Canto Ten - Chapter 50

Śrī Śuka said: O best of the Bharatas, Asti and Prāpti, Kaṃsa's two queens, were grief-stricken when their husband died and returned to their father's home.

They told their distressed father, Jarāsandha, king of Magadha, everything that had caused their widowhood.

Hearing this painful news, the king became filled with grief and fury and undertook an immense campaign to rid the earth of the Yādavas.

Surrounded by twenty-three full akṣauhiṇīs, he besieged Mathurā, capital of the Yadus, from every direction.

Kṛṣṇa saw that army swelling like an overflowing ocean, His city surrounded, and His own people terrified.

Bhagavān Hari, who had assumed a human form for a purpose, considered the aim of His descent in a way suited to that place and time.

'I shall destroy this army, the burden now concentrated upon the earth, which the king of Magadha has assembled from all the subordinate rulers.'

'This force, counted in akṣauhiṇīs of soldiers, horses, chariots, and elephants, must be destroyed. But Jarāsandha should not be killed, for he will assemble armies again.'

'This is the purpose of My descent: to remove the earth's burden, protect the saintly, and kill their enemies.'

'Whenever the time arises, I also manifest another body to protect dharma and bring the growth of adharma to an end.'

As Govinda reflected in this way, two chariots radiant like the sun suddenly descended from the sky, complete with charioteers and equipment.

Their ancient divine weapons also appeared of their own accord. Seeing them, Hṛṣīkeśa addressed Saṅkarṣaṇa.

'Noble elder brother and Lord, behold the calamity that has befallen the Yadus who depend upon You. Your chariot and beloved weapons have arrived.'

'O Lord, We took birth to bring peace to the saintly. Remove from the earth this burden known as twenty-three armies.'

Having thus conferred, the two armored Dāśārha warriors mounted Their chariots and left the city, armed with Their own weapons and accompanied by a much smaller force.

Upon emerging, Hari, whose charioteer was Dāruka, sounded His conch. Terror and trembling arose in the hearts of the enemy soldiers.

Seeing the two brothers, the Magadha king said, 'Kṛṣṇa, lowest of men! I am ashamed to fight You alone, for You are merely a boy. Fool, You hid before and killed Your own relative. I will not fight You; go away, killer of kin!'

'Rāma, if You truly desire battle, fight me and hold firm. Either abandon Your body, cut apart by my arrows, and ascend to heaven, or kill me.'

Śrī Bhagavān said: Heroes do not boast; they simply display their valor. O King, We do not heed the words of one distraught and near death.

Śrī Śuka said: Jarā's powerful son advanced and enveloped the two mighty Mādhavas with his vast military flood, its troops, vehicles, banners, horses, and charioteers, as wind covers the sun and fire with clouds of dust.

The women who had gathered upon Mathurā's towers, mansions, and gateways could no longer see Hari's and Rāma's chariots, marked by the emblems of Garuḍa and the palm tree. Overcome with grief, they fainted.

Hari saw His army, worshiped by gods and demons, repeatedly battered by the enemy host's cloudburst of fierce arrows. He then made His supreme Śārṅga bow resound.

Taking arrows from His quiver, setting them to the bow, drawing, and releasing volleys of sharp shafts, He continuously struck down chariots, elephants, horses, and infantry, moving like a circle of fire.

Elephants fell with their foreheads split; countless horses fell with necks severed by arrows; chariots lay ruined with horses, banners, drivers, and warriors killed; and foot soldiers fell with arms, thighs, and necks cut apart.

Hundreds of rivers of blood flowed from the severed bodies of men, elephants, and horses. Arms were their serpents, human heads their turtles, dead elephants their islands, and horses their crocodiles.

Hands and thighs were their fish, human hair their algae, bows their waves, and masses of weapons their reeds. Whirling knives made terrifying eddies, while precious gems and ornaments formed their stones and gravel.

These rivers flowed across the battlefield, terrifying the timid but bringing delight to the brave, as immeasurably powerful Saṅkarṣaṇa struck down the arrogant enemy with His club.

The vast, terrifying, impenetrable ocean of troops protected by the Magadha king was brought to destruction by Vasudeva's sons. For those Lords of the universe, this was only the highest sport.

The infinitely powerful Lord effortlessly wills the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the three worlds. His subjugation of an opposing army is therefore no wonder, though it is narrated because He acted in the manner of a mortal.

Rāma forcefully seized mighty Jarāsandha after his chariot was destroyed and only his life remained from his slaughtered army, as one lion seizes another.

As Rāma bound the defeated enemy with divine Varuṇa ropes and human cords, Govinda stopped Him because He wished to accomplish a further purpose through Jarāsandha.

Released by the two Lords of the world, Jarāsandha felt humiliated despite being honored among warriors. He resolved to practice austerities, but other kings stopped him along the road.

Using words whose meanings appeared noble even though their reasoning was mundane, they told him, 'Your defeat by the Yadus came through the bondage of your own past karma.'

When all his armies had been destroyed, the son of Bṛhadratha, deliberately spared by Bhagavān, returned dejected to Magadha.

Mukunda's force remained unharmed, and He crossed the ocean of the enemy army. The gods approved His victory and showered flowers upon Him.

The people of Mathurā, freed from fever and joyful at heart, came to meet Him, while bards, heralds, and panegyrists sang His victory.

As the Lord entered the city, conches and kettledrums sounded, together with countless drums and horns, vīṇās, flutes, and mṛdaṅgas.

The roads were sprinkled, the people jubilant, and the city adorned with banners, resounding with Vedic chanting and decorated with festively constructed gateways.

Women showered Him with garlands, yogurt, unbroken grains, and fresh shoots, gazing lovingly with eyes widened by affection.

The Lord gathered the immeasurable wealth and warriors' ornaments from the battlefield and presented everything to Ugrasena, king of the Yadus.

In this way the Magadha king fought the Yadus protected by Kṛṣṇa seventeen times, each time with twenty-three akṣauhiṇīs.

Through Kṛṣṇa's power the Vṛṣṇis destroyed his entire force. Whenever his armies were slain, the enemy released the king and he departed.

Before the eighteenth battle could occur, a heroic Yavana sent by Nārada appeared.

Hearing that the Vṛṣṇis were his equals and that no warrior in the human world could rival him, he came to Mathurā and besieged it with thirty million barbarians.

Seeing him, Kṛṣṇa, with Saṅkarṣaṇa as His ally, reflected, 'Alas, the Yadus now face a grave danger from two sides.'

'Today this immensely powerful Yavana is besieging us, and the Magadha king may arrive today, tomorrow, or the day after.'

'If Jarā's son arrives while We fight this Yavana, that powerful king may kill Our relatives or carry them off to his city.'

'Therefore today We shall construct a fortress inaccessible to humans, settle Our relatives there, and then arrange the Yavana's death.'

Having thus conferred, Bhagavān caused an extraordinary city and fortress twelve yojanas in extent to be built within the sea.

There one could see Tvaṣṭṛ's science and architectural mastery. Roads, courtyards, and avenues were laid out according to the principles of sacred architecture.

The city contained gardens of celestial trees and vines and many wondrous parks, with crystal towers and gateways whose golden pinnacles touched the sky.

Its storerooms of silver and brass were ornamented with golden vessels. Its golden houses bore jeweled pinnacles and broad floors of emerald.

It had houses for the guardians of its districts and buildings with upper balconies. People of all four social orders filled it, and the palace of the Yadu king shone magnificently.

Indra sent Hari the Sudharmā assembly hall and the pārijāta tree. A mortal who sits within that hall is untouched by the conditions of mortality.

Varuṇa sent white horses, swift as the mind, each with one black ear. Kubera, lord of treasures, sent his eight treasures, and the guardians of the worlds sent their respective powers.

O King, whatever sovereignty Bhagavān had granted the guardians of the worlds for the fulfillment of their offices, they returned in full to Hari when He descended upon the earth.

By His yogic power Hari transported all the people to that city. After consulting with Rāma, protector of the citizens, Kṛṣṇa emerged from Mathurā's gate wearing a lotus garland and carrying no weapon.