The Curse of the Sages

After Yudhishthira was crowned as the king of Hastinapur, Lord Krishna went back to Dwarka. His clan, the Yadavas, lived in eternal happiness in Dwarka so much that they forgot good conduct, morals and the importance of discipline and humility.
Once when Sage Vishwamitra and Sage Narada came to visit Lord Krishna and Balarama, they went beyond the restraints of respect for them. A few children of Lord Krishna dressed up Samba (Son of Krishna and Jambavati) as an expecting woman and asked the visiting sages to foretell the gender of the child. The sages did not appreciate the sense of humour of the children.
Feeling insulted, they cursed Samba, “You shall give birth to an iron rod, which in turn will be cause for the fall of the Yadava Dynasty.” The very next day, Samba gave birth to an iron rod. When Balarama heard about it, he got it powdered and had it thrown away in the ocean.

Gandhari’s curse started taking form. As a last resort to save His Dynasty, Lord Krishna prohibited liquor in the city of Dwarka. In the thirty-sixth year after Mahabharata war, the Yadavas went on a picnic and became drunk. There was a fight between Krishna’s sons, Kritavarma and Satyaki. Soon, all the Yadavas took sides. They took out the stems of a seaweed which grew at the sea-shore and hit one another. Thus, all of them died. Only Lord Krishna, Balarama and Daruka, his charioteer, remained alive.
The seaweed had grown out of the powder of the iron rod. It was washed up on the sea-shore and some of it took the form of an arrow.
Deeply depressed, Balarama went into a yogic trance and gave up his body. He turned into a huge white serpent and went into the sea. He was an incarnation of the great Serpent ‘Sheshnag’, the bed of Lord Vishnu.
Lord Krishna was very sad and sat under a tree to meditate. A hunter, passing by, saw his yellow clothes and mistook him to be a deer. He shot an arrow made from the iron rod. The arrow entered the sole of Krishna’s feet. Finally, Krishna left for His heavenly abode.
Arjun came to Dwarka, as it was Lord Krishna’s wish that the Pandavas should take of the Yadava women and children. Arjun took them to Hastinapur. As soon as they left, the sea engulfed Dwarka. Some robbers attacked Arjun’s party on the way. They took the women and wealth away. Arjun’s powers of archery and the knowledge of weapons failed him. In despair, he went back to Yudhishthira and told him everything.

After Lord Krishna had left, the Pandavas lost interest in the worldly matters. They crowned Arjun’s grandson, Parikshit (son of Abhimanyu), and left on a pilgrimage. Lord Krishna’s departure marked the beginning of the Kaliyug age.

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