Krishna's Lineage

by Simon Brodbeck

  94. Arrival at Dvārakā

  1 Vaishampāyana said:

  So, with eyes like those of a bull, Krishna gazed down upon Dvārakā. And he looked at his own home, with its one hundred pavilions.

  2 It was fixed and fitted with jewelled pillars by the thousands and the tens of thousands, and with archways that shone like fires, covered in jewels, corals, and silver, and with magical golden benches here and there, glittering. 3 There was a broad terrace big enough for audiences with Krishna, fitted with pillars of crystal, gold everywhere. 4–5 There were wonderful ponds, their waters packed with lotuses and fragrant red water-lilies. The ponds shone as if with gold and gems, ornamented with jewelled steps and well stocked with flocks of amorous peacocks, and with ever-excited cuckoos. 6 The compound’s stone wall was visible, built by Vishvakarman a hundred cubits high and ringed by a series of moats. 7 The Vrishni lion’s house measured half a yojana on each side, and had been built by Vishvakarman to match the home of great Indra.

  8 Stationed on top of Garuda, Shūra’s grandson was pleased, and he blew into the white conch shell that always made his enemies’ hair stand on end. 9 At the sound of that conch, the ocean trembled all over and the entire firmament reverberated. It was amazing. 10 The Andhakas and Kukuras heard the sound of Pānchajanya, and when they saw Garuda all their troubles evaporated. 11 The people on the ground saw, sitting upon Garuda, the man with the conch, discus, and mace in his hands, the man with brilliance like the sun’s, and they rejoiced.

  12 Then the playing of musical instruments began, and the great boom of kettledrums, and all the city’s inhabitants roared like lions. 13 All the Dāshārhas, as well as all the Andhakas and Kukuras, spotted Madhusūdana and crowded together in delight. 14 Accompanied by the sounds of conches and kettledrums, King Ugrasena followed Vasudeva towards Vāsudeva’s house. 15 Devakī ran around her own apartments in transports of delight, as did Rohinī and Ugrasena’s wives, each in their own apartments.

  16 Then Hari Krishna, to whom the gods are as servants, descended on the eagle at his own instructions and arrived at his own home. 17 Krishna, the joy of the Yadus and the bull of the Yādavas, dismounted by the door of the house and paid his respects to the Yādavas, each as they deserved. 18 He was greeted by Rāma, by Āhuka’s son Ugrasena, by Gada, by Akrūra, by Pradyumna, and by others. Then Shūra’s grandson picked up Jewel Mountain and entered the house, 19 and Rukminī’s son Pradyumna brought Shakra’s beloved great Pārijāta Tree into the house. 20 Through the power of the Pārijāta, those terrestrial people saw each other as divine beings bound up in bodies, and they rejoiced at this. 21 So as glorious Govinda came into the house that Vishvakarman had made, he was praised by delighted Yādava masters. 22 Then that exalted man, of self immeasurable, put the peak of Jewel Mountain down in the middle of the palace, amid the Vrishnis. 23 And the conqueror of his enemies also had the superb celestial Pārijāta Tree, praised and praiseworthy, put down safely in its ideal location.

  24 Keshava the killer of enemy braves subsequently dismissed his relatives and paid his respects to the women that Naraka had collected. 25 He gave them clothes, adornments, delicacies, maidservants, stacks of wealth, pearl necklaces that shone like moonbeams, and jewels of great splendour. 26 Those women had already been complimented by Vasudeva, Devakī, Rohinī, Revatī, and Ugrasena. 27 Satyabhāmā was still the best of the women in terms of beauty, but Bhīshmaka’s daughter Rukminī was the queen of the family. 28 Krishna assigned homes and luxurious effects to the new women, each as they deserved, in mansions and palace towers.

  95. Entry into the Assembly Hall

  1 Vaishampāyana said:

  Vāsudeva commended Garuda, thanked him, embraced him as a friend, and gave him leave to go home. 2 When he was given leave to depart, the winged sky-ranger paid his respects to Janārdana in turn, gave a bow, and happily set off upwards. 3 He did it with such force that he made the watery lair of the sea-monsters shake with the wind from his wings. Then he headed for the great eastern ocean. 4 He said he would return in time of need.

  After Garuda had left, Krishna visited his old father Ānakadundubhi. 5 The Mādhava also visited King Ugrasena, Baladeva, Sāndīpani of Kāshi, and the brahmin Gārgya. 6 And the Dāshārha honoured other Vrishni elders, as well as Bhojas and Andhakas, with choice jewels that he’d won through his valour.

  8 A town crier, a highly esteemed man wearing beautiful earrings, announced on the highways and crossroads of Dvāravatī 7 that all the enemies of the sacred had been killed, that the Andhakas and Vrishnis had triumphed, and that Madhusūdana had returned from battle uninjured.

  9 Janārdana had excellent manners: he visited Sāndīpani first, and then he paid his respects to Āhuka’s son Ugrasena, the king of the Vrishnis, 10 and then, with Rāma accompanying him, Vāsava’s younger brother paid his respects to their father, whose eyes filled with tears as his heart filled with joy. 11 Krishna Adhokshaja—Born Beneath the Axle*—then approached the rest of the Dāshārhas, honoured them as they deserved, and called them all by their names.

  12 Then they followed Upendra and sat down on their seats, their splendid heavenly seats, which were all fashioned from all kinds of jewels. 13 At Krishna’s command, functionaries brought into the assembly hall the limitless wealth that the servant monsters had transported, 14 and Janārdana honoured the Dāshārhas and the other eminent Yadus, acknowledging each one of them to the booming of a kettledrum.

  15 The noble Dāshārhas entered the lovely Sudāshārhī Hall at Krishna’s command, with its special seats and its archways of jewels and corals. 16 When it was filled on all sides by Yadu man-lions, the splendid hall looked even more magnificent than a mountain cave filled with lions. 17 Govinda and Rāma let Ugrasena sit down on his great golden throne before they did, and the other Vrishnis let them sit down on theirs before they did, 18 and once the superb Yadu heroes were all seated there Madhusūdana made a speech, addressing them in accordance with their ages and his affections.

  96. Nārada Lists Krishna’s Deeds

  1 Vāsudeva said:

  You’re famous for your goodness, and it’s through your meditations and ascetic powers that the wicked Naraka Bhauma has been killed for his covetousness. 2 He’d hidden away a large and exquisite harem of young women, but they’ve now been freed from captivity, and the peak of Jewel Mountain has been torn off and brought here. 3 I brought this huge quantity of treasure here using servant monsters, and now it’s yours.

  He said this to them, and left it at that.

  4 When the Bhojas, Vrishnis, and Andhakas heard Vāsudeva’s announcement their hair stood on end and they rejoiced, praising Janārdana. 5 Those human heroes folded their palms together in respect and said to him:

  In your case, Devakī’s strong-armed delight, it’s nothing unusual 6 for you to perform a feat so difficult that even the gods would have found it impossible, and then to use the riches and gems that you yourself have acquired to benefit your own people.

  7 Then the wives of Āhuka’s son Ugrasena and the wives of all the Dāshārhas entered the assembly hall in high spirits, wanting to see Vāsudeva. 8 The queens whose seventh is Devakī saw Krishna and strong-armed Rāma sitting there, and so did fair-faced Rohinī.*9 The two gods Rāma and Keshava first walked over to Rohinī and greeted her, and then they greeted Devakī, 10 who looked extremely beautiful with those two bull-eyed sons, as if she were Aditi, the mother of gods, with Mitra and Varuna.

  11 The two great men came to Devakī’s daughter, who changes form at will.† She’s the woman that the people call Ekānamshā, the Indivisible One. 12 His lordship the supreme person was born at the same hour and the same moment as her, and it was thanks to her that he was able to kill Kamsa and his associates. 13 The girl grew up there in the home of the Vrishnis. On Vāsudeva’s orders she was looked after like a son, and revered. 14 The people called her Ekānamshā, saying that this invincible yogi girl was unique (ekā) in being born to protect Keshava. 15 All the kindly Yādavas cert
ainly revered her, since like a goddess she had used her divine form to protect Krishna. 16 Now the Mādhava met her like a friend meeting a dear female friend, and held her hand with the fingers of his right hand. 17 Powerful Rāma greeted that good woman in the same way, kissed her on the head, and held her other hand with his left hand. 18 Everyone gazed at that dear sister in between Rāma and Krishna, looking like Lakshmī sitting on the lotus holding golden lotuses in her hands. 19 The women covered her with a relentless great shower of dry rice and various beautiful blossoms, and then they left by the way they had come.

  20 Now all the happy Yādavas sat down next to Janārdana, praising him and extolling the marvellous things he’d done. 21 As the citizens praised him the famous strong-armed man made them happier and happier, and he enjoyed himself with them as if he were with gods.

  22 While all the Yādavas were sitting together with Janārdana, Nārada arrived in the hall, sent by order of the king of the thirty gods. 23 The honourable one was honoured by the brave Yadu bulls, and then he clasped Govinda’s hand and sat down on a large seat. 24 When he was sitting comfortably, he said to the seated Vrishnis:

  Know, bulls among men, that I’ve come here at Shakra’s command. 25 Hear, tigers among kings, about the power of this Krishna Keshava, and about the deeds he’s done, beginning in his infancy.

  26 Ugrasena’s malignant son Kamsa oppressed all his relatives, imprisoned his father the son of Āhuka, and seized the kingship. 27 That villain was a disgrace to his family. He put his trust in his father-in-law Jarāsandha, and he treated all the Bhojas, Vrishnis, and Andhakas with contempt. 28 But majestic Vasudeva in contrast preferred to do his duty to his relatives and sought to protect Ugrasena, and he kept his own son secret. 29 That son, Madhusūdana, was the soul of propriety, and while he was living in Mathurā’s woodlands with the cowherders, he did some extremely marvellous deeds.

  30 Among the Shūrasenas they tell how he performed a great marvel in plain view, while lying wriggling in the space beneath a cart. 31 There was a vicious and violent monster called Pūtanā, who was huge and strong and had taken the form of a bird. As the wicked monster offered the great child her poison-smeared breast, he killed her. 32 The forest-dwellers saw the slain monster and said that the child must have been killed and brought back to life. That’s why he’s called Adhokshaja—Born Beneath the Axle.

  33 As a baby, this supreme person tipped a cart over with one toe of his foot, while playing. That was a great miracle.

  34 When Vasudeva’s son upset the other children, he was tied to a mortar by a rope. That’s why he’s called Dāmodara Rope-Belly.

  35 While playing in a pool of the Yamunā, Vāsudeva subdued the great snake Kāliya, powerful and dangerous.

  36 The lord then adopted his celestial form in full view of Akrūra, as the snakes praised him in the lair of the snakes.

  37 When wise Krishna Vāsudeva saw the cows tormented by the cold wind, he wanted to shelter the cows, so the great child held Mount Govardhana aloft for seven days and nights.

  38 Then there was the bull Arishta, wicked and powerful, huge and murderous. Vāsudeva struck him down onto the ground.

  39 The rogue Dānava Dhenuka was huge and enormously strong. Vāsudeva struck him down to protect the cows.*

  40 Foe-slaying Sunāman came, with all his soldiers before him, to capture Vāsudeva, but he scared him away using wolves.†41 All the time he was roaming around with the son of Rohinī in the forest, wearing cowherd garb, Kamsa was scared of him.

  42 While still in the forest, Shūra’s grandson the supreme person killed the Bhoja king’s rapacious horse, whose teeth were powerful weapons.

  43 Using a single fist, the wise son of Rohinī killed the huge Dānava Pralamba, Kamsa’s minister.

  44 These two great sons of Vasudeva were like the sons of a god. They grew, and they were initiated by the brahmin Gārgya. 45 From birth onwards they were taken through the rites of passage by the supreme seer Gārgya, who knew the rites inside out. 46 When these two splendid boys reached adolescence they stood out like two proud and excited Himālayan lion-cubs. 47 At that time they used to strut around the cowpens, strong, virile, and as majestic as the sons of a god, stealing the hearts of the cowgirls, 48 and cowherd Nanda’s other cowherds were unable to compete against them in races, in fights, or in their various games.

  49 Kamsa and his ministers heard that these two had grown up with broad chests, strong arms, and shoulders like walls, and they were worried. 50 And when Kamsa was unable to capture Bala and Keshava, in his fury he punished Vasudeva and his family instead. 51 So for a long time Ānakadundubhi and Ugrasena lived in misery, tied up tightly like thieves. 52 Having imprisoned his own father, Kamsa allied himself with Jarāsandha, Āhriti, and Bhīshmaka, and ruled over the Shūrasenas.

  53 Some time later, King Kamsa held a great festival in Mathurā in honour of trident-wielding Shiva. 54 Wrestlers travelled there from various countries, your majesty,* as did dancers and singers skilled in posture and melody, 55 and majestic Kamsa had a costly stadium built by expert artisans who knew how to do things properly. 56 When its thousands of stands were strewn with people from the town and the countryside, they looked like the sky strewn with stars and planets. 57 Then Kamsa, the king of the Bhojas, climbed up into the glorious and luxurious royal box, like someone who’s done good deeds climbing up into an aerial chariot after they die. 58 Brave Kamsa had stationed a musth elephant at the gate of the assembly, armed with numerous weapons and superintended by strong men.

  59 Rāma and Krishna were tigers among men. They were like the sun and the moon. When the great Bhoja heard that they’d arrived in Mathurā, 60 from then on the king was anxious about his own security, and he didn’t sleep easily at night for thinking about Rāma and Krishna. 61 For when the two heroes Rāma and Krishna heard about that supreme gathering, they entered the town like a pair of tigers entering a cattle station.

  62 So the two enemy-taming man-bulls were detained by guards at the entrance to the compound, but they killed Kuvalayāpīda and his driver, and then, after crushing that dangerous pair, they came into the arena. 63 Keshava and Bala pulverised Chānūra and the other Andhra, and then they destroyed the wicked son of Ugrasena, along with his younger brother.

  64 The Yadu lion has done deeds that it would be almost impossible even for gods to do. What man other than Keshava is capable of doing such deeds? 65 Surely even the ancients Prahrāda, Bali, and Shambara never possessed the quantity of wealth that Shūra’s grandson has brought here for you. 66 This man trampled on Mura, and on Panchajana Daitya too, then he crossed mountain ranges and killed Nisunda and his gang, 67 and then Keshava killed Naraka Bhauma, retrieved the beautiful earrings, and won great fame among the gods in heaven.

  68 Indra says that protected by the strength of Krishna’s arms, the Yādavas have no more troubles, sorrows, or dangers; that they should shed their jealousies and sacrifice with many rites; 69 and that the task that wise Krishna has performed, and that I’ve described for you in brief, is a very important one for the gods. Indra wishes you good luck, 70 eminent Yadus, and assures you that he works tirelessly for your benefit. He says that he’s yours and you’re his, and that he depends upon you. 71 The chief of the gods, the Punisher of Pāka, sent me to inform you about Krishna, and that’s what he said. They’re satisfied and delighted.

  72 Where there’s modesty there’s prosperity, and where there’s prosperity there’s humility, and so wherever the great Krishna is, there’s always humility, modesty, and prosperity.

  97. Krishna’s Deeds Continued

  1 Nārada said:

  Mura’s snares have been broken, Nisunda and Naraka slain. The road to the town of Prāgjyotisha has been made safe once again.

  2 Terrestrial kings who compete against Shūra’s grandson in battle are frightened by the twang of his bow and the sound of the Pānchajanya conch. 3 Even while the southern kings were guarding Rukminī with armies that loomed like clouds, Keshava the bull
of the Vrishnis captured her in no time. 4 The bearer of conch, discus, mace, and sword took his bountiful Bhoja queen away, on a chariot that looked like the sun and sounded like pounding rain.

  5 At Jārūthī, he defeated Āhriti and Kratha’s descendant Amshumat. He defeated Shishupāla, and Dantavaktra and his army, and the formidable Shatadhanvan. 6 With his bow firm in anger, Krishna killed Indradyumna, and the Yavana Kasherumat, and Shālva the lord of Saubha, and he destroyed Saubha.*7 His eyes like lotuses, the supreme person scattered a thousand mountains with his discus, then crushed Dyumatsena. 8 On the peak of Mount Mahendra the man-tiger killed two of Rāvana’s spies who could disappear back to him in the twinkling of an eye. 9 By the River Irāvatī the man with the Shārnga bow killed the two great Bhojas Gopati and Tālaketu in battle, who were like fire and the sun. 10 Krishna brought down the two Dānavas Nimi and Hamsa in a throw of the dice, along with their empires. 11 Great Keshava torched Vārānasī, killed the king of the Kāshis, and humbled his lineage and his land.

  12 In a miraculous deed, Krishna conquered Yama in battle with smooth-jointed shafts and brought Indrasena’s son back from the dead. 13 Krishna travelled to the peninsulas of Lake Lohita and conquered mighty Varuna and all the sea-monsters in the oceans. 14 And without a care for the king of the gods, he seized the Pārijāta Tree which grew at great Indra’s residence, guarded by important gods.