12 Then the king of the barbarian Yavanas, a king who had no son but longed for one, heard that the god had promised Gārgya the conception and birth of a son. 13 His majesty the king of the Yavanas had that supreme brahmin brought there, treated him nicely, and set him loose among the cowherds—that is, among the cowherd women.
14 In fact the celestial nymph Gopālī was there in the form of a cowherd woman, and she bore Gārgya’s child. During the pregnancy the foetus was hard to carry, 15 but in accordance with trident-wielding Rudra’s command, Gārgya’s human wife gave birth to a powerful champion called Kālayavana. The boy grew up in the palace of the childless king, 16 your majesty, and after that man died, Kālayavana became king. Then the new king, wanting a war, interrogated the supreme brahmin Nārada, who of course told him about the Vrishni and Andhaka people.
17 Glorious Madhusūdana had learned from Nārada about the granting of Gārgya’s wish, but while Kālayavana was growing up among the Yavanas, he paid him no attention.
18 When that mighty king of the Yavanas was fully grown, the barbarian chieftains joined up and followed him: 19 Shakas, Tushāras, Daradas, Pāradas, Tanganas, Khashas, Pahlavas, and hundreds of others, including the Himālayan barbarians. 20 Surrounded, as if they were locusts, by these fierce brigands wearing their various costumes, the king headed for Mathurā. 21 With thousands or even tens of thousands of elephants, horses, donkeys, and camels, his massive army made the earth tremble. 22 The king’s army obscured the sun’s path behind the dust that it raised, and unleashed a river of urine and dung. 23 The river was said to have originated from the sheer quantity of horse and camel dung, your majesty, and so its name became Ashvashakrit, the Horse-Dung River.
24 Sure enough, the great army arrived, and Vasudeva’s son, the foremost of the Vrishnis and Andhakas, heard it, assembled his relatives, and said:
25 This is a grave and terrible danger that’s arisen for the Vrishnis and Andhakas. Moreover, because of the wish granted by trident-wielding Rudra, we’re unable to kill this enemy. 26 All the strategies—negotiation and so forth—have been used on him, but he’s drunk on passion and power, and all he wants to do is fight. Nārada has told me that as long as we stay here, this is what it will be like. 27 King Jarāsandha never leaves us alone even for a moment either, and there are other kings harassing the Vrishni host as well. 28 Some of the kings who’ve come here have turned against us because of Kamsa’s death. Allying themselves with Jarāsandha, they want to make us suffer. 29 The kings have already killed many of the Yadus’ relatives. We won’t be able to prosper in this town!
So Keshava decided to flee. Then he sent a messenger out to Kālayavana.
30 On that occasion, Krishna put a nasty snake into a jar. Big and black, with poisonous fangs, it looked like a writhing pile of kohl. 31 Govinda sealed the jar and had his messenger take it to the king, to show him a sign and intimidate him.
The messenger showed the jar to Kālayavana 32 and said: Krishna is like this black snake.
Bull of the Bhāratas. Kālayavana realised that the Yādavas had done this to frighten him, and he topped up the jar with vicious ants. 33 With countless merciless ants chewing every part of its body, the snake was done for. 34 The king of the Yavanas sealed the jar and sent it back to Krishna, as an indication of his own weight of numbers.
35 Vāsudeva saw that his own trick had been trumped, and he left Mathurā immediately and went to Dvārakā. 36 But after the glorious Vāsudeva had settled the Vrishnis in Dvārakā and cheered them up, your majesty, he wanted to put an end to the quarrel, 37 and so Madhusūdana the man-tiger and great trickster travelled back to Mathurā on foot, with bare arms for weapons.
38 When Kālayavana saw him he thrilled with fury and advanced towards him, but mighty Krishna deliberately ran away. 39 So the king of the Yavanas followed Govinda, wanting to grab him. But tricks were his business, and the king couldn’t catch him.
40 Now then. Long ago, after Māndhātri’s famous and mighty son King Muchukunda* had done his duty in the battle between gods and demons, 41 the gods granted him a wish, and the thing that he chose was just to sleep. The exhausted man’s words, clearly heard on that occasion, were as follows: 42 Whoever it might be that wakes me from my sleep, gods, may I burn them up with a hate-blazing eye.
That’s what he said, again and again. 43 So Shakra and the thirty gods told him that that’s how it would be. Then, when the gods let him leave, he came to the human world, 44 and weak from exhaustion he entered some mountain cave and went to sleep . . .
Until this occasion, on which he met Krishna. 45 Nārada had told Vāsudeva the whole story—of that king’s firepower, granted as his wish from the gods— 46 and so, with his barbarian enemy still chasing him, Krishna humbly entered Muchukunda’s cave.
47 With supreme intelligence, Keshava kept out of the royal seer Muchukunda’s line of sight, and took up a position behind his head. 48 The Yavana villain came in, saw the king sleeping there like the comeuppance for his deeds, and went up to him. 49 He thought the king was Vāsudeva, and for his own destruction, like a moth flying into a flame, he shook him with his foot.
50 The royal seer Muchukunda awoke to the kick of a foot. He seethed with rage because his sleep had been disturbed, and because he’d been touched by a foot. 51 Remembering the wish that Shakra had granted him, he trained his sight on the man before him, who burst into flames all over as soon as the raging king saw him. 52 The fire he shot out from the power in his eyes set Kālayavana aflame in an instant, like lightning setting fire to a withered tree.
53 His task accomplished, clever Vāsudeva made a final speech to the glorious king who’d slept for so long: 54 You’re the man who sleeps for a long time, your majesty! Nārada told me about you. You’ve done a very important thing for me. All the best to you, I must be on my way.
55 The king now saw Vāsudeva, and, noticing that he was a small man, he judged from this evidence that a long time had passed and the age had ended.*56 The king said to Govinda: Who are you, sir? What’s happened here? How long have I been asleep? If you know, tell me.
57 Vāsudeva said:
There was a king named Yayāti, the son of Nahusha, born in the lunar lineage. His eldest son was Yadu, and there were four other younger ones. 58 Know, my lord, that I happen to have been born in the lineage of Yadu: I’m Vāsudeva the son of Vasudeva, your majesty. 59 I learned from Nārada that you were born in the tretā age, but you should know that it’s now the kali age. Is there something else I can do for you? 60 You’ve incinerated my enemy, your majesty. Because of a wish granted to him by a god, I would have been unable to kill him even if we’d fought for a hundred years.
61 After clever Krishna, his task accomplished, had told him this, Muchukunda emerged from the cave’s mouth, followed by Krishna. 62 He then discovered that the earth was covered with people who were short in stature, stamina, strength, spunk, and spirit, and that his own kingdom was being ruled by someone else.
63 The king dismissed Govinda and went into the deep forest. He went to the Himālaya, his mind set on austerities. 64 The king performed austerities, and then he gave up his body and ascended to the heaven that his own good deeds had won for him.*
65 As for Vāsudeva, he was a high-minded man of principle, and after he’d used a ruse to have his enemy killed, he acquired his army. 66 Now that the army’s master was dead, that clever man approached and appropriated it, with its numerous chariots, elephants, horses, shields, swords, weapons, and standards.
67 Janārdana, his heart brimming over,
gave the army to King Ugrasena.
With Janārdana and all that treasure,
the city of Dvāravatī looked superb.
86. The Building of Dvārakā
1 Vaishampāyana said:
When the sun had risen and the morning was bright, Hrishīkesha sat at the edge of the forest and did his textual recitation. 2 Then, assisted by the Yādava family heads, the son of the Yadus walked around the
area looking for the right place for the fortress.
3 On the best day of the month, when the moon was in conjunction with Rohinī, he obtained blessings from the most important brahmins and, to the accompaniment of many cheers praising that day, he ceremonially initiated the construction of the fortress. 4 Then Keshin’s killer, who had eyes like lotus petals and was an excellent orator, spoke to the Yādavas as if he were Vritra’s killer speaking to the gods:
5 I’ve prepared the site. Look upon it as a temple of the gods. The name chosen for the city will become famous: 6 her name is Dvāravatī. This city that I’m building on earth will be as beautiful as Shakra’s city of Amarāvatī, 7 and I’ll incorporate Amarāvatī’s features, her temples, her four smooth royal highways, and her palaces. 8 Enjoy yourselves here like gods, repelling the ranks of your rivals, with Ugrasena in charge and your troubles gone. 9 Pick out the housing plots, prepare the three- and four-way crossroads, mark out the royal highways and the route of the ramparts. 10 Summon the best artists and commission them to build houses, and appoint people to work on menial tasks at specific places.
11 After hearing this from Krishna, they prioritised the configuration of the temples, and they happily got on with marking out the site in accordance with proper protocol. 12 The principal Yādavas made measurements with measuring-tapes in their hands, and on an auspicious day, your majesty, after paying homage to the brahmins, 13 they had the rites for the foundation gods performed in the proper manner.
High-minded Govinda said to the architects: 14 Build a well-organised city for us here, partitioned by highways and crossroads, with the tutelary deities comfortably installed in it.
15 The architects told strong-armed Krishna that they would do so. Then, after they’d lawfully assembled the materials for building the fortress, 16 they laid the foundations for gateways and temples in the proper fashion. They consecrated the city’s various sectors to Brahmā and the other gods in the proper sequence, 17 including the sectors for the waters, for the sun, for Indra, and for Rudra of the millstone and mortar, and they consecrated the four gateways to four deities—to Budha, Indra, the moon, and Garuda.*
18 When the most important Yādavas were busy in their homes, Mādhava turned his thoughts to the matter of building the city quickly. 19 He soon settled on a divine plan that would accomplish it quickly. He said to himself:
This city will certainly bring pleasure and prosperity to the Yadus! 20 The chief artisan of the gods, the patriarch’s son Vishvakarman, is a master. He’ll build the city using just his own mind.
21 In a private place, Krishna turned his mind towards the thirty gods and concentrated on Vishvakarman, and this constituted a reason for him to come. 22 So that very instant, the perceptive high god Vishvakarman, teacher of artistry, stood before Krishna.
23 Vishvakarman said:
Prompted by the divine power of your thought, I, your servant, came immediately, faithful Vishnu. Instruct me. What can I do for you? 24 Mighty god, you are as worthy of honour as Indra the lord god of gods, and as worthy of honour as the immutable Tryambaka. For me, there’s no difference between the three of you. 25 Say something to enlighten the three worlds, strong-armed man. My own purpose is well known. Tell me, what shall I do?
26 Supreme Yadu Keshava, the enemy of Kamsa, listened to Vishvakarman’s well-mannered words and responded with peerless words of his own. He said:
27 You’ve heard what the gods have secretly planned. Highest god, you must be sure to build me a home, just here where we’ve decided to stay. 28 Diligent god, build on this piece of ground for me, for the sake of my glory. Build it up with houses all around, ones that befit my majesty. 29 Just as Amarāvatī is the finest city in heaven, so you must be sure to make this the finest city on earth—for you’re capable of doing so, you genius. 30 Construct this domain of mine as if it were in the third heaven. Through this city, mortals must appreciate my glory, and that of the Yadu clan.
31 Krishna was the indefatigable killer of the gods’ enemies. Vishvakarman, the wisest of the wise, listened to what he said and responded as follows:
32 I’ll do everything that you’ve mentioned, my lord. However, in future, the city won’t be big enough for the people. 33 She’ll expand, and her growth will be glorious, for the four oceans will come to live in her in their embodied forms! 34 But if the ocean, the king of waters, would agree to give up a little bit of land here, then the city would be able to extend nicely, supreme person.
35 Krishna had had such an idea already, and after hearing Vishvakarman’s words that superb spokesman addressed himself to the ocean, the lord of rivers:
36 If I’m worthy of honour, ocean, then withdraw yourself from ten by two yojanas of sea-bed. 37 If you provide that space, the city will have everything it needs, and will be sizeable and spacious enough to accommodate my army.
38 The great restless ocean, the lord of male and female rivers, listened to Krishna’s request, and, using a technique that involved the wind, he receded. 39 Then, after the ocean had paid his respects to Govinda, Vishvakarman inspected the site for the city and was delighted, 40 and he said to Krishna, the delight of the Yadus:
From today onwards you must all thrive here together, Govinda. 41 In but a brief stretch of time, I’ll use the power of thought to build a splendid city crowned with a crowd of houses, my lord. 42 The city will be beautiful, with fine gates and magnificent gateways, and its armband will be a rampart wall with watchtowers. It’ll be like the pinnacle of the earth.
43 And in that same city, at a place that the thirty gods frequented, he built Krishna a great palace fit for him to roam about in.
44 Thus, by his mental efforts, Vishvakarman built Vishnu’s lovely city of Dvāravatī. 45 Crowded with men and beautiful women, studded with merchants and strewn with their various wares, it was like an aerial city come to earth. 46 Decorated by parks with drinking-fountains and ponds of clear water, it was like a long-eyed lady with her body completely covered. 47 It had numerous crossroads, and it was filled with so many tall houses and palatial mansions that the sky was hardly visible. 48 People streamed there from the breadth of the broad earth: as its breezes were cooled by the streams of the ocean, it filled up with the noise of streams of people. 49 Dvārakā was delightful, charming the people’s hearts with its delightful waterfront gardens and shining like the night sky with all the stars. 50 Surrounded by a golden wall the colour of the sun, it had houses that were full of gold and rumbled with noise. 51 It was decorated with stuccoed gateways that were like white clouds, and in various places the main streets were lined by the façades of towering buildings.
52 The city was filled with his beloved people, and Krishna, the delight of all the Yādavas, settled down there, lighting it up as the moon lights up the sky. 53 And after the god Vishvakarman had built the city to match Shakra’s city, he returned to the third heaven, with Govinda’s approval.
54 Krishna had a further idea. Knowing his own nature, he thought to himself: If only I could satisfy these people with a stream of riches . . .
55 That night, to his own house, Upendra the master summoned Shankha the Conch Shell, the most treasured treasure, the companion of Kubera Vaishravana. 56 As soon as Shankha, in person as the king of the trolls, learned of Keshava’s summons, naturally he went to where the lord of Dvāravatī was. 57 Then Shankha modestly got down on the ground, put his palms together in respect, and reported to Krishna the way he does to Vaishravana, saying: 58 What task is there, my lord, for me, the guardian of the gods’ treasures? Give me my orders, strong-armed son of the Yadus.
59 Hrishīkesha said to chief troll Shankha: If any of the people here are short of wealth, top them up with wealth. 60 I don’t want to see anyone in the city who’s hungry, skinny, or even dirty, or any poor person asking for anything.
61 The lord of the treasures accepted Keshava’s command with a bow of his head, and then he ordered the treasures to rain streams of wealth down upon Dvāravatī, into house after house
. So that’s what they all did. 62 After that, in Dvāravatī, in house after house, there was no one who was poor, disadvantaged, or skinny, let alone dirty.
63 His holiness the supreme person was kind to the Yādavas, and as he was settling in there he issued a further summons, to the wind, 64 the source of all creatures’ breath. The wind reported to Gada’s elder brother, the master who keeps the secrets of the gods, as he was sitting privately on his own. 65 He said: I move fast and go everywhere. What task is there for me, my god? For insofar as I’m the envoy of the gods, by that same token I’m your envoy, impeccable one.
66 So Krishna the supreme person said privately to the wind, the breath of the world, who’d come there in bodily form: 67 Go, wind, and, if the king of the gods and the other immortals agree, take the assembly hall named Sudharma, where Justice is Done, away from the gods and bring it here. 68 For these thousands of valiant Yādavas are virtuous, and the hall in which they assemble shouldn’t be some imitation one. 69 That eternal hall goes wherever it likes and takes whatever form it likes, wind, and it should hold all the Yadus just as it holds the thirty gods.
70 The wind accepted the instructions of the indefatigable Krishna, and he went off to the third heaven, travelling as fast as himself. 71 He reported Krishna’s request to all the gods, received their permission, picked up the hall named Sudharma, and came back again to the face of the earth. 72 The wind god gave the assembly hall of the gods, Sudharma where Justice is Done, to Krishna the indefatigable ensurer of justice, and then he disappeared. 73 And Keshava put the Sudharma Hall in the middle of Dvāravatī for the Yādava leaders, just as if it were in the third heaven for the gods.
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