Kalayavana and the Building of Dwaraka

Verse 1 (vishnu.5.23.1)

श्रीपराशर उवाच गार्ग्यं गोष्ठ्यां द्विजं श्यालः षण्ड इत्युक्तवान् द्विज यदूनां सन्निधौ सर्वे जहसुर्यादवास्तदा

śrīparāśara uvāca gārgyaṁ goṣṭhyāṁ dvijaṁ śyālaḥ ṣaṇḍa ityuktavān dvija yadūnāṁ sannidhau sarve jahasuryādavāstadā

Parashara said: In an assembly, the brahmin Gargya was called 'eunuch' by his own brother-in-law; and, O brahmin, hearing this, the Yadavas all laughed in his presence.

Verse 2 (vishnu.5.23.2)

ततः कोपपरीतात्मा दक्षिणापथमेत्य सः सुतमिच्छंस्तपस्तेपे यदुचक्रभयावहम्

tataḥ kopaparītātmā dakṣiṇāpathametya saḥ sutamicchaṁstapastepe yaducakrabhayāvaham

Then he, his heart consumed with rage, went off to the southern region, and there performed austerities, desiring a son who would become a terror to the whole race of the Yadus.

Verse 3 (vishnu.5.23.3)

आराधयन्महादेवं लोहचूर्णमभक्षयत् ददौ वरं च तुष्टोऽस्मै वर्षे द्वादशमे हरः

ārādhayanmahādevaṁ lohacūrṇamabhakṣayat dadau varaṁ ca tuṣṭo'smai varṣe dvādaśame haraḥ

Worshipping Mahadeva, he lived on nothing but iron filings; and Hara, pleased with him, granted him a boon in the twelfth year.

Verse 4 (vishnu.5.23.4)

संतोषयामास च तं यवनेशो ह्यनात्मजः तद्योषित्संगमाच्चास्य पुत्रोऽभूदलिसन्निभः

saṁtoṣayāmāsa ca taṁ yavaneśo hyanātmajaḥ tadyoṣitsaṁgamāccāsya putro'bhūdalisannibhaḥ

That childless king of the Yavanas too won his favor, and from union with his wife a son was born to him, dark as a bee.

Verse 5 (vishnu.5.23.5)

तं कालयवनं नाम राये स्वे यवनेश्वरः अभिषिच्य वनं यातो वज्राग्रकठिनोरसम्

taṁ kālayavanaṁ nāma rāye sve yavaneśvaraḥ abhiṣicya vanaṁ yāto vajrāgrakaṭhinorasam

Naming him Kalayavana, that lord of the Yavanas anointed him to his own kingdom; and he, his chest hard as a thunderbolt, went off into the forest.

Verse 6 (vishnu.5.23.6)

स तु वीर्यमदोन्मत्तः पृथिव्यां बलिनो नृपान् अपृच्छन्नारदस्तस्मै कथयामास यादवान्

sa tu vīryamadonmattaḥ pṛthivyāṁ balino nṛpān apṛcchannāradastasmai kathayāmāsa yādavān

Intoxicated with pride in his own might, he inquired about the mighty kings of the earth; and Narada told him of the Yadavas.

Verse 7 (vishnu.5.23.7)

म्लेच्छकोटिसहस्राणां सहस्रैस्सोभिसंवृतः गजाश्वरथसंपन्नैश्चकार परमोद्यमम्

mlecchakoṭisahasrāṇāṁ sahasraissobhisaṁvṛtaḥ gajāśvarathasaṁpannaiścakāra paramodyamam

Surrounded by thousands upon thousands of mleccha soldiers, well equipped with elephants, horses, and chariots, he made ready for a mighty campaign.

Verse 8 (vishnu.5.23.8)

प्रययौ स व्यवच्छिन्नं छिन्नयानो दिनेदिने यादवान्प्रति सामर्षो मैत्रेय मथुरां पुरीम्

prayayau sa vyavacchinnaṁ chinnayāno dinedine yādavānprati sāmarṣo maitreya mathurāṁ purīm

O Maitreya, marching on without ceasing, changing his mounts each day, filled with fury against the Yadavas, he set out for the city of Mathura.

Verse 9 (vishnu.5.23.9)

कृष्णोऽपि चिंतयामास क्षपितं यादवं बलम् यवनेन रणे गम्यं मागधस्य भविष्यति

kṛṣṇo'pi ciṁtayāmāsa kṣapitaṁ yādavaṁ balam yavanena raṇe gamyaṁ māgadhasya bhaviṣyati

Krishna too fell to thinking that once the Yadava force was worn down by the Yavana, the way to the battlefield would then lie open for the king of Magadha as well.

Verse 10 (vishnu.5.23.10)

मागधस्य बलं क्षीणं स कालयवनो बली हंतैतदेवमायातं यदूनां व्यसनं द्विधा

māgadhasya balaṁ kṣīṇaṁ sa kālayavano balī haṁtaitadevamāyātaṁ yadūnāṁ vyasanaṁ dvidhā

'Magadha's strength is already spent, and now this mighty Kalayavana has come as well — this indeed is a twofold calamity fallen upon the Yadavas.'

Verse 11 (vishnu.5.23.11)

तस्माद्दुर्गं करिष्यामि यदूनामरिदुर्जयम् स्त्रियोऽपि यत्र युद्धेयुः किं पुनर्वृष्णिपुंगवाः

tasmāddurgaṁ kariṣyāmi yadūnāmaridurjayam striyo'pi yatra yuddheyuḥ kiṁ punarvṛṣṇipuṁgavāḥ

'Therefore I shall build for the Yadavas a fortress unconquerable by any foe, where even women could fight — how much more, then, the finest men of the Vrishnis!'

Verse 12 (vishnu.5.23.12)

मयि मत्ते प्रमत्ते वा सुप्ते प्रवसितेऽपि वा यादवाभिभवं दुष्टा मा कुर्वंस्त्वरयोधिकाः

mayi matte pramatte vā supte pravasite'pi vā yādavābhibhavaṁ duṣṭā mā kurvaṁstvarayodhikāḥ

'Whether I be intoxicated or careless, asleep or away from home, let not those wicked enemies, in their haste, ever succeed in overpowering the Yadavas.'

Verse 13 (vishnu.5.23.13)

इति संचिंत्य गोविंदो योजनानां महोदधिम् ययाचे द्वादशपुरीं द्वारकां तत्र निर्ममे

iti saṁciṁtya goviṁdo yojanānāṁ mahodadhim yayāce dvādaśapurīṁ dvārakāṁ tatra nirmame

Having thought thus, Govinda begged land from the great ocean, spanning many leagues, and there built the city of Dwaraka, twelve leagues in extent.

Verse 14 (vishnu.5.23.14)

महोद्यानां महावप्रां तटाकशतशोभिताम् प्रासादगृहसंबाधामिंद्रस्येवामरावतीम्

mahodyānāṁ mahāvaprāṁ taṭākaśataśobhitām prāsādagṛhasaṁbādhāmiṁdrasyevāmarāvatīm

With vast gardens, high ramparts, adorned with hundreds of tanks, crowded thick with palaces and mansions, he made it just like Indra's own city of Amaravati.

Verse 15 (vishnu.5.23.15)

मथुरावासिनं लोकं तत्रानीय जनार्दनः आसन्ने कालयवने मथुरां च स्वयं ययौ

mathurāvāsinaṁ lokaṁ tatrānīya janārdanaḥ āsanne kālayavane mathurāṁ ca svayaṁ yayau

Having taken the people who dwelt in Mathura there, Janardana himself, as Kalayavana drew near, went out toward Mathura.

Verse 16 (vishnu.5.23.16)

बहिरावासिते सैन्ये मथुराया निरायुधः निर्जगाम च गोविंदो ददर्श यवनश्च तम्

bahirāvāsite sainye mathurāyā nirāyudhaḥ nirjagāma ca goviṁdo dadarśa yavanaśca tam

Leaving his army stationed outside the city, Govinda came out unarmed, and that Yavana saw him there.

Verse 17 (vishnu.5.23.17)

स ज्ञात्वा वासुदेवं तं बाहुप्रहरणं नृपः अनुयातो महायोगी चेतोभिः प्राप्यते न यः

sa jñātvā vāsudevaṁ taṁ bāhupraharaṇaṁ nṛpaḥ anuyāto mahāyogī cetobhiḥ prāpyate na yaḥ

That king, knowing Vasudeva only as one who fights with the strength of his bare arms, pursued him — but that great yogi cannot be attained even by the mind.

Verse 18 (vishnu.5.23.18)

तेनानुयातः कृष्णोऽपि प्रविवेश महागुहाम् यत्र शेते महावीर्यो मुचुकुंदो नरेश्वरः

tenānuyātaḥ kṛṣṇo'pi praviveśa mahāguhām yatra śete mahāvīryo mucukuṁdo nareśvaraḥ

Pursued by him, Krishna entered a great cave, where the mighty king Mucukunda lay asleep.

Verse 19 (vishnu.5.23.19)

सोऽपि प्रविष्टो यवनो दृष्ट्वा शय्यागतं नृपम् पादेन ताडयामास मत्वा कृष्णं सुदुर्मतिः

so'pi praviṣṭo yavano dṛṣṭvā śayyāgataṁ nṛpam pādena tāḍayāmāsa matvā kṛṣṇaṁ sudurmatiḥ

That evil-minded Yavana, entering the cave too, and seeing the king lying there upon his bed, took him for Krishna and struck him with his foot.

Verse 20 (vishnu.5.23.20)

उत्थाय मुचुकुंदोऽपि ददर्श यवनं नृपः

utthāya mucukuṁdo'pi dadarśa yavanaṁ nṛpaḥ

Awakened, Mucukunda too caught sight of that Yavana king.

Verse 21 (vishnu.5.23.21)

दृष्टमात्रश्च तेनाऽसौ जज्वाल यवनोग्निना तत्क्रोधजेन मैत्रेय भस्मीभूतश्च तत्क्षणात्

dṛṣṭamātraśca tenā'sau jajvāla yavanogninā tatkrodhajena maitreya bhasmībhūtaśca tatkṣaṇāt

O Maitreya, the very moment he was seen, that Yavana blazed up in the fire born of Mucukunda's wrath, and was reduced to ashes on the spot.

Verse 22 (vishnu.5.23.22)

स हि देवासुरे युद्धे गतो हत्वा महासुरान् निद्रार्तस्सुमहाकालं निद्रां वव्रे वरं सुरान्

sa hi devāsure yuddhe gato hatvā mahāsurān nidrārtassumahākālaṁ nidrāṁ vavre varaṁ surān

He had once gone forth to the war of gods and demons and there conquered great asuras; and, worn out by so vast a stretch of sleeplessness, he had then chosen sleep itself as his boon from the gods.

Verse 23 (vishnu.5.23.23)

प्रोक्तश्च देवैस्संसुप्तं यस्त्वामुत्थापयिष्यति देहजेनाग्निना सद्यस्स तु भस्मीभविष्यति

proktaśca devaissaṁsuptaṁ yastvāmutthāpayiṣyati dehajenāgninā sadyassa tu bhasmībhaviṣyati

The gods had told him: 'Whoever awakens you as you sleep shall at once be reduced to ashes by a fire born from his own body.'

Verse 24 (vishnu.5.23.24)

एवं दग्ध्वा स तं पापं दृष्ट्वा च मधुसूदनम् कस्त्वमित्याह सोऽप्याह जातोऽहं शशिनः कुले वसुदेवस्य तनयो यदोर्वंशसमुद्भवः

evaṁ dagdhvā sa taṁ pāpaṁ dṛṣṭvā ca madhusūdanam kastvamityāha so'pyāha jāto'haṁ śaśinaḥ kule vasudevasya tanayo yadorvaṁśasamudbhavaḥ

Having thus burned that sinner to ashes, and seeing Madhusudana before him, he asked: 'Who are you?' And he replied: 'I am born in the lunar dynasty, Vasudeva's son, sprung from the race of Yadu.'

Verse 25 (vishnu.5.23.25)

मुचुकुंदोऽपि तत्राऽसौ वृद्धगार्ग्यवचोऽस्मरत्

mucukuṁdo'pi tatrā'sau vṛddhagārgyavaco'smarat

Then Mucukunda there remembered the words once spoken by the aged Gargya.

Verse 26 (vishnu.5.23.26)

संस्मृत्य प्रणिपत्यैनं सर्वं सर्वेश्वरं हरिम् प्राह ज्ञातो भवान्विष्णोरंशस्त्वं परमेश्वर

saṁsmṛtya praṇipatyainaṁ sarvaṁ sarveśvaraṁ harim prāha jñāto bhavānviṣṇoraṁśastvaṁ parameśvara

Recalling it all clearly, and prostrating himself fully before that Lord of all, Hari, he said: 'You are known to me — you are a portion of Vishnu, O Supreme Lord!'

Verse 27 (vishnu.5.23.27)

पुरा गार्ग्येण कथितमष्टाविंशतिमे युगे द्वापरांते हरेर्जन्म यदुवंशे भविष्यति

purā gārgyeṇa kathitamaṣṭāviṁśatime yuge dvāparāṁte harerjanma yaduvaṁśe bhaviṣyati

'Long ago, Gargya foretold that in the twenty-eighth age, at the close of the Dvapara, Hari would take birth in the race of Yadu.'

Verse 28 (vishnu.5.23.28)

स त्वं प्राप्तो न संदेहो मर्त्त्यानामुपकारकृत्

sa tvaṁ prāpto na saṁdeho marttyānāmupakārakṛt

'You are that very one, now come here — of that there is no doubt — the benefactor of mortals.'

Verse 29 (vishnu.5.23.29)

तथाहि सुमहत्तेजो नालं सोढुमहं तव तथाहि सजलांभोदनादधीरतरं तव वाक्यं नमति चैवोर्वी युष्मत्पादप्रपीडिता

tathāhi sumahattejo nālaṁ soḍhumahaṁ tava tathāhi sajalāṁbhodanādadhīrataraṁ tava vākyaṁ namati caivorvī yuṣmatpādaprapīḍitā

'For indeed your immense splendor is more than I can bear; and so too, before your voice, more deep-toned than the thunder of a rain-laden cloud, the very earth herself, pressed beneath your feet, bows low.'

Verse 30 (vishnu.5.23.30)

देवासुरमहायुद्धे दैत्यसैन्यमहाभटाः न सेहुर्मम तेजस्ते त्वत्तेजो न सहाम्यहम्

devāsuramahāyuddhe daityasainyamahābhaṭāḥ na sehurmama tejaste tvattejo na sahāmyaham

'In the great war of gods and demons, even the mighty champions of the demon-host could not withstand my own splendor — yet I cannot withstand yours.'

Verse 31 (vishnu.5.23.31)

संसारपतितस्यैको जंतोस्त्वं शरणं परम् प्रसीद त्वं प्रपन्नार्त्तिहर नाशय मेऽशुभम्

saṁsārapatitasyaiko jaṁtostvaṁ śaraṇaṁ param prasīda tvaṁ prapannārttihara nāśaya me'śubham

'For this one creature, fallen into the round of samsara, you alone are the highest refuge; be gracious, O remover of the suffering of those who take shelter in you, and destroy all that is inauspicious within me.'

Verse 32 (vishnu.5.23.32)

त्वं पयो निधयश्शैलसरितस्त्वं वनानि च मेदिनी गगनं वायुरापोग्निस्त्वं तथा मनः

tvaṁ payo nidhayaśśailasaritastvaṁ vanāni ca medinī gaganaṁ vāyurāpognistvaṁ tathā manaḥ

'You are the oceans, the mountains, the rivers, and the forests; you are the earth, the sky, the wind, the water, and the fire, and you are the mind as well.'

Verse 33 (vishnu.5.23.33)

बुद्धिरव्याकृतप्राणाः प्राणेशस्त्वं तथा पुमान् पुंसः परतरं यच्च व्याप्य जन्म विकारवत्

buddhiravyākṛtaprāṇāḥ prāṇeśastvaṁ tathā pumān puṁsaḥ parataraṁ yacca vyāpya janma vikāravat

'You are the intellect, the unmanifest life-breaths, the Lord of the vital airs, and you are the Purusha too; and whatever is higher still than the Purusha, pervading all, taking on a birth subject to change, that too is you.'

Verse 34 (vishnu.5.23.34)

शब्दादिहीनमजरममेयं क्षयवर्जितम् अवृद्धिनाशं तद्ब्रह्म त्वमाद्यंतविवर्जितम्

śabdādihīnamajaramameyaṁ kṣayavarjitam avṛddhināśaṁ tadbrahma tvamādyaṁtavivarjitam

'That supreme Brahman, devoid of sound and the other sense-qualities, unaging, immeasurable, free of decay, free of growth and destruction, without beginning or end — that too is you.'

Verse 35 (vishnu.5.23.35)

त्वत्तोऽमरास्सपितरो यक्षगंधर्वकिन्नराः सिद्धाश्चाप्सरसस्त्वत्तो मनुष्याः पशवः खगाः

tvatto'marāssapitaro yakṣagaṁdharvakinnarāḥ siddhāścāpsarasastvatto manuṣyāḥ paśavaḥ khagāḥ

'From you the gods, the ancestral spirits, the yakshas, gandharvas, and kinnaras come forth; from you the siddhas, the apsaras, men, beasts, and birds come forth.'

Verse 36 (vishnu.5.23.36)

सरीसृपा मृगास्सर्वे त्वत्तस्सर्वे महीरुहाः यच्च भूतं भविष्यं च किंचिदत्र चराचरम्

sarīsṛpā mṛgāssarve tvattassarve mahīruhāḥ yacca bhūtaṁ bhaviṣyaṁ ca kiṁcidatra carācaram

'The creeping things, all the deer, all the trees, and whatever else here is past or future, moving or unmoving — all of it comes forth from you.'

Verse 37 (vishnu.5.23.37)

मूर्त्तामूर्त्तं तथा चापि स्थूलं सूक्ष्मतरं तथा तत्सर्वं त्वं जगत्कर्त्ता नास्ति किंचित्त्वया विना

mūrttāmūrttaṁ tathā cāpi sthūlaṁ sūkṣmataraṁ tathā tatsarvaṁ tvaṁ jagatkarttā nāsti kiṁcittvayā vinā

'The embodied and the unembodied, the gross and the more subtle — all of it is you; you alone are the maker of this universe; apart from you nothing whatsoever exists.'

Verse 38 (vishnu.5.23.38)

मया संसारचक्रेऽस्मिन्भ्रमता भगवंस्तदा तापत्रयाभिभूतेन न प्राप्ता निर्वृतिः क्वचित्

mayā saṁsāracakre'sminbhramatā bhagavaṁstadā tāpatrayābhibhūtena na prāptā nirvṛtiḥ kvacit

'O Blessed Lord, wandering thus round this wheel of samsara, overwhelmed by the three kinds of suffering, I have found peace nowhere at all.'

Verse 39 (vishnu.5.23.39)

दुःखान्येव सुखानीति मृगतृष्णाजलाशयाः मया नाथ गृहीतानि तानि तापाय मेऽभवन्

duḥkhānyeva sukhānīti mṛgatṛṣṇājalāśayāḥ mayā nātha gṛhītāni tāni tāpāya me'bhavan

'O Lord, like the mirage-water of a desert, I took these very sorrows to be pleasures, and they became, in the end, nothing but a source of torment to me.'

Verse 40 (vishnu.5.23.40)

राज्यमुर्वी बलं कोशो मित्रपक्षस्तथात्मजाः भार्या भृत्य जनो ये च शब्दाद्या विषयाः प्रभो

rājyamurvī balaṁ kośo mitrapakṣastathātmajāḥ bhāryā bhṛtya jano ye ca śabdādyā viṣayāḥ prabho

'O Lord — kingdom, land, strength, treasury, allies, children, wife, servants, and the objects of sound and the other senses —'

Verse 41 (vishnu.5.23.41)

सुखबुद्ध्या मया सर्वं गृहीतमिदमव्ययम् परिणामे तदेवेश तापात्मकमभून्मम

sukhabuddhyā mayā sarvaṁ gṛhītamidamavyayam pariṇāme tadeveśa tāpātmakamabhūnmama

'All of this, undying as I thought it, I took hold of, believing it to be happiness; but in the end, O Lord, all of it turned, for me, into the very substance of torment.'

Verse 42 (vishnu.5.23.42)

देवलोकगतिं प्राप्तो नाथ देवगणोऽपि हि मत्तस्साहाय्यकामोभूच्छाश्वती कुत्र निर्वृतिः

devalokagatiṁ prāpto nātha devagaṇo'pi hi mattassāhāyyakāmobhūcchāśvatī kutra nirvṛtiḥ

'O Lord, even the gods, though they had attained the very state of divinity, still looked to me for help — where, then, could lasting peace ever be found?'

Verse 43 (vishnu.5.23.43)

त्वामनाराध्य जगतां सर्वेषां प्रभवास्पदम् शाश्वती प्राप्यते केन परमेश्वर निर्वृतिः

tvāmanārādhya jagatāṁ sarveṣāṁ prabhavāspadam śāśvatī prāpyate kena parameśvara nirvṛtiḥ

'Without worshipping you, the very wellspring of all worlds, by whom, O Supreme Lord, could lasting peace ever be attained?'

Verse 44 (vishnu.5.23.44)

त्वन्मायामूढमनसो जन्ममृत्युजरादिकान् अवाप्य तापान्पश्यंति प्रेतराजमनंतरम्

tvanmāyāmūḍhamanaso janmamṛtyujarādikān avāpya tāpānpaśyaṁti pretarājamanaṁtaram

'Those whose minds are deluded by your maya attain the torments of birth, death, old age, and the rest, and thereafter come face to face with the King of the Dead.'

Verse 45 (vishnu.5.23.45)

ततो निजक्रियासूतिनरकेष्वतिदारुणम् प्राप्नुवंति नरा दुःखमस्वरूपविदस्तव

tato nijakriyāsūtinarakeṣvatidāruṇam prāpnuvaṁti narā duḥkhamasvarūpavidastava

'Thereafter, born of their own deeds, those men who do not know your true nature obtain the most dreadful suffering in the hells.'

Verse 46 (vishnu.5.23.46)

अहमत्यंतविषयी मोहितस्तव मायया ममत्वगर्वगर्त्तांतर्भ्रमामि परमेश्वर

ahamatyaṁtaviṣayī mohitastava māyayā mamatvagarvagarttāṁtarbhramāmi parameśvara

'O Supreme Lord, I too, utterly given over to sense-objects, have been deluded by your maya, and wander lost within the pit of possessiveness and pride.'

Verse 47 (vishnu.5.23.47)

सोऽहं त्वां शरणमपारमप्रमेयं संप्राप्तः परमपदं यतो न किंचित् संसारभ्रमपरितापतप्तचेतानिर्वाणे परिणतधाम्नि साभिलाषः

so'haṁ tvāṁ śaraṇamapāramaprameyaṁ saṁprāptaḥ paramapadaṁ yato na kiṁcit saṁsārabhramaparitāpataptacetānirvāṇe pariṇatadhāmni sābhilāṣaḥ

'So I have come now to your boundless, immeasurable refuge, that supreme state beyond which nothing exists; my mind scorched by the torment of wandering through samsara, I long only for that supreme abode which opens into liberation itself.'