Parva 16
Ancient Vyāsa Sanskrit16.1.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the thirty-sixth year had come, Yudhiṣṭhira, joy of the Kurus, beheld portents of an evil and contrary kind.
16.1.2 Harsh winds blew, attended by thunderclaps and showers of gravel, and the birds wheeled in their circling flights from the left.
16.1.3 The great rivers ran backward against their course, the quarters of the sky were wrapped in mist, and meteors raining live coals fell from the heavens upon the earth.
16.1.4 O king, the sun's orb was veiled with dust; rayless at its rising day after day, it was seen ringed about by headless trunks.
16.1.5 Dreadful halos appeared about both the moon and the sun, of three colors, dark and rough at their edges, and glowing with an ashen-red light.
16.1.6 These and many other portents foretelling terror were seen day after day, O king, casting the heart into agitation.
16.1.7 Then, after some time had passed, Yudhiṣṭhira, king of the Kurus, heard that the host of the Vṛṣṇis had been destroyed in the slaughter of the iron clubs.
16.1.8 And hearing that Vāsudeva and Rāma had departed from their bodies, the son of Pāṇḍu gathered his brothers and said to them, "What now shall we do?"
16.1.9 When they heard how the Vṛṣṇis, driven on by the force of a brahmin's curse, had fallen upon one another and perished, the Pāṇḍavas were stricken with grief.
16.1.10 The death of Vāsudeva was like the drying up of the ocean; those heroes could not believe in the destruction of him who bore the Śārṅga bow.
16.1.11 Having heard of the affair of the clubs, the Pāṇḍavas, filled with grief and sorrow, despondent and bereft of all resolve, sat down together.
16.2.1 Janamejaya said: How, holy one, did the Andhakas perish together with the Vṛṣṇis, and the Bhojas, those great chariot-warriors, while Vāsudeva looked on?
16.2.2 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: In the thirty-sixth year a great calamity befell the Vṛṣṇis, and, driven on by Time, they slew one another with iron clubs.
16.2.3 Janamejaya said: By whom were those heroes cursed, that the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas met their ruin, and the Bhojas too? Best of the twice-born, tell me this in full.
16.2.4 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The heroes, with Sāraṇa at their head, saw Viśvāmitra, Kaṇva, and Nārada, that treasury of austerities, who had come to Dvārakā.
16.2.5 Then, putting Sāmba forward, decked out like a woman, they approached the sages and, oppressed by the rod of destiny, addressed them thus:
16.2.6 "This woman is the wife of Babhru of boundless splendor, who longs for a son. O seers, divine it truly: what will she bring forth?"
16.2.7 Thus addressed, O king, the sages, outraged at being so deceived, answered them; hear what they said, lord of men.
16.2.8 "For the destruction of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, this Sāmba, heir of Vāsudeva, will bring forth a terrible iron club,
16.2.9 by which you, vicious, cruel, and full of wrath, will utterly root out your whole race, save only Rāma and Janārdana.
16.2.10 The glorious Halāyudha, casting off his body, will go to the sea; and one named Jara will pierce the great-souled Kṛṣṇa as he lies upon the ground."
16.2.11 So spoke the sages, O king, mocked by those evil-minded men, their eyes red with anger as they glanced at one another.
16.2.12 Having spoken thus, the sages then went to Keśava.
16.2.13 Then the slayer of Madhu, hearing of this, spoke to the Vṛṣṇis; wise and knowing the end, he told them, "What is fated must be so."
16.2.14 Having said this, Hṛṣīkeśa went again into his house; for the lord of the world had no wish to turn fate to another course.
16.2.15 On the morrow Sāmba indeed brought forth that club, great as a death-dealing servant of Yama, for the destruction of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas.
16.2.16 They reported to the king the birth of that dread thing, the offspring of the curse; and the king, downcast of face, had it ground to fine powder.
16.2.17 By the king's command men cast it into the sea, and at the word of Āhuka they proclaimed throughout the city:
16.2.18 "From this day forward, in all the houses of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, no spirituous drink shall be made by any dweller of this city.
16.2.19 And whatever man shall make strong drink anywhere unknown to us, he shall be impaled alive upon a stake of his own making, together with his kinsmen."
16.2.20 Then, out of fear of the king, all men bound themselves to this rule, having learned the command of that great-souled monarch.
16.3.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: While the Vṛṣṇis, together with the Andhakas, strove thus, Time prowled about the houses of them all, day after day.
16.3.2 A man hideous, misshapen, and bald, dark and tawny of hue, would peer into the houses of the Vṛṣṇis and then be seen no more anywhere.
16.3.3 Day after day great and terrible winds arose, hair-raising and many in number, for the destruction of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas.
16.3.4 The streets swarmed with rats, the earthen pots cracked apart, and the mynah birds cried "cīcī-kūcī" in the dwellings of the Vṛṣṇis; nor did that clamor cease either by day or by night.
16.3.5 The cranes mimicked the hooting of owls, and the goats, O Bhārata, took up the howling of jackals.
16.3.6 Pale birds with red feet, driven on by Time—pigeons—then roamed about within the houses of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas.
16.3.7 Asses were born of cattle, and camels of she-mules; cats were born of bitches, and rats of mongooses.
16.3.8 The Vṛṣṇis, working evil, then knew no shame; they came to hate even the brahmins, the ancestors, and the gods alike.
16.3.9 They scorned their elders too—though not Rāma and Janārdana; wives wronged their husbands, and husbands their wives.
16.3.10 The blazing fire, when kindled, turned to the left, sending forth its flames apart in hues of blue, blood-red, and madder.
16.3.11 At rising and at setting, day after day in that city, the sun was seen by men again and again ringed about by headless trunks.
16.3.12 In the kitchens, when the food was cooked and most carefully prepared, worms were seen in it as it was being served, O lord of men.
16.3.13 And while the blessing of the auspicious day was being recited and the high-souled ones were murmuring their prayers, the sound of feet rushing about was heard, yet no one could be seen.
16.3.14 They all saw the constellations being struck again and again by the planets, one against another, yet not one of them could perceive his own.
16.3.15 And when the conch Pāñcajanya sounded within the dwellings of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, the asses brayed back at it on every side with hideous voices.
16.3.16 Seeing thus that the turning of Time had come, Hṛṣīkeśa, when he beheld the new moon fall upon the thirteenth day, spoke these words:
16.3.17 "The fourteenth has been made the fifteenth once more by Rāhu; just so it befell in the war of the Bhāratas, and now it has come again for our destruction."
16.3.18 Reflecting upon that hour and pondering it, Janārdana, the slayer of Keśin, judged that the thirty-sixth year had indeed arrived.
16.3.19 "That which Gāndhārī, scorched by grief for her sons and bereft of her kinsmen, uttered in her anguish—this has now come to pass.
16.3.20 And this too has come about which Yudhiṣṭhira foretold of old, when, the armies drawn up in array, he beheld the dire portents."
16.3.21 Having said this, Vāsudeva, wishing that very thing to be fulfilled, then gave command for a pilgrimage to the sacred fords, O subduer of foes.
16.3.22 By Keśava's order men proclaimed there, "You bulls among men shall make a pilgrimage to the sea."
16.4.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: A black woman with pale teeth, entering by night and laughing, ran about through Dvārakā, snatching away the women in their dreams.
16.4.2 The ornaments, the parasol, the banners, and the coats of mail were seen being carried off by demons most terrible to behold.
16.4.3 And that iron discus of Kṛṣṇa, given by Agni, its hub hard as the thunderbolt, mounted up into the sky as the Vṛṣṇis looked on.
16.4.4 His divine chariot, yoked and bright as the sun, the horses bore away as Dāruka looked on; those four chief steeds, swift as thought, wheeled away over the surface of the sea.
16.4.5 The two great banners, the palmyra and the Garuḍa, well honored by Rāma and Janārdana, were borne aloft by the apsarases day and night, and they cried out, "Let the pilgrimage to the sacred fords be made!"
16.4.6 Then those great chariot-warriors of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, those bulls among men, eager to set out, desired the pilgrimage, taking the women of their households with them.
16.4.7 Then the Andhakas and Vṛṣṇis prepared food and dainties and drink in abundance and of many kinds, with much wine and flesh of every sort.
16.4.8 Then, given over to their liquors, those glorious men of fierce splendor went forth from the city by carriages, on horses, and on elephants.
16.4.9 Then the Yādavas encamped at Prabhāsa, each in his appointed place and as in his own home, with their wives and with abundance of food and drink.
16.4.10 When he perceived that they had encamped there by the shore of the sea, Uddhava, skilled in yoga and wise in matters, took his leave of those heroes and departed.
16.4.11 As that great soul set forth, saluting him with folded hands, Hari, knowing the destruction of the Vṛṣṇis to be at hand, had no wish to hold him back.
16.4.12 Then those great chariot-warriors of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, encompassed by Time, beheld Uddhava departing, covering heaven and earth with his radiance.
16.4.13 The food that had been prepared for the brahmins' sake by those high-souled men, reeking of wine, they gave instead to the monkeys.
16.4.14 Then the great carousal of those men of fierce splendor began at Prabhāsa, filled with the sound of a hundred instruments and thronged with players and dancers.
16.4.15 In Kṛṣṇa's presence Rāma drank, together with Kṛtavarman, and so too did Yuyudhāna, Gada, and Babhru.
16.4.16 Then, in the midst of the assembly, Yuyudhāna, made arrogant by drink, addressed Kṛtavarman, mocking and despising him:
16.4.17 "What man who counts himself a kṣatriya would slay sleeping men as though they were already dead? That deed of yours, O son of Hṛdika, the Yādavas will not forgive."
16.4.18 When Yuyudhāna had thus spoken, Pradyumna, best of chariot-warriors, applauded those words, himself also scorning the son of Hṛdika.
16.4.19 Then Kṛtavarman, kindled to the height of fury, spoke to him, pointing as it were in contempt with his left hand:
16.4.20 "Bhūriśravas, his arm cut off, sitting fasting unto death upon the field—how was that hero felled by you, by a slaughter most cruel?"
16.4.21 Hearing these words of his, Keśava, slayer of enemy heroes, full of wrath, cast at him a sidelong glance heavy with anger.
16.4.22 And Sātyaki reminded the slayer of Madhu of the tale of that jewel, the Syamantaka, which had once belonged to Satrājit.
16.4.23 Hearing this, Satyabhāmā, weeping and enraged, went to Keśava's lap, herself rousing Janārdana to anger.
16.4.24 Then Sātyaki rose up in his wrath and spoke—in the name of the five sons of Draupadī, of Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin:
16.4.25 "I go now upon the road they took, and thus I swear by the truth: those who were slain in their sleep in the night attack by this evil-souled man—
16.4.26 by the wicked Kṛtavarman, the ally of Droṇa's son—this very day, O fair-waisted one, his life and his glory shall both be ended!"
16.4.27 Having spoken thus, there in Keśava's very presence, the enraged Sātyaki rushed upon Kṛtavarman with his sword and struck off his head.
16.4.28 As Yuyudhāna went on slaying others all around him, Hṛṣīkeśa rushed up to him, wishing then to hold him back.
16.4.29 Then, O great king, the Bhojas and Andhakas, all banded together and goaded on by the turning of Time, surrounded Śaineya.
16.4.30 Seeing them swiftly falling upon him in fury, Janārdana of great splendor did not grow wrathful, for he knew the turning of Time.
16.4.31 But they, possessed by the frenzy of drink and driven on by rage, then struck at Yuyudhāna with the leftover drinking vessels.
16.4.32 As Śaineya was being struck down, the wrathful son of Rukmiṇī rushed into the fray, seeking to rescue the grandson of Śini.
16.4.33 There, locked in combat — the one with the Bhojas, and Sātyaki with the Andhakas — both were slain by sheer numbers before the very eyes of Kṛṣṇa.
16.4.34 Seeing Śaineya and his own son slain, Keśava, the delight of the Yadus, in his wrath seized then a fistful of eraka reeds.
16.4.35 That became a fearsome iron pestle, hard as a thunderbolt, and with it Kṛṣṇa struck down those who stood before him.
16.4.36 Then the Andhakas and Bhojas, the Śaineyas and the Vṛṣṇis alike, goaded by Time, struck one another down with pestles amid the uproar.
16.4.37 Whoever among them in fury laid hold of an eraka reed, O king — that reed appeared then, O lord, as though it had become a thunderbolt.
16.4.38 Even a blade of grass was seen there to turn into a pestle. Know, O king, that all this was wrought by the curse of the Brahmins' rod.
16.4.39 Whatever blade of grass they whirled and hurled, O king, that was seen then as a hard pestle, become a thunderbolt.
16.4.40 Son slew father, and father son, O Bhārata; drunken, they fell upon one another, crushing each other.
16.4.41 Like moths into fire the Kukuras and Andhakas fell; in not one of them being slaughtered was there any thought of flight.
16.4.42 Beholding this, the mighty-armed slayer of Madhu, knowing the turning of Time, stood firm, leaning upon his pestle.
16.4.43 Seeing Sāmba slain, and Cārudeṣṇa, and Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, Mādhava then grew wrathful, O Bhārata.
16.4.44 And catching sight of Gada lying slain, the wielder of the Śārṅga bow, the discus, and the mace, filled with violent wrath, then made a clean end of them all.
16.4.45 As he of great splendor was slaying them, Babhru the conqueror of hostile cities, and Dāruka too, spoke to the Dāśārha — hear what they said.
16.4.46 "O blessed one, O Acyuta, by you nearly all have now been destroyed. Seek out the place of Rāma; let us go there, where he is."
16.5.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then Dāruka and Keśava, and Babhru too, set out, hastening, toward the place of Rāma; and they beheld Rāma of boundless valor seated beneath a tree in a solitary spot, lost in thought.
16.5.2 Then the great-souled Kṛṣṇa, having reached him, gave this command to Dāruka: "Go swiftly to the Kurus, and tell Pārtha of this great slaughter of the Yadus.
16.5.3 Let Arjuna come here at once, on hearing that the Yādavas have perished by the Brahmins' curse." Thus addressed, Dāruka, his senses bewildered, set off by chariot then toward the Kurus.
16.5.4 Then, when Dāruka had gone, Keśava, seeing Babhru nearby, spoke these words: "Let your honor go quickly and guard the women, lest robbers harm them out of greed for wealth."
16.5.5 He set out, instructed by Keśava, sick with drink and stricken by the slaughter of his kin; and as Babhru hurried on alone in Keśava's very presence, a great pestle — flung from the snare of a hunter and itself cursed by the Brahmins — struck him dead all at once.
16.5.6 Then, seeing Babhru slain, Kṛṣṇa spoke these words to his elder brother: "Wait for me here, Rāma, while I see to the women, the wards of our kinsmen."
16.5.7 Then, entering the city of Dvāravatī, Janārdana spoke these words to his father: "Let your honor guard all our women, awaiting the coming of Dhanaṃjaya. Rāma sits at the forest's edge today, waiting for me; with him shall I now unite."
16.5.8 "I have witnessed this destruction of the Yadus, as before I witnessed that of the kings, the bulls of the Kurus. Without the Yadus I am not able today to look upon this city of the Yādavas."
16.5.9 "I shall practice austerities — mark this from me — withdrawing to the forest together with Rāma." Having said this and touched his father's feet with his head, Kṛṣṇa departed in haste.
16.5.10 Then a great wail arose from that city with its women and children; and Keśava, turning back when he heard the cry of the women lamenting, spoke.
16.5.11 "Savyasācin will come to this city — that foremost of men shall free you from sorrow." Then Keśava, going on, beheld Rāma, seated alone in a solitary part of the forest.
16.5.12 Then he saw a great white serpent issuing from the mouth of Rāma, who was rapt in yoga; and the noble one departed, watched by all, going toward the great ocean.
16.5.13 Thousand-headed, vast in girth as a mountain, red-mouthed, he cast off that body of his; and the ocean duly received him, as did the divine serpents and the holy rivers.
16.5.14 Karkoṭaka and Vāsuki and Takṣaka, Pṛthuśravas, Varuṇa, and Kuñjara, Miśrī, Śaṅkha, Kumuda, and Puṇḍarīka, and likewise the great-souled serpent Dhṛtarāṣṭra —
16.5.15 Hrāda, Krātha, Śitikaṇṭha of foremost splendor, and the two serpents Cakramanda and Atiṣaṇḍa, the best of serpents Durmukha, and Ambarīṣa, and King Varuṇa himself, O king — these came forth to meet him, greeted him with welcome, and honored him with offerings of arghya and water for his feet.
16.5.16 Then, when his brother had departed, Vāsudeva — who with divine vision knew all the courses of things — wandering in the empty forest, deep in thought, that one of supreme splendor lay down upon the ground.
16.5.17 For all of this had already been known to him beforehand: the words Gāndhārī had spoken to him long ago, and what Durvāsas had said about the spot smeared with the remnants of the milk-rice — all this Kṛṣṇa called to mind.
16.5.18 Reflecting on the destruction of the Andhakas and Vṛṣṇis and on the ruin of the Kurus, the noble one judged that the time of his passing-over had come; and thereupon he set about the restraint of his senses.
16.5.19 With his senses, speech, and mind reined in, Kṛṣṇa entered into the great yoga and lay still; and just then a fierce hunter named Jara, greedy for game, came to that region.
16.5.20 That hunter Jara, mistaking the yoga-rapt Keśava as he lay for a deer, swiftly pierced him in the sole of the foot with an arrow; and going up to seize his quarry, the hunter beheld a man rapt in yoga, clad in yellow, with many arms.
16.5.21 Believing himself to have wronged him, stricken with grief, he clasped Kṛṣṇa's feet with his head; and the great-souled one consoled him at that moment, even as he ascended on high, filling heaven and earth with his glory.
16.5.22 As he reached the heavens, Vāsava and the Aśvins, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the Vasus, and the Viśvedevas, and the sages and the Siddhas too, and the chief Gandharvas together with the Apsarases, came forth to meet him.
16.5.23 Then, O king, the blessed Nārāyaṇa of fierce splendor, the source of all and the imperishable, the master of yoga, filling heaven and earth with his glory, that immeasurable great soul attained to his own abode.
16.5.24 Then Kṛṣṇa was met by the gods and the seers and the Cāraṇas, O king, and honored by the foremost Gandharvas, by lovely Apsarases, and by the Siddhas and Sādhyas bowing low.
16.5.25 Those gods welcomed him, O king; the best of sages worshipped the Lord with hymns; the Gandharvas too attended upon him, singing his praise; and Puruhūta greeted him with joy.
16.6.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Dāruka too, having gone to the Kurus and seen the Pārthas, those great chariot-warriors, told them how the Vṛṣṇis had destroyed one another in the affray of the pestles.
16.6.2 On hearing that the Vārṣṇeyas, together with the Bhojas, Kukuras, and Andhakas, had perished, the Pāṇḍavas were consumed with grief and their minds were stricken with dismay.
16.6.3 Then Arjuna, the dear friend of Keśava, taking leave of them, set out to see his maternal uncle, saying, "This is the end of all this."
16.6.4 Going to the dwelling-place of the Vṛṣṇis together with Dāruka, the hero beheld Dvārakā, O lord, like a woman whose husband is dead.
16.6.5 Those women who once had a protector in the Lord of the world now, bereft of protection, cried aloud when they saw Pārtha as their protector.
16.6.6 There were sixteen thousand women, the wives of Vāsudeva; a great wail arose from them at the very sight of Arjuna come among them.
16.6.7 At the mere sight of them, the Kaurava Arjuna, his eyes veiled with tears, was unable to look upon them, bereft as they were of Kṛṣṇa and of their sons.
16.6.8 That city, whose waters were the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, whose fish were the horses, whose boats were the chariots, whose flood of sound was the din of instruments and cars, whose great whirlpools were its mansions and bathing-ghāts —
16.6.9 with gems for its rafts of waterweed, garlanded with ramparts hard as diamond, with its streets for currents and eddies of water, and its squares for still, deep pools —
16.6.10 with Rāma and Kṛṣṇa for its mighty crocodiles — that river-like Dvārakā, now seized by the noose of Time, dreadful, like the river Vaitaraṇī —
16.6.11 such did the wise Arjuna behold her, bereft of the bulls of the Vṛṣṇis, her splendor gone and her joy departed, like a lotus-pond in the cold of winter.
16.6.12 Seeing that Dvārakā and those wives of Kṛṣṇa, Pārtha gave way to loud weeping and fell to the ground.
16.6.13 Then Satyā, the daughter of Satrājit, and Rukmiṇī, O lord of peoples, ran up, and surrounding Dhanaṃjaya, they wept aloud.
16.6.14 Then, raising the great-souled one up and seating him upon a golden seat, they, speaking to him, stood about him in attendance.
16.6.15 Then, having praised Govinda and spoken with them, and having consoled those women too, the Pāṇḍava went on to see his maternal uncle.
16.7.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The bull of the Kurus beheld that great-souled hero Ānakadundubhi lying down, consumed with grief for his sons.
16.7.2 More stricken than the stricken man himself, the broad-chested, mighty-armed Pārtha, his eyes brimming with tears, clasped his feet, O Bhārata.
16.7.3 The aged, mighty-armed one embraced Arjuna with both arms, and weeping, remembering all his sons, utterly overcome, he lamented — for his brothers and sons and grandsons, for his daughters' sons and his friends as well.
16.7.4 Vāsudeva said: "Those by whom kings of the earth and demons were conquered by the hundreds, O Arjuna — having seen them, I see them here no longer; yet I live on, Arjuna, hard to kill that I am."
16.7.5 "Those two pupils of yours, Arjuna, ever dear to you and held in high esteem — through their misconduct, O Pārtha, the Vṛṣṇis have gone to their destruction."
16.7.6 "Those two who alone among the foremost heroes of the Vṛṣṇis were reckoned supreme chariot-warriors — Pradyumna and Yuyudhāna — of whom you would speak in pride —"
16.7.7 "of whom you, O tiger of the Kurus, and my dear son Kṛṣṇa would ever speak — those two, O Dhanaṃjaya, became the very forefront of the Vṛṣṇis' ruin."
16.7.8 "Yet I do not blame Śaineya, nor Hārdikya, nor Akrūra, nor the son of Rukmiṇī, O Arjuna; for the curse alone was the cause of this."
16.7.9 "He, the Lord of the world, who by his might struck down Keśin and Kaṃsa, and who, O Pārtha, made an end of the Caidya proud of his strength —"
16.7.10 "and Ekalavya, son of the Niṣāda, and who subdued the Kaliṅgas and Māgadhas, the Gāndhāras and the king of Kāśi, and the princes of the desert lands —"
16.7.11 "and the kings of the East and of the South and of the hill-country alike — that slayer of Madhu suffered this calamity to come to pass."
16.7.12 "Then, seeing his sons and grandsons and brothers and friends lying slain, he spoke this to me:"
16.7.13 "'Now, O bull among men, this end of our house has come. Bībhatsu will come to this city of Dvāravatī."
16.7.14 "'Tell him what has happened, the great slaughter of the Vṛṣṇis. He of great splendor, on hearing of the ruin of the Yadus, O lord, will come here at once — of this I have no doubt."
16.7.15 "'Know that I am that Arjuna, and that Arjuna is none other than I; whatever he says, that must be done so — understand this, Mādhava."
16.7.16 "'That Pāṇḍava Bībhatsu will do what is timely for your women and your children, and will perform your funeral rites as well."
16.7.17 "'And this city, with its ramparts and watchtowers, the ocean will flood the moment Dhanaṃjaya has departed."
16.7.18 "'For I, taking up a vow in some holy place, will at once make my end together with the wise Rāma.'"
16.7.19 "Having spoken thus, Hṛṣīkeśa of inconceivable prowess, the Lord, leaving me behind with the children, departed in some direction or other."
16.7.20 "And I, brooding on those two great-souled brothers of yours and on the terrible slaughter of my kin, take no food, wasted away with grief."
16.7.21 "I shall neither eat nor live on. By good fortune you have come, O Pāṇḍava. Whatever Kṛṣṇa said, O Pārtha — do all of that, every bit."
16.7.22 This kingdom is yours, O Pārtha, and the women, and the jewels too; for I, O slayer of foes, shall now give up this dear life of mine.
16.8.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Thus addressed by his maternal uncle, Bībhatsu, the scorcher of foes, with a heavy heart spoke these words to the despairing Vāsudeva.
16.8.2 O my uncle, O lord, I cannot long endure to look upon an earth bereft of that foremost hero of the Vṛṣṇis and of the Madhus.
16.8.3 The king, and Bhīmasena, and Sahadeva the Pāṇḍava, and Nakula, and the daughter of Yajñasena — we six are of one mind.
16.8.4 The hour has surely come for the king's own departure as well. Know that this time has arrived, O best of those who know the seasons of time.
16.8.5 By all means, O tamer of foes, I shall take the wives of the Vṛṣṇis, the young and the old alike, into my charge and lead them to Indraprastha.
16.8.6 Having said this, Dhanaṃjaya spoke these words to Dāruka: I wish to see the counsellors of the Vṛṣṇi heroes without delay.
16.8.7 Having spoken these words, the heroic Arjuna, mourning for those great car-warriors, entered the Yādava assembly hall, Sudharmā.
16.8.8 When he had taken his seat there, all the subjects, and the Brāhmaṇas, and the townsmen gathered round and stood before him.
16.8.9 To all of them, dejected in mind, subdued, and bereft of their senses, Pārtha — himself more dejected still — then spoke these words.
16.8.10 I shall myself lead the people of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas to Śakraprastha; but this whole city the ocean shall overwhelm.
16.8.11 Make ready your conveyances and your jewels of every kind. This Vajra shall be your king at Śakraprastha.
16.8.12 On the seventh day, when the spotless sun has risen, we shall all dwell beyond these walls. Make ready without delay.
16.8.13 Thus addressed by Pārtha of untiring deeds, the townsfolk swiftly made themselves ready, eager for their own welfare.
16.8.14 That night Pārtha passed in the dwelling of Keśava, suddenly overwhelmed by a vast bewilderment of grief.
16.8.15 When the morrow came, the glorious Vāsudeva, scion of Śūra, of great splendour, composed himself in yoga and passed to the highest goal.
16.8.16 Then there arose a great and terrible clamour in Vāsudeva's house, of women crying aloud and weeping.
16.8.17 With dishevelled hair, their ornaments and garlands cast aside, beating their breasts with their hands, the women wailed piteously.
16.8.18 Devakī and Bhadrā and Rohiṇī and Madirā, those foremost of women, resolved to follow their lord upon the pyre.
16.8.19 Then, O Bhārata, upon a great bier borne by men and decked with many garlands, Pārtha carried the scion of Śūra forth from the city.
16.8.20 And after him there followed, smitten with pain and grief, all the townsmen who dwelt in Dvārakā, O bull among men.
16.8.21 His parasol from the horse sacrifice, and the blazing sacred fires, and the priests went on before that bier.
16.8.22 And those queens, beautifully adorned, followed that hero, surrounded by thousands of women and by daughters-in-law by the thousand.
16.8.23 In that place which had been dear to the great-souled one while he lived, they laid him out and performed the funeral rites for the dead.
16.8.24 Then the four wives, fair-limbed and seeking the world of their lord, ascended the pyre after that hero, the son of Śūra, when he had been placed upon the fire.
16.8.25 And the son of Pāṇḍu had him, attended by those four women, burned with sandalwood and with fragrances of every kind.
16.8.26 Then there arose the sound of the kindled fire, and the chanting of the Sāman singers, and the weeping of men as well.
16.8.27 Then the young sons of the Vṛṣṇi heroes, with Vajra at their head, and the women too, all offered the water-libations to the great-souled one.
16.8.28 Having had this rite duly performed without omitting any sacred duty, Phalguna went, O bull of the Bhāratas, to the place where the Vṛṣṇis had perished.
16.8.29 Beholding them fallen in that slaughter, the descendant of Kuru was sorely grieved, and he performed for them the rites due at such a time.
16.8.30 He then performed all the rites in due order of rank for those who had been slain by the Brāhmaṇa's curse with the clubs sprung from the eraka grass.
16.8.31 Then, having sought out the bodies of both Rāma and Vāsudeva, he had them cremated by trusted men.
16.8.32 Having duly performed the funeral rites for them, the Pāṇḍava set out in haste on the seventh day, mounting his car, with chariots yoked to horses and others drawn by oxen, mules, and camels.
16.8.33 The women of the Vṛṣṇi heroes, weeping and wasted with grief, followed after the great-souled son of Pāṇḍu, Dhanaṃjaya.
16.8.34 The servants of the Andhakas and Vṛṣṇis, the horsemen and the car-warriors, and the townsmen and country-folk, bereft of their heroes, old and young, went surrounding the women at Pārtha's command.
16.8.35 The elephant-riders went mounted on elephants like unto mountains, attended by their foot-guards and equipped with their upper weapons.
16.8.36 And the sons of the Andhakas and Vṛṣṇis, all devoted to Pārtha, the Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras of great wealth, went with him.
16.8.37 Sixteen thousand women of Vāsudeva's inner apartments went forth, placing at their head Vajra, the grandson of the wise Kṛṣṇa.
16.8.38 And many thousands, millions, and tens of millions of women of the Bhojas, Vṛṣṇis, and Andhakas, their lords slain, went forth.
16.8.39 That host of the Vṛṣṇis, vast as the ocean and of great prosperity, Pārtha — best of car-warriors, conqueror of hostile cities — led onward.
16.8.40 When that people had gone forth, the ocean, the abode of sea-monsters, overwhelmed with its waters Dvārakā, that city filled with jewels.
16.8.41 Beholding that wonder, the people who dwelt in Dvārakā hastened on ever more swiftly, crying, 'Ah, this is fate!'
16.8.42 Halting amid lovely forests, mountains, and rivers, Dhanaṃjaya led the women of the Vṛṣṇis along the way.
16.8.43 Reaching the Land of the Five Rivers, prosperous and abounding in cattle, livestock, and grain, the wise lord made his encampment there.
16.8.44 Then greed arose in the robbers, O Bhārata, when they saw the women, their protectors slain, being led on by Pārtha alone.
16.8.45 Then those Ābhīras of evil deeds, their minds corrupted by greed and ill-favoured to look upon, gathered together and took counsel.
16.8.46 'This Arjuna, a single warrior, leads on past us this throng of old men and children, their lords slain, and these fighters too have lost their vigour.'
16.8.47 Then those robbers, armed with cudgels, in their thousands rushed upon that people of the Vṛṣṇis, bent on seizing plunder.
16.8.48 With a mighty lion's roar, driving the common folk before them, they fell upon them for the sake of wealth, impelled by the turning of time.
16.8.49 Then the son of Kuntī turned back at once, his followers behind him, and the mighty-armed Arjuna spoke to them, almost laughing.
16.8.50 'Turn back, you who know not righteousness, if you have no wish to die — lest, pierced through by my arrows and slain by me, you grieve in vain.'
16.8.51 Though thus addressed by that hero, the fools made light of his words and, though warned again and again, fell upon the people.
16.8.52 Then Arjuna began, only with effort and scarcely at all, to string that great, undecaying, celestial bow, the Gāṇḍīva.
16.8.53 He strung it with difficulty amid the tumultuous confusion, and he called to mind his celestial weapons, yet he could not remember them.
16.8.54 Seeing that great failing in the strength of his arms in battle, and the loss of his great celestial weapons, he was filled with shame.
16.8.55 And all those Vṛṣṇi warriors, riding on elephants, horses, and chariots, were unable to turn back that people who were being carried off.
16.8.56 But because the women were so many, scattering this way and that, Pārtha made every effort to protect the people.
16.8.57 While all the warriors looked on, those fairest of women were dragged away on every side, and others went off of their own will.
16.8.58 Then Pārtha, Dhanaṃjaya the lord, in great agitation, slew the robbers with arrows shot from the Gāṇḍīva, together with the servants of the Vṛṣṇis.
16.8.59 In a moment, O king, his straight-flying arrows were spent: those shafts, once inexhaustible, were exhausted, having fed upon blood.
16.8.60 His arrows spent, smitten with pain and grief, the son of the chastiser of Pāka then slew the robbers with the very tip of his bow.
16.8.61 Yet even as Pārtha looked on, those barbarians carried off the choicest women of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas on every side, O Janamejaya.
16.8.62 The lord Dhanaṃjaya pondered that working of fate in his mind, and, overcome with pain and grief, fell to deep sighing.
16.8.63 By the loss of his weapons, the ebbing of the strength of his arms, the unruliness of his bow, and the exhaustion of his arrows —
16.8.64 — Pārtha grew dejected, reflecting that it was fate; then he desisted, O king, saying, 'This is no longer what it was.'
16.8.65 Then the great-minded one, taking what remained of the women, the most of whose jewels had been carried off, came down to Kurukṣetra.
16.8.66 Having thus brought the women of the Vṛṣṇis, what was left of them after the plunder, the Kaurava Dhanaṃjaya settled them here and there.
16.8.67 Pārtha, best of men, settled the son of Hṛdika in the city of Mārtikāvata, together with the remaining women of the Bhoja king.
16.8.68 Then the Pāṇḍava, taking the old men, the children, and the women, all bereft of their heroes, settled them at Śakraprastha.
16.8.69 The righteous one settled the son of Yuyudhāna, the beloved son of Sātyaki, on the banks of the Sarasvatī, with the old and young at his head.
16.8.70 The slayer of hostile heroes gave the kingdom at Indraprastha to Vajra; but the wives of Akrūra, though restrained by Vajra, departed.
16.8.71 Then Rukmiṇī, and Gāndhārī, and Śaibyā, and Haimavatī, and queen Jāmbavatī entered the fire.
16.8.72 And Satyabhāmā and the other queens cherished by Kṛṣṇa entered the forest, O king, resolved upon the life of asceticism.
16.8.73 As for those men of Dvārakā who had followed Pārtha, the victorious one divided them as was fitting and entrusted them to Vajra.
16.8.74 Having done what the hour required, Arjuna, his eyes veiled with tears, beheld Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, O king, seated in his hermitage.
16.9.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: As he entered the hermitage of the truthful sage, O king, Arjuna beheld the son of Satyavatī seated apart in solitude.
16.9.2 Approaching that knower of righteousness of great vows, he stood before him, and announcing his name, 'I am Arjuna,' he then addressed him.
16.9.3 'Welcome to you,' said the sage, the son of Satyavatī, and the great sage, serene of soul, added, 'Be seated.'
16.9.4 Seeing Pārtha downcast in mind, sighing again and again, and despondent of heart, Vyāsa spoke these words.
16.9.5 'Has some stain that comes not from valour befallen you? Or has a Brāhmaṇa been slain by you? Or have you been vanquished in battle? You seem like one whose splendour has departed.'
16.9.6 I do not recognize you as the man you were. What has happened, O bull of the Bhāratas? If it is fit for me to hear, O Pārtha, you should tell it to me at once.
16.9.7 Arjuna said: He whose body was the very form of wisdom, the glorious one with great lotus eyes—that Kṛṣṇa, together with Rāma, has cast off his body and gone to heaven.
16.9.8 At the battle of the iron clubs, born of a brahmin's curse, the destruction of the Vṛṣṇi heroes came to pass at Prabhāsa—a slaughter of warriors that made the hair stand on end.
16.9.9 Those valiant, great-souled men, proud as lions and mighty in strength, the Bhojas, Vṛṣṇis, and Andhakas, O brahmin—by one another they were slain in battle.
16.9.10 Men who could withstand maces, iron bars, and spears, whose arms were like iron clubs—they were struck down by mere blades of eraka grass. Behold the turning of Time!
16.9.11 Five hundred thousand of those strong-armed warriors were slain; they met their end by falling upon one another.
16.9.12 Again and again I cannot bear it, brooding upon the destruction of those of immeasurable might—of the Yadus and of the glorious Kṛṣṇa.
16.9.13 It is like the drying up of the ocean, the shaking of a mountain, the falling of the sky, and the cold of fire.
16.9.14 Unbelievable I hold the destruction of the wielder of the Śārṅga bow; and I have no wish to remain here in this world, parted from Kṛṣṇa.
16.9.15 And hear of another thing more grievous still than this, O you whose wealth is austerity—a thing by which, as I brood on it again and again, my heart is torn asunder.
16.9.16 Before my very eyes, O brahmin, the women of the Vṛṣṇis, by the thousands, were carried off in a fight—pursued and seized by the Ābhīras who dwell in the land of the Five Rivers.
16.9.17 Taking up my bow there, I could not even bend it to string it, and the strength of my arms was not as it once had been.
16.9.18 My weapons of many kinds had vanished from me, O great sage, and my arrows ran out on every side in but an instant.
16.9.19 And that Person of immeasurable soul, bearing conch, discus, and mace, four-armed, clad in yellow, dark of hue, with eyes long as lotus petals—
16.9.20 he who used to go before my chariot, of exceedingly great splendor, burning up the armies of the foe—him I see no longer today.
16.9.21 He by whose splendor the enemy hosts were first scorched—those I then destroyed afterward with the arrows loosed from the Gāṇḍīva.
16.9.22 Not seeing him, I sink in despair and reel as if dizzy, O best of men; and with a heart utterly weary, I cannot find any peace at all.
16.9.23 Without the hero Janārdana I have no will to live; for at the mere hearing that Viṣṇu was gone, the very quarters of the sky grew bewildered before me.
16.9.24 To me, whose kinsmen and whose strength are utterly lost, empty and wandering aimlessly, you should counsel what is best, O best of men.
16.9.25 Vyāsa said: Burned up by a brahmin's curse, the great warriors of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas have perished, O tiger of the Kurus; you ought not to grieve for them.
16.9.26 For it was bound to be so; this was the fate ordained for those great souls, and Kṛṣṇa, though able to turn it aside, let it be.
16.9.27 For Kṛṣṇa could have made the whole threefold world, with all that moves and stands still, to be otherwise—how much more the curse of the wise!
16.9.28 He who went before your chariot, bearer of discus and mace—that ancient seer, the four-armed Vāsudeva—did so out of love for you.
16.9.29 Having lifted the burden from the earth, the large-eyed one, having delivered the whole world, has gone to his own supreme abode.
16.9.30 By you, O bull among men, a great work for the gods has here been accomplished, with Bhīma as your helper and with the twins, O mighty-armed one.
16.9.31 I deem you to have fulfilled your purpose and attained your end, O foremost of the Kurus; the time for your departure has come, and that I hold to be the best course for you.
16.9.32 Strength, intellect, splendor, and resolve, O Bhārata, arise in the times of their flourishing and fail when the time turns adverse.
16.9.33 All this has Time for its root; Time is the seed of the world, O Dhanaṃjaya. Time alone gathers it back again at its own will.
16.9.34 That same man, having grown strong, becomes weak again; and he, having become a lord here, is once more commanded by others.
16.9.35 Your weapons, their work accomplished, have today gone the way by which they came; they will return again to your hand when the time shall be.
16.9.36 It is time for you too to go upon the highest path, O Bhārata; this I hold to be your supreme good, O bull of the Bhāratas.
16.9.37 Heeding this counsel of Vyāsa of boundless splendor, and granted leave, Pārtha set out for the city named after the elephant.
16.9.38 And the hero, entering the city and coming to Yudhiṣṭhira, related all that had happened concerning the people of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, just as it had occurred.