Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Prince of the Yadavas

After the defeat of the Kauravas in eighteen days of warfare on the field of Kurukshetra, the ancient kingdom of the Yadavas destroyed itself in civil war. The princes, descended from Yadu, turned each against the other and neither Krishna nor Balarama intervened. Sorrowfully, Balarama yielded up his spirit and Krishna went into forest exile, leaving his kingdom utterly ruined.

One day, while sleeping in the forest, a hunter mistook him for a deer and struck Krishna with an arrow. When realizing what he'd done, the hunter begged Krishna’s forgiveness. Krishna calmed him, as his life ebbed, and said, “This crime doesn’t fall on you. My mortal life has reached its term, and this is as it should be. Here, as in the forests of Vrindivana, as in Radha’s embrace, I’ve known many wonders. Free your mind of this, and of the question you bear.”

The hunter said, “O Krishna, how has this happened, to die, a wounded prince mistaken for an animal? Were you unable to spare your kingdom, to live and die a prince of Yadavas? Or, when Gandhari cursed you for your destruction of her son’s kingdom, was that curse too powerful to overcome, the result of your action?”

Krishna answered, “The dynasty in which I was born, the kingdom in which I was prince, has no more substance now than before. Those nearest to me imagined that physical proximity to me was alone sufficient. Even the gopis, those simple blessed girls, knew better. If those nearest to me yield to their corrupt inclinations, why wonder that their corruption consumes them? Seeking shelter in me, they might have been spared. But between these two, their terrible power and the shelter of my love, they relied on the first and disposed of the second.

“Imagine if Radha had abandoned me for another. What would her end have been? Or if Arjuna had chosen my armies rather than preferring me? What would have become of him? I give all creatures a choice. I reveal which choice is the best of choices. But it is always your choice to make or to refuse.”

With these words, Krishna yielded up his mortal life.

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