Bhagavatham Stories

As time passed after Dhritarashtra's departure, Yudhishthira began to notice a disturbing and progressive series of inauspicious omens occurring throughout his prosperous kingdom. The natural order of things, which had been maintained so carefully during Krishna's physical presence, began to deteriorate noticeably. Natural disasters - earthquakes, floods, droughts - became increasingly frequent. The weather patterns that had been so favorable and stable began to become unpredictable and threatening. Social behavior deteriorated as well; crimes increased, dishonesty became more rampant, people became increasingly angry and quarrelsome. Even the animals began to behave abnormally and dangerously. The earth itself seemed to be grieving, as if her greatest protector had left her undefended.

Most disturbing to Yudhishthira was that he had not heard from Lord Krishna for an unusually long period. In the past, when Krishna was actively present in the material world, there was always some news of Him - messages from His various kingdoms, reports from those who had seen Him. Now, there was complete silence. No messenger had come from Dwaraka. No reports had arrived. This unusual and deafening silence filled Yudhishthira's heart with inexplicable dread and anxiety. His left arm began to throb - a traditional sign in Vedic culture indicating impending bad news or danger. His dreams became disturbed and frightening, filled with images of fire and destruction. The very atmosphere around him seemed heavy with foreboding, as if the entire universe held its breath, waiting for some terrible announcement.

Finally, after an extended period of anxious waiting, Arjuna returned from Dwaraka. But the Arjuna who arrived was not the mighty warrior king whom Yudhishthira had known all his life. This was a broken man - his usual dignified bearing was gone, his powerful presence seemed diminished. His face was withered and dried up, his head hung down as if too heavy to hold up, his body appeared weak and thin, as if he had been through some terrible ordeal that had drained him of all physical and emotional strength. Yudhishthira felt his heart sink even before hearing any words, for he could read in Arjuna's appearance that the worst had happened. With great trepidation, he asked his beloved brother the question he both desperately needed answered and dreaded hearing: "Is everyone in Dwaraka well? Is Krishna healthy? Is Balarama safe?" The way he phrased these questions, focusing specifically on Krishna and Balarama, showed that he already sensed the terrible truth but was hoping against hope to be proved wrong.

Arjuna then delivered news that shattered everything - Krishna had departed from this world. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had seemed eternal and invulnerable, had left His manifest form and returned to His transcendental abode. What had happened was described in detail: the Yadu dynasty, Krishna's own family and kingdom, had been destroyed in a terrible civil war. A curse from some brahmanas, brought about through a series of unfortunate incidents, had been set in motion, and it had culminated in a fratricide within Krishna's own family. Members of the dynasty had fought each other in a devastating battle, killing one another, destroying the entire dynasty. Though Krishna possessed absolute power and could have prevented this catastrophe with a mere glance or a single gesture, He had allowed it to happen. This was His will - the Lord's mysterious plan that the time had come for Him to withdraw His manifest presence from the earth.

After witnessing the destruction of His family, Krishna had seated Himself beneath a tree in meditation, His consciousness withdrawing from the material world. At that moment, a hunter named Jara, who had been cursed by a sage to cause Krishna's death, happened to pass by. Mistaking Krishna's lotus foot for a deer, he released an arrow that pierced it. This arrow, though apparently a simple weapon, penetrated that one vulnerable spot on Krishna's divine body - His lotus feet being the only place where material weapons could even touch Him. Even this was by Krishna's arrangement, a final coordination that allowed Him to leave His manifest form at the precise moment He had chosen. As the arrow pierced His foot, Krishna's material body gave up, and His transcendental form returned to the eternal spiritual world, to the realm of Goloka Vrindavan where He eternally engages in His divine pastimes.

Arjuna then described his own tragic experiences after Krishna's departure. He had attempted to protect the widows and families of Krishna's relatives, but something extraordinary and humiliating occurred. His famous Gandiva bow, which had never failed him in all the wars he had fought, suddenly became useless. The bow that had conquered armies could no longer draw properly. His supposedly inexhaustible arrows, which had been blessed with divine properties, suddenly became exhausted and ran out. Weapons that had always obeyed his commands suddenly would not respond. Most painfully, the common thieves and bandits - people who would have fled in terror before him just days before - suddenly became bold enough to attack his convoy and kidnap the very women he was supposed to protect. The mighty Arjuna, the greatest warrior of his age, found himself helpless and unable to defend those who had depended on him. This experience of helplessness revealed a profound truth: all of Arjuna's prowess, strength, skills, and abilities had existed only through Krishna's presence and blessing. Without Krishna, even the mighty Arjuna was rendered impotent.

This chapter marks the formal end of Krishna's manifest pastimes on Earth - the final chapter of the age of the Lord's personal presence in the material world. It also marks the beginning of the end of the age of Dvapara-yuga and the complete inception of the age of Kali-yuga - the age of quarrel, hypocrisy, and spiritual degradation. With Krishna's departure, the material world entered into its period of maximum darkness and difficulty. Yet this chapter also sets the spiritual stage for everything that follows: the Pandavas' own renunciation and final spiritual journey, and more immediately, the gathering at the banks of the Ganges where Parikshit, having received a curse that he would die in seven days, would seek out the great sage Sukadeva Goswami and request to hear the Srimad Bhagavatam - which, the reader is being told, is being recited to them now by the sage Suta Goswami at the assembly in Naimisharanya.