By Nirooshitha Sethuram

Krishna and Rukmini were happily living in Dwaraka.  Rukmini gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who was named Pradyumna.  People of Dwaraka rejoiced.  Pradyumna, the eldest son of Krishna, is none other than Kamadeva, the God of Love.  Kamadeva was reborn as Pradyumna due to a curse by Lord Shiva.  We will come back to this story about Pradyumna in a later chapter.  For now, let’s continue with Krishna and the precious Syamantaka Jewel.

There once lived a king named Satrajit.  He was a great friend and devotee of Surya Deva, the Sun God.  Once Lord Surya gave Satrajit the precious Syamantaka Jewel as a gift due to Satrajit’s adoration towards him.  Satrajit was in absolute delight.

This particular gem is said to have great power.  Whichever land this jewel resided in would never encounter any misfortunes such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, untimely deaths or scarcities.  It would always be full of prosperity.  It also would give the bearer of the gem the dazzling appearance of the Sun God.

Satrajit, who belongs to the Yadava clan, coming from the same family as Akrura, returned to Dwaraka with the Syamantaka Jewel.  People mistook him for the Sun God as the dazzling gem was shining its light on Satrajit.  Such news didn’t take much time to reach the palace.  When Krishna heard about this glorious gem he asked Satrajit to present the jewel to Ugrasena, the mighty king of the Yadavas.  But the greed-stricken Satrajit did not comply with this request.  He refused to give the jewel to the King.

One day, Satrajit’s brother, Prasena, who was also the ruler of a Yadava province, wore the Syamantaka Jewel of his brother while hunting in the forest.  While wearing it, he was attacked by a lion, which killed him and fled with the jewel to a nearby mountain range.  Soon after a bear attacked the lion and, after a fierce fight, killed the lion.  The bear took off with the jewel.

The bear was none other than Jambavan, the King of the Bears who was loyal to Rama of Ayodhya during the Ramayana period of Treta Yuga.  He was also considered one of the seven immortals or Chiranjeevis.  Jambavan gave the jewel to his child as a play toy.

When Prasena went missing with the jewel, Satrajit suspected that Krishna was the cause of his brother’s mysterious disappearance.  He therefore accused Krishna of killing his brother, based on the fact that Krishna had requested the jewel be presented to King Ugrasena.  The rumor was that Krishna had an eye on the Syamantaka Jewel, so Prasena’s disappearance with the jewel became the talk of the town.  The people began to doubt and accuse Krishna of murder and theft.

In order to prove his innocence, Krishna decided to find out the true cause of Prasena’s disappearance and straighten out the story.  Along with a few people from Dwaraka, he followed on the trail of the deceased Prasena.  They arrived at the spot where Prasena was killed, finding the corpses of Prasena and his horse still lying there.  They saw the evidence that a lion had attacked and killed Prasena and his horse.

From there Krishna, accompanied by the people of Dwaraka, followed the footsteps of the lion, which led him to the spot of the second incident, where he found the corpse of the lion.  The marks on the corpse led him to believe a mighty bear had killed the lion.

So from there, he followed the tracks of the bear, which finally led him and his clan to the entrance of Jambavan’s cave.  At the entrance of the cave, Jambavan’s little child was playing with the priceless jewel.  The maid who was looking after the child screamed at the site of Krishna and his clan, alerting Jambavan.  She took the little child and ran into the cave.

Krishna, asking the people to stay outside, followed them into the cave.  Jambavan, hearing the maid’s cry,  immediately came to the rescue, finding Krishna following his child and the maid.  Not knowing who Krishna was or the reason why he was there, Jambavan engaged in a furious and prolonged fight with Krishna for 28 days.  Jambavan gradually grew tired and wondered who could have the sustained power to weaken him.  Being an immortal and having the strongest body, he couldn’t understand who fought back with this enormous strength and valor.

It was then that Jambavan realized that he had been fighting none other than Shri Rama himself.  At the moment of that realization, he immediately stopped fighting and prayed to Krishna asking for forgiveness.  Krishna embraced Jambavan, full of love, and explained about his visit.  Jambavan placed the jewel at Krishna’s feet, offering it to him with devotion.  He also requested Krishna to accept his daughter Jambavati in marriage as an offering for his sins earned by fighting him.  Krishna accepted both Jambavati and Syamantaka Jewel.

The people were waiting outside the cave for Krishna to come out.  On the 12th day, fearing that something had happen to Krishna, they sent a messenger to Dwaraka.  They did not have the courage to enter the cave and continued to wait outside for some time.  But with little hope, they finally returned to Dwaraka, unable to bear the thought they had lost Krishna.  The messenger informed Vasudeva and Devaki about the danger that they anticipated.

Hearing this news Devaki immediately gathered all family and friends, arranged a puja for Goddess Durga and prayed to her with piety for Krishna’s safe return.  They heard a voice from the sky saying that Krishna will arrive soon.  They were delighted and satisfied, accepting that message as Divine Mother Durga’s pronouncement.  Vasudeva and Devaki were confident that Krishna would return.

After the 28 days of battle, Krishna returned to Dwaraka with Jambavati, his new wife, and the precious Syamantaka Jewel.  All of Dwaraka rejoiced at his return.  He summoned Satrajit to his royal assembly and explained what happened.  Krishna then handed the jewel over to Satrajit, saying that he never was interested in the jewel in the first place.  The only reason he had wanted to find it was to prove his innocence.  He also warned Satrajit to keep the jewel safe.

Satrajit’s heart was saddened by this knowledge, feeling ashamed of doubting Krishna.  He accepted the jewel with great remorse.  He wanted to make things right and acted immediately with an opportunity to get out of his bad deed.  He gave his daughter Satyabhama in marriage to Krishna, and gave the Syamantaka Jewel as a token of love.

Satyabhama is an incarnation of Bhudevi, Goddess Earth.  Satyabhama was in great delight as she was greatly in love with Krishna and didn’t want to marry any of the other suitors her father was arranging for her.  Krishna accepted only Satyabhama and refused to accept the jewel.  He returned it to Satrajit, saying he could keep the jewel as long as he lived and let it come to Satyabhama as an inheritance afterwards.

Soon after all this, Krishna and Balarama heard that their cousins from the Kuru family were in great danger.  They rushed to Hastinapura to help.  While they were gone, Akrura and Kritavarma of the Yadava Family, who had their eyes on the dazzling jewel, went to see Satadhanva, a wicked king.  They wanted to use him to get the jewel from Satrajit for themselves.

Satadhanva was among those who had wanted to marry Satyabhama.  Satrajit had once promised Satadhanva to give his beautiful daughter in marriage to him.  Later Satrajit changed the decision, out of guilt and to win the favor of Krishna, and married his daughter to Krishna.  Satadhanva was very hurt and angry with this, as he was madly in love with Satyabhama, even though she hated him unequivocally.

Akrura and Kritavarma conspired with Satadhanva to make use of Krishna’s absence from Dwaraka as an opportunity to get the jewel from Satrajit.  They consoled Satadhanva and praised him, firing up his anger, boosting his ego and greed, all to push him into doing what they desired.  One night, Satadhanva entered the house of Satrajit, killed him in his sleep and took off with the jewel.

Satyabhama was devastated to hear the news about her father’s murder.  She rushed to Hastinapura to inform Krishna about the frightening, cruel killing of her father.  Satyabhama, unlike Krishna’s other wives, was well trained by her father in many skills, including warfare.  She had been a very independent woman with a mind of her own.  Krishna consoled Satyabhama and returned to Dwaraka right away with her and Balarama to do last rites and rituals for his father-in-law.  Then he left with his brother Balarama to avenge Satrajit’s death.

When Satadhanva heard about the Yadava brothers coming for him, he fled on his horse, seeking help from Akrura and Kritavarma.  They both refused to help him; they had never wanted to go against Krishna.  Satadhanva left the jewel with Akrura and ran away to save his life.  The horse he was riding collapsed on the outskirts of Mithila.  Terrified, he abandoned his horse and fled on foot.  He was chased down by Krishna and Balarama, finally killed by Krishna by his Sudarshana Chakra.  Balarama decided to stay in Mithila, as he was a good friend of the King of Mithila.

Krishna returned to Dwaraka with the knowledge of Akrura now owning the jewel.  He found that Akrura had already left on a pilgrimage to Kashi with the Syamantaka Jewel.  People of Dwaraka were suspicious about Krishna returning after avenging the death of Satrajit, but without Syamantaka Jewel.  They started to wonder the fate of this jewel.

In the meantime Akrura’s absence from Dwaraka spread like wild fire.  People of Dwaraka were disturbed by the belief that there was going to be famine and drought due to Akrura’s absence from Dwaraka.  This was due to the fact that once, in the province of Kashi, there was severe drought.  At that time the King of Kashi, in accordance with advice from an astrologer, arranged the marriage of his daughter Gandini with Svaphalka, the father of Akrura.  Soon after their wedding, there was sufficient rainfall to bring Kashi back to its glory.  Due to this, people were under the impression that wherever Svaphalka or his son Akrura stayed, there would be no natural disasters.

To set things right, Krishna summoned Akrura from Kashi and asked him to show the Syamantaka Jewel in his possession to all.  When Akrura complied and showed the Syamantaka Jewel at the royal assembly, Krishna let him keep it, on the condition that it was to remain in the city of Dwaraka.  The people of Dwaraka were relieved to hear the truth and delighted about the jewel as well as Akrura’s return to Dwaraka.

More to come…

By Nirooshitha Sethuram

King Bhishmaka of the Vidarbha kingdom had five sons and a daughter, Rukmini.  She was an incarnation of Lakshmi, who was very pretty from childhood and grew up to be a beautiful and graceful princess.  The kings and the princes used to visit Vidarbha to win her heart.  But her heart desired the one and only Krishna.

Rukmini was very impressed by the stories about Krishna she heard while growing up, especially from her grandfather and others who visited her.  She made a special place in her heart for Krishna, fell in love with him and vowed to marry none other than Krishna.  When she grew up a marriageable age, she refused to accept anyone else in all the worlds in marriage.  She had placed Krishna as her mate in her heart.

Rukmini’s parents also welcomed the idea of having Krishna as their son in law.  However, Rukmini’s eldest brother, Rukmi, did not approve of this union.  He was friends with other kings including Shishupala and Jarasandha who considered Krishna to be their archenemy.

Rukmi was an arrogant and ruthless prince.  He convinced, rather threatened, his father Bhishmaka, and arranged for Rukmini’s marriage to his dear friend Shishupala, the king of Chedi, a cousin of Krishna.  Bhishmaka knew Rukmi for who he was, thus agreed to this marriage with a heavy heart, both for the sake and safety of his people.  Bhishmaka knew Rukmi would overthrow him with no regrets and harm the people of Vidarbha with his selfish agenda.

Hurrying to get the marriage to happen, Rukmi directed the royal priest to find the earliest auspicious date for the marriage.  The date was fixed and Shishupala was formally invited to come with his royal entourage to Kaundinyapur, the capital city of Vidarbha, to marry Rukmini.

Who is Shishupala? Shishupala was born to Damaghosha, the King of Chedi and his wife Srutashrava.  Srutashrava was one of the sisters of Vasudeva, Krishna’s father.  Shishupala was born with three eyes and four arms.  His parents were horrified and scared.  They decided to cast him out but they were warned by a voice not to do so, as his time had not come.  The voice also said the child will be superior in strength and that his redundant body parts would disappear when a certain person took the child into his lap.  The voice warned that the very same person would also be the cause of his death.

Once Krishna and Balarama visited their aunt Srutashrava.  While playing, Krishna placed little Shishupala on his lap and the extra eye and arms disappeared.  Remembering the voice, she knew that Shishupala’s death would happen by Krishna’s hand.  She persuaded her nephew, Krishna, that he would pardon his cousin Shishupala for his first hundred offenses.

Shishupala had a cousin named Dantavakra.  The two of them were the third incarnations of Jaya and Vijaya wherein they had to be enemies of Lord Vishnu.  This was so they could get back to Vaikuntha to be the gatekeepers of Lord Vishnu again.

At first Rukmini was horrified and devastated to hear the news that she was to be married to Shishupala, due to her brother’s arrangement.  She pleaded with her father and all of her brothers, but none could and would help her by speaking against Rukmi.

Her love for Krishna made Rukmini bold, breaking her natural tendencies of being a noble, well-natured princess.  She sent a confidential messenger, a Brahmin priest who she trusted very much, with a letter from her to Krishna.  The letter described the whole situation and revealed her love and affection to Krishna, as well as and how her brother Rukmi was forcing her to marry Shishupala, whom she detested.  She pleaded with Krishna to save her honor by abducting her in a rakshasa style marriage.  Otherwise, she threatened in the letter that she would take her own life.  She then waited, spending days and nights yearning and longing to be with Krishna.

The Brahmin priest reached the gates of Dwaraka soon and was presented in front of Krishna without any delays.  Krishna received the message.  Reading Rukmini’s heart-felt plea to rescue and marry her touched his heart.  He too fell in love with Rukmini.

Krishna immediately called upon his charioteer to get his chariot prepared for the journey.  He set out on the mission to rescue Rukmini, taking along the Brahmin priest.  As soon as they reached the outskirts of Kaundinyapur, he sent the Brahmin priest to Rukmini to deliver his reply.  In his reply, he assured that he would rescue her from her evil brother and his conspiring friends, even if he had to battle against the combined forces of those evil plotters.

Soon after Krishna’s departure, Balarama returned home from an errand.  Learning about Krishna’s mission to rescue Rukmini, Balarama was not happy about Krishna leaving without his knowledge.  Even more, he was not happy with hearing who Krishna was preparing to fight.  Sensing trouble, he gathered a huge army of Yadavas to aid Krishna and rushed to Kaundinyapur.  Balarama and the army reached Kaundinyapur at about the same time as Krishna did.

Even before their arrival, Shishupala had arrived along with his royal friends and their armies.  His friends included Jarasandha, Shalva, Paundraka, Dantavakra and Viduratha, among others.  Their armies made a huge combined strength.  They were welcomed in a grand procession by the Prince of Vidarbha, Rukmi.  The streets were decorated beautifully with flags and garlands.  The citizens of Vidarbha were all on the streets wearing their best dresses celebrating the day of their beloved princess’ wedding, even though they were not so happy about whom she was marrying.

Rukmini was desperately waiting through the night, as the next day would be perhaps the last day of her life.  She was looking out for the messenger to arrive while praying intensely.  Morning dawned with no sign of the Brahmin priest.  While she was praying, she experienced her left arm, eye and thigh throbbing, which was a sure sign of good fortune.  As this was happening, the Brahmin priest arrived with the great news from Krishna.  The assurance of Krishna came as a huge relief to Rukmini who hadn’t heard anything from Krishna until then.  She worried no more.

Later that morning, Rukmini went to worship the Divine Mother at the Goddess Gauri temple, where Krishna was to kidnap her as planned.  The temple was situated outside the town.  She was in a procession accompanied by her friends and maids, per the custom that the bride visits the temple on the day of her marriage ceremony.  Her mind was absorbed on the thought of meeting her beloved Krishna for the first time.  At times, she was questioning her own self, doubting herself to be worthy of, or thinking she was not good enough for Krishna.  Yet love conquers all.  Her heart was filled with joy and gratitude to Goddess Mother for this blessing.

The message about her being on her way to the temple was relayed to Krishna, who had signaled back, confirming his arrival at the temple to Rukmini.  He was waiting at the back of the temple with his chariot.

Rukmini followed the purification rituals of washing her hands, feet and sprinkled water in her head.  Observing the vow of silence, she entered the shrine and prayed to the Mother of all, surrendering herself and asking for blessings from the Goddess for her marriage to Krishna.  After worshiping, Rukmini emerged from the temple and lifted her veil.  There he was!  Her sight landed on Krishna, to whom she lost her heart forever.

Krishna was seated in his chariot, smiling tenderly at her.  Rukmini walked directly towards Krishna and allowed herself to be lifted and placed on the chariot.  Krishna gently seated her next to him, giving her the rightful place, the place for a wife, in full view of everyone watching, including Rukmi and the other kings.

Krishna then whipped up the horses and drove away the chariot.  The maids of Rukmini pretended to be in horror and freight, as they knew the plot and put on an act of being bewildered while being filled with joy inside.  Everything happened within a few seconds, with Rukmi and his friends being in shock and surprise.  They were beyond furious that Krishna and Rukmini had tricked them.

The abduction of Rukmini from right under their noses, like a lion lifting its prey from the midst of jackals, charged up Shishupala and his friends.  They rushed up to catch up with the fleeing Krishna.  Rukmi, his brothers and their soldiers also joined the chase.  Jarasandha, seeing Krishna alive and well, couldn’t be angrier.

All their efforts to catch the couple were stalled by mighty Balarama and his enormous Yadava army, who were waiting a small distance outside the town.  Balarama ordered his soldiers to cover and attack the enemy forces, giving time for Krishna to get away.  A fierce battle raged.  Yadava archers were fully prepared and rained huge stocks of arrows towards their opponents.

But the forces of Jarasandha and Shishupala had to counterattack without much preparation.  That cost them dearly; very soon they gave up.  They had already suffered heavy losses, so they ordered their soldiers to stop the battle and retreat.  The forces fled the battlefield to save their lives.

Rukmi did not like the idea of accepting defeat.  Ridiculing his friends, he went after Krishna alone.  Rukmi was in a deep revengeful mood, taking a vow not to return to the capitol without his sister.  He somehow managed to escape Balarama and caught up with Krishna’s chariot in no time.

Krishna did not want to fight with him.  But when Rukmi started insulting Rukmini with abusive words, Krishna had to pick up his bow and arrows.  In no time he brought down Rukmi’s chariot horses and charioteer.  Rukmi came crashing to the ground and got injured.

Krishna jumped down and got hold of Rukmi.  Seeing Krishna’s anger towards her brother made Rukmini interfere, begging for mercy on behalf of her brother.  Krishna was taken by his beloved Rukmini’s plea, so he cut patches of Rukmi’s hair, moustache and beard with his sword, disfiguring Rukmi’s appearance to teach him a lesson.  This was a great insult to a prince, worse than death.

Balarama caught up soon with them, but wasn’t too happy about Krishna’s decision to insult Rukmi, as Rukmi was now their own relative.  Krishna smiled at Balarama in an ironic manner, as he knew what was going to happen to Rukmi in the hands of Balarama in the future.  As Rukmi had taken the vow that he wouldn’t return to the capital if he failed to free his sister from Krishna, he went to a place called Bhojakata.  He lived there with vengeance, vowing to kill Krishna.

Krishna and Balarama retuned to Dwaraka with Rukmini.  Later, Krishna duly married Rukmini in a grand ceremony with proper custom and traditional rituals, with the blessings from both their parents.  The royal families of Kuru, Kekaya, Vidarbha, Kunti and Sarunchaya attended the wedding and blessed the couple.

More to come…