with the illusion of the lord, except Parvati.

Thereafter, Parvati who happened to be the illusion of Vishnu, the form of all, eternal Brahman, the form of the supreme soul, possessing qualities as well as without them, the one who moved at will and was the chaste goddess, spoke to the lord.

Parvati said- O lord, I was always in the form of Radhika in the Rasamandala of Goloka, you fill the void in the Goloka by performing the divine dance.

You proceed mounted on the gem-studded chariot. By residing in your heart I felt myself complete.

At your command I became Mahalakshmi the dweller of Vaikuntha. I also functioned there as Sarasvati appearing to the left of lord Hari. I have been born out of your mind and appeared as the daughter of the ocean at your command. I had appeared as Savitri the mother of the Vedas and stayed with Brahma with my amsa,

Earlier, during the time of Satyayuga, I appeared from the tejas of all the gods at your command and took to the form of a goddess.

I then killed playfully the demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha beside Durga after which I was given the name of Tripura.

By killing the demon named Raktabija, I came to be known as the destroyer of Raktabija. At your command I became Sati, the daughter of Daksha in the truthful form.

At you command I discarded that body and then came to be known as the daughter of Himalaya. You had handed me over to Shiva in Rasamandala.

I had been the devotion of Vishnu and as such I came to be known as Vishnumaya or Vaisnavi, I was the illusion of lord Narayana and as such I came to be known as Narayani. I was the beloved of Krishna and was the mother of Mahavishnu also known as Radha.

At your command I took to five forms and was known as Panchaprakruti. With my rays or the amsha of my rays, I became the spouses of the gods.

O virtuous one, you move on at once because I am suffering badly from your separation there, I always roam about in the Rasamandala together with the cowherdesses.

Listening to the words of Parvati, Krishna the lord of the divine dance, smiled and mounted on the chariot studded with gems then proceeded to Goloka.

Thereafter Parvati who happened, to be the eternal Vishnumaya, brought the gods back to senses who had been fainted because of the sound of the flute of lord Krishna. Reciting the name of Hari, all the gods then retired astonishingly to their respective abodes, Durga also delightfully want along with Shiva to her abode.

Radha then finding Krishna arriving in Vraja, left the place and followed the lord together with all the cowherdesses.

Reaching close to him, the chaste Radha bowed in reverence to the lord after his descending from the chariot.

All the cowherds and cowherdesses having the delightful face and eyes welcomed the lord and played upon the big drums,

Krishna finding, Radha standing on the river Viraja, at once got down from the chariot and held her hand taking her to the mountain of hundred peaks in the Rasamandala, where he started roaming about with her. Thereafter they went to the auspicious banyan tree and having a sight of it, they went to Vrundavana.

There he found the Tulasi-vana, Kunda-vana and Madhavi-vana, leaving them to the left they moved towards the Malati - vana.

The catnpaka-vana was to the right and a forest of sandal-wood was at the back. Then he found the place of Radhika who was lodged in her abode occupying a gem-studded lion throne.

He consumed there the fragrant water, the betel with camphor and slept on the bed of flowers over which the sandal-paste had been spread.

He was filled with ocean of pleasure and started enjoying the company of his beloved. Thus I have narrated everything to you, whatever I had heard from the mouth of Dharma.