End of Yadava Dynasty

At the end of Mahabharata, Duryodhana's, body was lying on the field, scarred and wounded. Gandhari, the blind folded mother or Kauravas and the blind king, Dhritharashtra, along with Sanjaya, (the suta who narrated Bhagavad Gita after Sri Krishna) were surveying the death and destruction caused by the war. The Pandavas along with Sri Krishna arrive at the seen. On being informed of their presence, Gandhari's tears dry up and with uncontrollable anger, shouts at Krishna as to why, in spite of her being his staunch devotee, in spite of Pandavas and Kauravas, being created and sustained by Lord Krishna himself, he lets this debacle happen. Why he couldn't have averted the war itself. On seeing, His all knowing smile even at such a time, she curses the entire Yadava family to be killed in the next 36 years. Sri Krishna grants her curse to come true. 

Sri Krishna returns to Dwaraka and takes good care of his subjects. During this time, the Yadavas attain wealth and prosperity. The Yadavas were considered to be quarrelsome people and in the lap of luxury, they loose their morals and humility. 

Samba was the son of Sri Krishna and Jambavati. But in character, he was very naughty and frivilous. One day, when the Saptarishis, were passing through the kingdom, Samba and his friends decide to test the powers of the learned Rishis. So Samba dresses up as a pregnant woman and comes to the Rishis. One of his friends asked the Rishis if the child born from the expectant "mother" will be a male or female. The Rishis see through the prank and getting enraged, curses Samba that whatever Samba gives birth to, will end not only him, but the entire race of Yadavas. Frightened, they run away from there.  

Soon enough, Samba gets pregnant and with great agony, delivers an iron pestle (a rod used with a mortar to ground spices or grains.) The Yadava's did not want to keep the pestle that was supposed to cause their destruction, in their kingdom. Ugrasena (father of Kamsa), ruler of Dwaraka, orders the pestle to be grounded, made into fine dust and dumped into the ocean. Sri Krishna smiles silently as the scared yadavas rush to carry out the order. The Yadavas reduce the pestle to dust, except for a very hard piece of the pestle. They throw the dust and the single hard piece of pestle into the ocean. Having done this, they come back satisfied that thwarted fate. (Little did they know, they cemented it.) 

As time goes by, the Yadavas fall more into merry making ways, become intoxicated and were generally hedonistic. Seeing this, Sri Krishna, asks the Yadavas to visit Prabhas sea (a dip in Prabhas see is considered holy) to wash off their sins. They all reach the sea, but with the finest quality of liquor and meat in spite of Ugrasena's decree that none in Dwaraka would touch liquor. They drink to their hearts content. Then a minor skirmish breaks out between Yuyudhana and Kritivarma. From here it breaks out into a full fledged war in between the Yadavas. In their inebriated rage, they break blades of the eraka grass (a form of bamboo found near Prabhas sea shore) and wield it at each other. The strong eraka grass blades crashed into the skulls and bones of the Yadavas. Soon enough, all the Yadavas were dead except Daruka, Balarama and Sri Krishna. Daruka was asked to convey the events to Vasudeva. After the carnage, Balarama decides to leave the earth. He meditates by the sea, and the sea consumes his body. Sri Krishna sits down next to a shrub ruminating about the turn of events. He is killed by the arrow of a hunter who mistakes the Lord's feet to be an animal hiding behind a bush.   

Conclusion:

        At the end of Mahabharata, Sri Krishna had prayed to Lord Shiva for a son like him. A son like Shiva. A son with equivalent destructive powers as the Lord of destruction himself. And this son (Samba) was instrumental in destruction of an entire race.
        The dust of the pestle, thrown into the sea gets pushed back onto the shores by the waves and grows into a form of hard grass/bamboo near Prabhas Kshetra near present day Gujarat, called Eraka grass. Legend has it that, the grass is as hard as iron. The very fate that the Yadavas tried to run away from became the instrument of their death. The unbroken piece of pestle that was thrown into the sea was swallowed by a fish. The fish was caught by a fisherman, and the metal piece was given to a blacksmith, who makes a deadly arrow out of it. This arrow changes hand with a hunter. The hunter uses the arrow on what he thinks was an animal hiding behind a shrub!

       Sri Krishna had granted the wish of Gandhari, his devotee, by designing the destruction of his race and himself! 

Just goes to show that the wheel of Karma is applicable on everyone. Everything has a beginning, middle and end, (no matter who it is.) We are here only to be an instrument of Gods Will and we depart after we finish our part. So make sure you play your part well.

Parikshit and Kali

After the great war between the forces of good and evil (Mahabharata), Lord Krishna returns to Dwaraka. The Yadava dynasty including Balarama and Sri Krishna, comes to an end after 36 years from the end of the Kurukshetra war. (Exactly as per a curse given by Gandhari, who herself was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna.)

The news of return of Sri Krishna to Vaikuntha was too much for the Pandavas to take and they were unable to subdue their grief. They decide to leave the kingdom for sanyasa by crowning their only descendant, Parikshit as the king of Hastinapur. King Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu and Uttara and was born after the great war. (All other descendants of Pandavas were murdered in the war, while Parikshit was saved by the divine grace of Sri Krishna.) Parikshit was an able ruler who was just and compassionate and looked after the welfare of his people.

One day, king Parikshit sees a bull and cow being beaten by a shudra. The bull had been injured on 3 legs and was supporting its weight on the remaining leg. The shudra was beating the bull on its remaining 1 leg. The king recognizes the shudra to be Kali. King Parikshit raises his sword to kill Kali for his unjust act. Kali begs for his forgiveness and tells him that the yugas - Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga and finaly, Kali yuga had to go in cycles and that, that was the law of nature. Dwapara yuga had ended at the time of Kurukshetra war and Kali yuga had begone on the demise of Lord Krishna. Kali could not enter the world as long as Sri Krishna prevailed over mother Earth. But in His absence, Kali started spreading his wings over the world. Yet he could not enter Parikshit's kingdom, because he was a just and righteous ruler. Reminding him that the Yugas had to go in the cycle, he asks Parikshit to let him enter his kingdom. King Parikshit decides to let Kali into his country, but only partially. King Parikshit said that he could enter his kingdom in only these 5 places:

In houses of gambling, in taverns, in brothels, in places where animals are killed and in gold. Kali agrees to this and marches to his new abodes. King Parikshit does not realize, that he too was wearing a crown made of Gold.

Conclusion:

Later, Kali enters the crown of king Parikshit and makes him do an unrighteous act, that results in his death.

The distraught cow in this story is the representation of mother earth and the Bull with 3 weakened legs is the representation of Dharma (religious / moral principles). Every society (Cow) is in balance when the world and all its living organisms follow the codes of Dharma (Bull). It is said that the 4 yugas, occur in cycles, and in each yuga, one quarter of Dharma is lost. hence in Satya Yuga, Dharma is instilled completely in the world, In Treta yuga, and Dwapara yuga, one quarter each of Dharma vanishes. Thus, in Kali yuga, only one quarter of Dharma remains, signified by the 1 remaining leg of the bull. (It also signifies that 3 quarters of the world have turned irreligious.) Mother earth as signified by the cow was saddened by acts of men who kill and eat cows and bulls - in terms of the animals themselves as well as their symbolism.

In general, Kali "kaala" is signified with the increase in diseases, separation from near and dear ones, lack of sacrifices offered by men, failure of marriages, neglect of women and children, separation of education and moral principals and lack of observance of social and moral rules among st other things.  

Bhishma Pratigya

Devavrata found his father, Shantanu perturbed. He asks his father what is the cause of his displeasure. But Shantanu brushes it aside as nothing. Devavrata being the devout son, decides to try to find what was disturbing his father. So he summons a minister who is close to his father and asked him what was disturbing the king. The minister tells Devavrata that the king had visited a fisherman's hut recently and ever since then, he has been aloof and distraught. Devavrata immediately proceeds to meet the fisherman.

The fisherman greets Devavrata and invites him into his humble hut. Inside, he sees a beautiful maiden with a divine fragrance. The fisherman introduces her as his daughter Satyavati. Devavrata asks the fisherman if the king had come to his hut. The fisherman affirms the visit. Devavrata then asks him what transpired there that has left his father, the King, very upset. The fisherman then tells Devavrata,  "A few days ago, the King had come to the banks of river Yamuna, where Satyavati, ferried the king across the river in her boat. The King, Shantanu, fell in love with her and came to me to ask her hand in marriage. This was the happiest thing that could happen to my daughter. But I was concerned that, when the King had a great, learned and able son in you, O! Devavrata, my daughters off springs would never even get a chance to the throne. Hence I told the king that that she could marry her only on the condition that her offspring would be the heir to the throne."

Devavrata quickly realized the reason behind his fathers dejection. Shantanu loved him so much that he could never ask his only son to not be the next ruler. Hence he did not pursue the alliance with Satyavati. But since he could not have her, Shantanu was dejected. Devavrata decides that his fathers happiness is paramount and tells the fisherman that he would rescind his right to the throne to the offspring of Shantanu and Satyavati. The fisherman thinks for a while and says, "You are indeed a great human being to sacrifice your right for your father. But your offspring's may not be as righteous as you are and may challenge my daughters progeny. So how can her descendants claim their right?"

Devavrata thought for a while and said, "I would never marry nor have children. Hence there is no question about Satyavati's descendants not having a right on the kingdom."  Devavrat took a Pratigya (Vow, Pledge) too great in nature. He had just vowed to remain celibate through out his life and abstain from conjugal love out of love for his father. Everyone who heard this was astounded. The Gods and the celestial beings, blessed Devavrata for this Act. From then on he was known as the Bhishma, the one who took the Bhishma Pratigya (the terrible oath).

Bhishma takes Satyavati to his father. Shantanu is amazed at his son. Out of love for him, he grants him the wish of Sweccha Mrityu, or the power to decide the time of his death out of his self will.

         

Shantanu

King Pratipa had a son, Shantanu who went on to become the king of Hastinapura. One day Shantanu was walking along the shores of river Ganga where he came upon a beautiful maiden with a radiant face and slender features. Her hair flowed like the waters of Ganges. He was smitten. He asked the fair maiden to marry him. She said she would but only on one condition. The condition was that he would not ask her questions regarding her motives or actions. The moment he does, she would leave him and go away. Shantanu did not even think to consider. He agreed and they got married very soon.

She proved to be the perfect wife for King Shantanu. The young couple was soon anticipating the arrival of their 1st child. Soon enough, Shantanu's 1st son was born and Shantanu rejoiced. But the joy was short lived as the Queen took the son to river Ganges and drowned him. Shantanu was aghast. But he remembered the promise he had given her at the time of their marriage. So he did not question her actions. Time passed, and the queen delivered their next child. The queen drowned her second son too in Ganges. The biggest loss to a man is the loss of his offspring. King Shantanu suffered in silence as the queen continued to drown 5 more of their sons in Ganges. And each time the King did not ask her, her motives nor reasons for actions in fear of loosing her.    

Soon the Queen was expecting again. In the course of time, she gave birth to another son. King Shantanu was in grief at the birth of his eighth child as he knew what was to be its fate. On the fateful night, he followed the queen as she carried the baby towards Ganges. There he watched in horror as she was about to throw his son into River Ganges. He could not take it any longer and asked her to stop. She obliged by keeping the infant on the banks of the river. The King asked her why she killed all his sons. She replied that she was (the personification of the river) Ganga and that each of their 8 children were eight Vasus in their previous incarnation,cursed buy the great Maharshi Vasistha (one of the saptarishi's) to go through the trials and tribulations of being born as human beings on Earth. They pleaded with the Maharshi to take back his curse. He said he couldn't take back the curse but grant them favors. So he granted a favor that they would spend very less time on Earth. Thus Ganga had kept the promise of the great sage. However the Vasu, Dyauspitr was cursed to live a long life with neither wife nor offspring. This was the 8th son, Devavrata whom Ganga took with her leaving the King without his wife nor offspring.

Conclusion:

Shantanu later moves out of his grief by practice bhramacharya and becomes an able King. His son, Devavrata grows up to be Bhishma, (or Ganga putra) the grand uncle of Pandavas and Kauravas.

Everything that is happening around us is the result of something that has happened before. And everything that occurs in the present will be the cause of some other things yet to happen in the future. Things that happen around us happens for a reason, even thought we may not know the cause or reason at that point in time.