॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
॥ एकत्रिंशोऽध्यायः - ३१ ॥
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Discourse XXXI
The Lord's Ascent to His Divine Realm (Preamble)
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श्रीशुक उवाच ।
अथ तत्रागमद्ब्रह्मा भवान्या च समं भवः ।
महेन्द्रप्रमुखा देवा मुनयः सप्रजेश्वराः ॥ १॥
पितरः सिद्धगन्धर्वा विद्याधरमहोरगाः ।
चारणा यक्षरक्षांसि किन्नराप्सरसो द्विजाः ॥ २॥
द्रष्टुकामा भगवतो निर्याणं परमोत्सुकाः ।
गायन्तश्च गृणन्तश्च शौरेः कर्माणि जन्म च ॥ ३॥
ववृषुः पुष्पवर्षाणि विमानावलिभिर्नभः ।
कुर्वन्तः सङ्कुलं राजन् भक्त्या परमया युताः ॥ ४॥
भगवान् पितामहं वीक्ष्य विभूतीरात्मनो विभुः ।
संयोज्यात्मनि चात्मानं पद्मनेत्रे न्यमीलयत् ॥ ५॥
लोकाभिरामां स्वतनुं धारणाध्यानमङ्गलम् ।
योगधारणयाऽऽग्नेय्यादग्ध्वा धामाविशत्स्वकम् ॥ ६॥
दिवि दुन्दुभयो नेदुः पेतुः सुमनसश्च खात् ।
सत्यं धर्मो धृतिर्भूमेः कीर्तिः श्रीश्चानु तं ययुः ॥ ७॥
देवादयो ब्रह्ममुख्या न विशन्तं स्वधामनि ।
अविज्ञातगतिं कृष्णं ददृशुश्चातिविस्मिताः ॥ ८॥
सौदामन्या यथाऽऽकाशे यान्त्या हित्वाभ्रमण्डलम् ।
गतिर्न लक्ष्यते मर्त्यैस्तथा कृष्णस्य दैवतैः ॥ ९॥
ब्रह्मरुद्रादयस्ते तु दृष्ट्वा योगगतिं हरेः ।
विस्मितास्तां प्रशंसन्तः स्वं स्वं लोकं ययुस्तदा ॥ १०॥
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Śrī Śuka began again: Now (after the departure of Dāruka) there appeared on the scene Brahmā (the creator) as well as Lord Śiva (the Source of the universe) alongwith His (divine) Spouse (Goddess Pārvati), (other) gods led by the great Indra (the ruler of the gods), sages accompanied by the lords of creation, manes, Siddhas and Gandharvas, Vidyādharaas and great Nāgas, Cāraṇas, Yakṣas and Rākṣasas, Kinnaras and Apsarās and Brāhmaṇas (like Maitreya or birds belonging to the realm of Garuḍa), full of great longing and keen to witness the Lord's Ascent (to His realm), and celebrating and narrating the exploits as well as the story of the advent of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (a scion of Śūrasena). (1—3)
Full of highest devotion, they rained showers of flowers, crowding the heavens with their rows of aerial cars, O Parikṣit ! (4)
Casting His glance on Brahmā (the grandfather or forbear of the entire creation, the sages Marīci and others being its fathers) as well as on the (other) gods (His own glorious manifestations) and fixing His mind on His own (divine) essence, the all-pervading Lord closed His lotus-eyes. (5)
Not consuming, through concentration of mind on the element of fire, His own (divine) body, which sustains the (entire) universe and is the all-blissful object of meditation and concentration, He (bodily) ascended to His own (divine) realm. (6)
Kettledrums sounded in heaven and flowers rained from the sky. Truth, piety, fortitude, glory and prosperity departed from the earth alongwith Him. (7)
Gods and others, Brahmā being the foremost of them, did not behold Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose ways are unknown (to all), entering His own (divine) realm; while some of them (who were more fortunate than the rest) did perceive Him and felt much astonished. (8)
The movements of Śrī Kṛṣṇa cannot be perceived by the gods any more than those of lightning disappearing into the sky leaving a mass of clouds. (9)
Amazed to witness the aforesaid disappearance of Śrī Hari by dint of His (wonderful) Yogic power, and extolling it, the said gods, Brahmā, Śiva and others, for their part, presently withdrew each to his own realm. (10) (1-10)
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राजन् परस्य तनुभृज्जननाप्ययेहा
माया विडम्बनमवेहि यथा नटस्य ।
सृष्ट्वाऽऽत्मनेदमनुविश्य विहृत्य चान्ते
संहृत्य चात्ममहिमोपरतः स आस्ते ॥ ११॥
मर्त्येन यो गुरुसुतं यमलोकनीतं
त्वां चानयच्छरणदः परमास्त्रदग्धम् ।
जिग्येऽन्तकान्तकमपीशमसावनीशः
किं स्वावने स्वरनयन्मृगयुं सदेहम् ॥ १२॥
तथाप्यशेषस्थितिसम्भवाप्यये-
ष्वनन्यहेतुर्यदशेषशक्तिधृक् ।
नैच्छत्प्रणेतुं वपुरत्र शेषितं
मर्त्येन किं स्वस्थगतिं प्रदर्शयन् ॥ १३॥
य एतां प्रातरुत्थाय कृष्णस्य पदवीं पराम् ।
प्रयतः कीर्तयेद्भक्त्या तामेवाप्नोत्यनुत्तमाम् ॥ १४॥
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Know the advent, sports and disappearance of the Supreme Lord among embodied (human) beings, O king, to be a (mere) acting by dint of His Māyā (deluding potency) as that of a dramatic performer. Having created this universe by Himself (unaided by others and with no material other than His own volition) and then entered it (as its Inner Controller), sported (in it) and withdrawn it (into Himself) at the end (at the time of final dissolution) and retired (from all activity). He remains established in His own glory. (11)
Could He have been incapable of protecting Himself (preserving intact His own divine Personality)—He, who brought back in his mortal frame the son of His (own) teacher (Sāndipani), that had been taken to the realm of Death, and revived you (O Parīkṣit), that had been burnt to death (within your mother's womb) by the supreme missile (presided over by Brahmā and discharged by Aśwatthāmā, the son of Droṇācārya), and (thereby) gave relief (to your mother, who had sought refuge with Him), (nay,) who conquered even Lord Śiva (the Destroyer of Death himself), and bodily transferred to heaven the hunter (Jarā by name, that had struck the Lord with a shaft in the sole of His foot) ?* (12)
Though being the independent Cause of the evolution, continuance and destruction of the whole universe, wielding as He does all powers, the Lord did not, however, choose to retain His body here (on earth) demonstrating thereby (to the world) the sublimity of the ways of those established in the Self and showing their unconcernedness about the mortal body. (13)
He who, rising (from his bed) in the morning, sings, with devotion and full of self-control, the story of the aforesaid transcendent voyage of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (to His own divine realm) will attain to the same highest destiny. (14) (11-14)
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दारुको द्वारकामेत्य वसुदेवोग्रसेनयोः ।
पतित्वा चरणावस्रैर्न्यषिञ्चत्कृष्णविच्युतः ॥ १५॥
कथयामास निधनं वृष्णीनां कृत्स्नशो नृप ।
तच्छ्रुत्वोद्विग्नहृदया जनाः शोकविमूर्च्छिताः ॥ १६॥
तत्र स्म त्वरिता जग्मुः कृष्णविश्लेषविह्वलाः ।
व्यसवः शेरते यत्र ज्ञातयो घ्नन्त आननम् ॥ १७॥
देवकी रोहिणी चैव वसुदेवस्तथा सुतौ ।
कृष्णरामावपश्यन्तः शोकार्ता विजहुः स्मृतिम् ॥ १८॥
प्राणांश्च विजहुस्तत्र भगवद्विरहातुराः ।
उपगुह्य पतींस्तात चितामारुरुहुः स्त्रियः ॥ १९॥
रामपत्न्यश्च तद्देहमुपगुह्याग्निमाविशन् ।
वसुदेवपत्न्यस्तद्गात्रं प्रद्युम्नादीन् हरेः स्नुषाः ।
कृष्णपत्न्योऽविशन्नग्निं रुक्मिण्याद्यास्तदात्मिकाः ॥ २०॥
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Returning to Dwārakā and falling at the feet of Vasudeva and Ugrasena (the king of Dwārakā), Dāruka (the charioteer of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa), (now) bereft of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, bathed their feet with (his) tears.(15)
He narrated the story of the wholesale destruction of the Vṛṣṇis, O Parīkṣit. Grieved at heart to hear of it, the people (of Dwārakā) fainted with grief. (16)
Upset at (the news of) their separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, they hastened, beating their heads (all the way), to the spot where their kinsmen had been lying (dead). (17)
Stricken with grief not to perceive their Sons, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, Devaki (Śrī Kṛṣṇa's mother) and Rohiṇī (Balarāma's mother) as well as (Their father) Vasudeva lost their consciousness. (18)
Nay, afflicted at their separation from the Lord, they gave up the ghost on that (very) spot. The womenfolk ascended the funeral pile and, hugging each her own husband, entered the fire.(19)
The wives of Balarāma entered the fire, embracing the (dead) body of Balarāma; the wives of Vasudeva followed suit, hugging the latter's body, and the daughters-in-law of Śrī Kṛṣṇa did the same, clasping to their bosom Pradyumna and others (the sons of the Lord). Similarly Rukmiṇī and others, the Spouses of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, entered the fire with their mind fixed on the latter. (20) (15-20)
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अर्जुनः प्रेयसः सख्युः कृष्णस्य विरहातुरः ।
आत्मानं सान्त्वयामास कृष्णगीतैः सदुक्तिभिः ॥ २१॥
बन्धूनां नष्टगोत्राणामर्जुनः साम्परायिकम् ।
हतानां कारयामास यथावदनुपूर्वशः ॥ २२॥
द्वारकां हरिणा त्यक्तां समुद्रोऽप्लावयत्क्षणात् ।
वर्जयित्वा महाराज श्रीमद्भगवदालयम् ॥ २३॥
नित्यं सन्निहितस्तत्र भगवान् मधुसूदनः ।
स्मृत्याशेषाशुभहरं सर्वमङ्गलमङ्गलम् ॥ २४॥
स्त्रीबालवृद्धानादाय हतशेषान् धनञ्जयः ।
इन्द्रप्रस्थं समावेश्य वज्रं तत्राभ्यषेचयत् ॥ २५॥
श्रुत्वा सुहृद्वधं राजन्नर्जुनात्ते पितामहाः ।
त्वां तु वंशधरं कृत्वा जग्मुः सर्वे महापथम् ॥ २६॥
य एतद्देवदेवस्य विष्णोः कर्माणि जन्म च ।
कीर्तयेच्छ्रद्धया मर्त्यः सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ २७॥
इत्थं हरेर्भगवतो रुचिरावतार-
वीर्याणि बालचरितानि च शन्तमानि ।
अन्यत्र चेह च श्रुतानि गृणन् मनुष्यो
भक्तिं परां परमहंसगतौ लभेत ॥ २८॥
इति श्रीमद्भागवते महापुराणे वैयासक्यामष्टादशसाहस्र्यां
पारमहंस्यां संहितायामेकादशस्कन्धे एकत्रिंशोऽध्यायः ॥ ३१॥
॥ समाप्तोऽयमेकादशस्कन्धः ॥
॥ ॐ तत्सत् ॥
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Distressed at his separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, his beloved friend, Arjuna comforted himself with the utterances of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (contained in the Bhagavadgītā), full of veracious statements. (21)
Arjuna (then) duly caused to be performed in order of seniority (by competent priests) funeral rites for the welfare in the other world of (those of) his kinsmen that had been slain (on the battle-field) and whose progeny (too) had perished (in the war). (22)
The ocean drowned in an instant (the city of) Dvārakā, forsaken (as it was) by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, barring, O great king, the palace of the Lord, which wipes out all evils (in the forms of sins and calamities) and is the most auspicious of all auspicious things in that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Slayer of the demon Madhu) is ever (bodily) present there. (23-24)
Taking (with him) to Indraprastha (the former capital of the Pāṇḍavas) the womenfolk, infants and aged men that had survived* the slain, and having settled them, Arjuna crowned as king Vajra (the surviving son of Aniruddha) there. (25)
Hearing from (the mouth of) Arjuna of the destruction of their kinsfolk (the Yadus), O king, your grandfathers (the Pāṇḍavas) all proceeded (in a body) to the Himālaya mountain (on their voyage to the other world), appointing you of course as their successor (on the throne of Hastināpura). (26)
The man who celebrates with reverence the aforesaid advent and exploits of Lord Viṣṇu, the adored of the gods (themselves), is completely absolved from all sins. (27)
A man recounting as aforesaid the most auspicious infantile and other sports, full of delightful divine feats, of the almighty Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Dispeller of the agony of His devotees), heard of here (in Śrīmad Bhāgavata) as well as in the other scriptures, bids fair to attain supreme devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the goal of ascetics of the highest order. (28)
Thus ends the thirty-first discourse in Book Eleven of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārīsa-Sarhhitā, composed by Bhagavān Vedavyāsa and consisting of eighteen thousand Ślokas.
END OF BOOK ELEVEN
* The survivors must have presumably been other than the Yadus, inasmuch as the curse of the Ṛṣīs embraced the entire race of Yadu—women, children and the aged not excepted; for it is stated elsewhere that Vajra was the only exception that had escaped destruction. (21-28)
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