The great battle had been fought. Dharma had been established. Around
her were the corpses of her hundred sons: some with broken necks, some
with smashed skulls, some with open chests, and one with a broken thigh.
The wailing of her widowed daughters-in-law filled her ears. They
mourned for her sons and her grandsons, all of whom were killed by the
Pandavas army. Tears rushed out of her eyes, making her blindfold so wet
that she feared that she would be able to see those dead faces through
the cloth. Unable to bear the thought, she squeezed shut her eyes. The
hundred pots from which these hundred were born occupied her courtyard
in the palace. But these were bodies of grown men, princes, warriors,
each one with a broad chest and long arms. They occupied an entire
field. Their bodies still gleamed with their sweat, their armors, their
jewels, their weapons. How magnificent they would have looked as they
marched out of the city blowing a hundred conch-shells?
Gandhari
howled at the truth of her insight. Then she screamed a curse, “May you
Krishna witness the death of your children and your children’s children.
And may you die alone in the forest, hunted down like a beast.”
Krishna
came and hugged her. She wept. And she felt Draupadi weeping next to
her. Both were being hugged by Krishna, the mother of villains and the
mother of heroes, both being comforted by he who they say is God. He
said nothing. He allowed Gandhari to vent out her venom and he accepted
the curse quietly – no retaliatory curse. Yes, his children would die as
Gandhari had deemed fit and so would he. Let his clan suffer so that
the spiral of vendetta does not continue. It has to end sometime. And if
this demands the sacrifice of his clan, then let it be so.
After
the war was over Krishna was himself contemplating the end of the
Yadavas race. They were very powerful under the protection of lord
Krishna so no external force could defeat them. If the Yadavas
themselves are left unchecked, at some point of time in future, they
will become a burden to the Earth. So, lord Krishna realizes the
importance of bringing the destruction of his own race. So, when
Gandhari curses Lord Krishna and his race, He thanks her for having
solved his problem.
Days flew by after the coronation of
Yudhishtra as the king of Hasthinapur. Krishna went back to Dwaraka to
rule over the beautiful island kingdom. Blessed by the presence of the
Goddess of Wealth (Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly
the curse of Gandhari started taking form. The Yadavas were in eternal
bliss in Dwaraka. So much bliss, that they forgot good conduct, morals
and the importance of discipline and humility. Consequently, once when
some learned men came to Dwaraka, the Yadavas sealed their destiny.
It
so happened that once great sages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista,
Narada among others were on a pilgrimage. After visiting various places,
they visited Dwaraka to meet Lord Krishna and Balarama. The Yadavas,
which included Bhodakas, Vrishnis, Kekeyas and Andakas, who were once
virtuous devotees of Krishna, had lost their sense of culture and
discipline and were little more than hooligans. A group of Yadavas boys
who saw the great sages decided to play a prank on them in order to test
their powers.
Narad & Vishwamitra visit Dwarka – Samba dressed as a Woman Insult The SagesThey
dressed Samba, the son of Krishna and Jambavati, as a woman and tied
many robes to his belly so he’d appear as a pregnant woman. They
approached the sages and asked them to predict whether the ‘lady’ would
give birth to a boy or a girl. The Rishis realized the truth through
their divine vision and were enraged. In anger, the sages cursed them
saying that the disguised boy will give birth to a lump of Iron which
will destroy the entire Yadava race.
The Yadavas, shocked though
they were, were too arrogant to even apologies. They left the scene,
laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost all his sanity.
Things were however very different the next morning. Sambha developed
labour pains and soon delivered a mace from within him. The Yadavas were
now struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace to Akroora
and Ugrasena and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated the
weird tide of events.
Akroora immediately ordered, “Grind the mace
to a fine powder and cast it into the seas.” The Yadavas nodded and
retreated. Akroora cast his gaze at Krishna, his eyes full of questions.
Krishna simply smiled back. “The wheels of time are turning Uncle”, he
said, “and Sambha has played his part perfectly.” He left without
another word, leaving both of them bewildered. “What did he mean by
that?” asked Ugrasena. “I can tell you that, father.” Ugrasena turned
around to the source of voice – Rukmini.
Thirty six year ago,
Krishna prayed to Shiva for a son like him. Does that ring any bell?”
Rukmani asked. Ugrasena, said very slowly, his eyes bright, “A son like
Shiva. A son like the god of destruction! Krishna wanted Sambha to aid
in destruction…” And even more slowly, his voice down several levels, he
uttered, “Gandhari’s curse. The time for her curse to act has arrived. A
reward for her devotion in him”, he ended, leaving Akroora agape and
Rukmini nodding in agreement.
Outside the palace, the Yadavas had
obeyed Akroora’s command to the dot. They had ground the mace finely.
Everything was ground except a sharp triangular piece which appeared to
be very hard indeed. And then they had thrown the fine powder and the
lone piece into the sea. Happy that they had taken care of the matter so
easily, they returned back to their general state of intoxication and
bliss
Time rolled by. The triangular piece of the mace was
swallowed by a fish. The fish was caught by a hunter, who upon finding
the piece in the fish’s entrails immediately used it to craft a fine
poisonous arrow. The fine powder, on the other hand, washed back ashore
and deposited itself by the beautiful coast of Dwaraka. A certain grass
grew in lush abundance in the area where the powder was deposited.
Everything was set for the final showdown.
The Yadavas soon forgot
all about their curses. The consumption of alcohol was banned in the
entire kingdom of Dwaraka. However, after 36 years of Mahabharata war,
lots of omen used to appear in the Dwaraka city. The Sudarshana chakra,
Panchajanya shankh, the chariot of lord Krishna and the plough weapon of
Balarama disappeared from earth. One day, the Yadavas gathered on the
beach. The liquor that they drank made them lose their senses
completely.
They started teasing one another, bringing up the gory
pasts and gruesome mistakes of each other. Satyaki and Krithaverma
acted as the starting points of the doom of Dwaraka. Satyaki had fought
on Pandava’s side in the battle of Kurukshetra and Krithaverma, on the
Kauravas side. They taunted one another, bringing back memories of the
horrific war. In a fit of rage, Satyaki, jumped on Krithaverma and cut
his head off. The friends of Krithaverma pounced on Satyaki and a great
brawl followed.
Pradyumna,
the son of Krishna, innocent though he was, found himself in the thick
of the fight and was killed. As they have come to the sea shore for a
pleasure, they did not carry any weapons along with them. They saw the
long grown grass in abundance along the sea shore. They picked up the
grass stems and beat and killed each other. Those grass stems were
nothing but blades made of the powder of the same lump of Iron born to
Samba. Thus the curse of saints fructified.
Each blade of grass
became a mace, smashing into the Yadavas, killing them instantly. It was
a matter of moments before the Yadavas lay dead, killed by their own
clan members and in front of their very King. Except Krishna, all
Yadavas were killed. Krishna’s charioteer Daruka and another one called
Babhru only survived. They both approached Sri Krishna and said: “O
Krishna! All Yadavas were killed. Whereabouts of Balarama are not known.
It is better to search for him.”
Krishna started thinking about
the ways and means to leave this body. He remembered the words of Rishi
Durvasa. Once, as per the wish of saint Durvasa, he applied Payasam
(liquid food prepared with milk, sugar and rice) throughout his body. As
his legs were resting on ground, he could not apply it to his feet.
Durvasa observed it and said: “Krishna! You have not applied Payasam to
my foot. Your death is in your foot.” said Saint Durvasa.
Krishna
laid down under a tree and went into Yoga Samadhi. At that time a
hunter Jara entered that forest. That hunter misunderstood the moving
foot of Krishna as a lurking deer and shot a lethal arrow that pierced
into Krishna’s feet. As soon as the hunter reached Krishna, he realized
his mistake and pleaded the lord for forgiveness. Lord Krishna consoles
him and tell him how his death was inevitable.
Krishna says that
in his previous birth as Rama in the Tretayuga, Rama killed Vaali
(Sugreeva’s brother) from behind. So, Krishna has now reaped the price
for the same through Jara who was king Vaali in his previous birth. This
story beautifully brings out the very important fact that, even for the
Ruler of the Universe, the laws of Karma remain the same. Hence, lord
Krishna left the mortal world. The time from which lord Krishna died is
considered to be the beginning of Kaliyuga.
Not always, but at many times - my version of screaming is writing, at least for the last eleven and half years, but in recent times, the words were stuck inside
me. I had to force them out. “I like the feeling of words doing as they
want to do,” wrote Gertrude Stein, who died more than 40 years before
Prozac hit the market. Same here. And with each step forward, my words flow
more easily, brain to fingers to screen...
I can't wait to get the opportunity again to start writing, sharing..
I'm here. I love you.
I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long. I will stay
with you. There's nothing you can ever to lose my love. I will protect
you until you die. and after your death. I will still protect you. I am
stronger than depression and I am braver than loneliness and nothing
will ever exhaust me -
I don’t chase people
anymore. I learned that I’m here, and I’m important. I’m not going to
run after people to prove that I matter.
Ten years ago I began my blog. With hope to write at least one post a
day, thinking daily inspiration would be around the corner. But as per
usual, side tracking occurred. I was inspired and blog ready for the
first six years, then after some life set backs, I began to slack. The
inspiration wasn’t constantly present; I wasn’t remembering to go online
and blog daily. It happened, change. So what?
Just as much as we
don’t want things to change, they do. As much as we don’t like tough
times, they happen, they are necessary. Things will shake us up, change
us, steer us on some new, unknown path. It will happen, so just let it
happen. We can fight change, be depressed, and suppress it. And for
what? The more we push, the harder we will get hit.
People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why I recommend it daily.
I’ve
come to realize, just because I wasn’t inspired and didn’t blog every
day like I had intended, “A quote every single day…or at least
every week...” doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It doesn't mean I suck and
should give it. No. It is what it is. Inspiration will come and go. We
just need to stay motivated. I can pick up, exactly where I left off.
Feel what I'm meant to feel, each day as they come.
I am Jegathpriyan, reflecting you like a mirror. So whatever you are, bring it on. I am whatever you think I am. I don't see a need in trying to alter your perceptions about me as I know the only way you will ever know me is if you ever come up & talk to me and not stay a mile away and try to judge me! To the people I love, my unconditional love is forever. ""The unexamined life is not worth living""
