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Lesson 7: KrishnaKrishna’s Ascension When Krishna’s work on earth was done Brahma approached Krishna and requested Krishna to return to his ordained position in heaven. Krishna too wanted to return. However his descendants, the Yadavs, were now a powerful clan and could in the future perpetuate injustice and evil. Even before he came to earth, Krishna had decided that he would see his race destroyed so that there would be no chance of their doing anything wrong after he left. He was now waiting for this to happen. Some of his children decided to play a trick on a sage. One of them dressed up as a woman and wrapped an iron club under his garments pretending to be pregnant. The children then approached the sage. They explained that the lady was in the family way and wanted to know whether the child she was carrying was a boy or a girl. The sage saw through the ploy at once. He was enraged. This was an insult to his intelligence. He decided to teach the children a lesson. He cursed them. He said that this club would be the cause of the death of the entire Yadav clan. The children got frightened and told the story to their elders, who decided to grind the club to fine powder and disperse it in the ocean. However the process of grinding it was time consuming and one small piece of iron was left. The powder and the piece were dumped into the sea. The iron powder was washed ashore. In the swamps it took root and in due course it grew into thin sharp blades of “iron grass”. The left over piece, being heavier, sank to the bottom of the ocean floor, where a curious fish ate it. The fish was later caught by a fisherman and sold to the wife of a hunter named Jara. When the woman cut the fish to clean it, she found the iron piece. She gave the piece to her husband who used it as an arrowhead. Some time later the Yadav clan was assembled at the seashore for a celebration. Liquor had flown freely and the intoxication levels were very high. A few hot words led to a fight, which soon turned into a brawl. One of the guys pulled out the reed of iron and began slashing others. Soon everyone has the fatal reeds in their hands. Before the night was over everyone was dead. After witnessing the end of his race Krishna was reclining under a tree, one leg over the other. The sole of his foot was reflecting the sunlight. Jara mistook it for a deer. He took an arrow from his quiver and pierced Krishna’s foot. This was the arrow made from the leftover piece of the iron pestle. When the hunter realised his mistake he rushed to Krishna and begged forgiveness. Krishna told him not to worry. “What has happened was ordained. You are just the instrument.” Jara ascended to heaven immediately as a reward for his role. Then Vishnu’s chariot descended from the heavens and Krishna returned to his ordained place in it. Optional Exercises 6a. Read about the ascension of Krishna from ‘Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God’ in the Eleventh Book beginning on page 399. 6b. Ascension of incarnations of God or other religious personas is common in mythology. Those who descend from heaven for a specific purpose must return and this return is often as dramatic as the entry. The following sites deal with the ascension of Rama and Jesus respectively. |
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