How Did Krishna Die? Krishna's Death Story and the demise of Yadavas

After the Great War that nearly destroyed humankind and humanity alike, Kurukshetra was silent! The battle had come to an end and the war ground was strewn with bodies of royal and commoners alike. The Pandavas were not rejoicing their win and instead were devastated at the destruction that a single war had caused. Stunned and speechless, they scanned the ground for people in need of help.

Gandhari, was bent over the bloody muddle of her eldest son, Duryadhon’s body while the tears poured down incessantly. Her husband, the blind king Dritharashtra stood by, looking helpless. The Pandavas and Krishna hurried over to Gandhari and Dritharashtra, to offer their respects, apologies and condolences.

Sanjaya, the king’s escort, gently bent down to Gandhari, to inform the arrival of the five and their companion to blindfolded woman. Hearing this, Gandhari stood up, all her grief gone in a flash. Red in vengeance and fury Gandhari totally ignored the Pandavas and aided by Sanjaya, came up to Krishna. She shouted at him, asking whether or not he Should have averted this war with his divine will and power. she also said that in spite of praying to Him daily, He did not keep her 100 sons safe.

Gandhari’s Curse on Krishna

To this Krishna laughed gently. A shocked Gandhari vents her fury out by cursing Krishna and saying, “And you smile after all this? What a nerve you have. Listen to this, oh mocking God! If my years of Vishnu Bhakti have been true, and if I have been true to my husband, then, may you die in 36 years from today. May Dwaraka be flooded and may every one of your Yadava kin perish by killing each other, just as you made the kins of Kuru kill one another. May the Yadavas die out.. May the Yadavas die out.”

Saying this she broke down, all her anger gone and she fell down on her knees to the Lord’s feet. Krishna, lifted her up, his smile stuck onto his face and said, “Maatey, that curse of yours will take effect, not only because of your true devotion towards me and your husband, but also due to the ever changing sands of time. In the mean time, let’s attend to the tending of the dead and sending them away on their journey to the heavens.”

Consoling Gandhari, Krishna walked away startling the Pandavas.

Days flew by after the coronation of Yudhishtra as the king of Hastinapur and Krishna went back to Dwaraka to rule over the beautiful island kingdom. Blessed by the presence of the Goddess of Wealth (Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly the curse of Gandhari started taking form. The Yadavas were in eternal bliss in Dwaraka, so much of bliss, that they forgot good conduct, morals and the importance of discipline and humility. Consequently, once when some learned men came to Dwarka, the Yadavas sealed their destiny.

The Rishis Curse Samba, Krishna’s Son

It so happened that once great sages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista, Narada among others were on a pilgrimage. After visiting various places, they visited Dwaraka to meet Lord Krishna and Balarama. The Yadavas, which included Bhodakas, Vrishnis, Kekeyas and Andakas, who were once virtuous devotees of Krishna, had lost their sense of culture and discipline and had become a little more than hooligans. A group of Yadava boys who saw the great sages decided to play a prank on them in order to test their powers.

They dressed Samba, the son of Krishna and Jambavati, as a woman and tied many robes to his belly so he’d appear as a pregnant woman. They approached the sages and asked them to predict whether the ‘lady’ would give birth to a boy or a girl. The Rishis realised the truth through their divine vision and were enraged. In anger, the sages cursed them saying that the disguised boy will give birth to a lump of Iron which will destroy the entire Yadava race.

The Yadavas, though shocked, were too arrogant to even apologize. They left the scene, laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost all his sanity. Things were however very different the next morning. Sambha developed labour pains and soon delivered a mace from within him. The Yadavas were now struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace to Akroora and Ugrasena and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated the weird tide of events.

Akroora immediately ordered them to grind the mace to a fine powder and cast it into the seas. The Yadavas nodded and retreated. Akroora cast his gaze at Krishna, his eyes full of questions. Krishna simply smiled back. “The wheels of time are turning Uncle”, he said, “and Samba has played his part perfectly.” He left without another word, leaving both of them bewildered. As Ugrasena asked what Krishna had meant, his daughter Rukmini replied, “Thirty six years ago, Krishna prayed to Shiva for a son like him. Does that ring any bell?” Ugrasena, said very slowly, his eyes bright, “A son like Shiva. A son like the god of destruction! Krishna wanted Sambha to aid in destruction…” And even more slowly, his voice down several levels, he uttered, “Gandhari’s curse. The time for her curse to act has arrived. A reward for her devotion in him”, he ended, leaving Akroora agape and Rukmini nodding in agreement.

Outside the palace, the Yadavas had obeyed Akroora’s command to the dot. They had grinded the mace finely. Everything was alright and grinded to pieces except a sharp triangular piece which appeared to be very hard indeed. And then they had thrown the fine powder and the lone piece into the sea. Happy that they had taken care of the matter so easily, they returned back to their general state of intoxication and bliss.

Time rolled by and the triangular piece of the mace was swallowed by a fish. The fish was caught by a hunter, who upon finding the piece in the fish’s entrails immediately used it to craft a fine poisonous arrow. The fine powder, on the other hand, washed back ashore and deposited itself by the beautiful coast of Dwaraka. A certain grass grew in lush abundance in the area where the powder was deposited. Everything was set for the final showdown.

The Demis of Yadavas

The Yadavas soon forgot all about their curses. The consumption of alcohol was banned in the entire kingdom of Dwaraka. However, after 36 years of Mahabharat war, lots of omen started appearing in the Dwaraka city. The Sudarshana chakra, Panchajanya shankh, the chariot of lord Krishna and the plough weapon of Balarama disappeared from earth. One day, the Yadavas gathered on the beach. The liquor that they drank made them lose their senses completely.

They started teasing one another, bringing up the gory pasts and gruesome mistakes of each other. Satyaki and Krithavarma acted as the starting points of the doom of Dwaraka. Satyaki had fought on Pandava’s side in the battle of Kurukshetra and Krithavarma, on the Kaurava side. They taunted one another, bringing back memories of the horrific war. In a fit of rage, Satyaki, jumped on Krithaverma and cut his head off. The friends of Krithavarma pounced on Satyaki and a great brawl followed.

Pradyumna, the son of Krishna, innocent as he was, found himself in the thick of the fight and was killed. As they have come to the sea shore for pleasure, they did not carry any weapon along with them. They saw the long grown grass in abundance along the sea shore, picked up the grass stems, beat and killed each other with them. Those grass stems were nothing but blades made of the powder of the same lump of Iron born to Samba. Thus, the curse of saints fructified.

Each blade of grass became a mace, smashing into the Yadavas, killing them instantly. It was a matter of moments before the Yadavas lay dead, killed by their own clan members and in front of their very King. Except Krishna, all Yadavas were killed. Krishna’s charioteer Daruka and another one called Babhru only survived. They both approached Sri Krishna and said : “O Krishna! All Yadavas were killed. Whereabouts of Balarama are not known. It is better to search for him.”

Balarama was in deep meditation under a tree. Seeing this, Krishna told Daruka, “O Daruka! You should immediately go to Hastinapura and inform Dharmaja about the mass massacre of Yadavas and bring Arjuna here. He will look after everything.” Accordingly, Daruka rushed towards Hastinapura in a chariot and Krishna went to the place where Balarama was sitting and said “O brother Balarama! I will sit in meditation along with you.”

To this, no reply came from Balarama and instead a long serpent came out of the face of Balarama. This marked the leaving of Balarama’s mortal body. As Krishna saw Balarama putting an end to his incarnation, Krishna realized that time had come for him to leave this world and go back to his original abode.

Krishna’s Death

Krishna started thinking about the ways and means to leave this body. He remembered the words of Rishi Durvasa and at once, as per the wish of saint Durvasa, he applied Payasam (liquid food prepared with milk, sugar and rice) throughout his body. As his legs were resting on ground, he could not apply it to his feet. Durvasa observed this and said : “Krishna! You have not applied Payasam to your foot. Your death is in your foot.”

Krishna laid down under a tree and went into Yoga Samadhi. At that time a hunter named Jara entered that forest and misunderstood the moving foot of Krishna as a lurking deer. So he shot a lethal arrow that pierced into Krishna’s feet. As soon as the hunter reached Krishna, he realized his mistake and pleaded the lord for forgiveness. Lord Krishna consoled him and told him how his death was inevitable. Hence, Lord Krishna left the mortal world and the time from which Lord Krishna died is considered to be the beginning of Kaliyuga.