The people of Hastinapur were happy and prosperous during the reign of Dharmaraj Yudhishthira. There was no sorrow or fear etc. anywhere. After some time, Arjun went to Dwarkapuri to meet Shri Krishna. When several months had passed since he left, Dharmaraj Yudhishthir was particularly worried.
He said to Bhima – “O Bhimsen! Brother Arjun has not yet returned after receiving the news of Dwarka and here look at the speed of time. Mischief has started taking place in all the ghosts. There are always bad omens. Meteorites have started falling in the sky and earthquakes have started coming in the earth. The light of the Sun has become moderate and circles repeatedly sit around the Moon.
The constellations and stars of the sky are colliding with each other and falling. Lightning strikes the earth again and again. Big storms rise up and create dark, fierce storms. Siyarin is crying in front of the sunrise. Dogs and cats cry repeatedly. Donkeys, owls, crows and pigeons utter harsh words at night. Cows shed tears continuously. Ghee has no power left to light the fire. There seems to be headlessness everywhere. My heart is throbbing seeing all these things. Don’t know what calamity these bad omens are informing. Has Lord Shrikrishna Chandra left this world or is some other sad event about to happen?
At that very moment Arjuna came back from Dwarka in a desperate state. Tears were flowing from his eyes, his body was lustrous and his neck was bent. As soon as he came, Dharmaraj fell at the feet of Yudhishthir.
Then Yudhishthira panicked and asked – “O Arjuna! All our relatives and friends are happy in Dwarkapuri, aren’t they? Our maternal grandfather Shursen and younger maternal uncle Vasudev are well, aren’t they? Our maternal aunt Devaki is happy with her seven sisters and sons and grandchildren, isn’t she? King Ugrasen and his younger brother Devak are doing well, aren’t they? Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Samba, Rishabh etc. are happy, aren’t they? Are our lords Lord Krishnachandra, Uddhav etc. doing well along with their servants? He comes regularly to his Sudharma Sabha, doesn’t he? His sixteen thousand one hundred and eight queens like Satyabhama, Rukmini, Jamwanti, etc. are constantly engrossed in his service, aren’t they? Hey brother Arjun! Why is your radiance diminishing and why are you becoming headless?”
Arjuna became even more distraught and mournful due to the barrage of questions from Dharmaraj Yudhishthira. His color turned pale, tears started flowing continuously from his eyes, hiccups were tied, he said with a hoarse voice – “O brother! Our beloved Lord Shri Krishna Chandra cheated us, he abandoned us and left this world.
By whose grace even the gods did not raise their heads in front of my supreme power, they took that supreme power of mine with them. My speed has become like a lifeless corpse. I was bringing the wives of Lord Krishnachandra from Dwarka to Hastinapur, but on the way some Bhils defeated me like a weakling. I could not protect those weak ones. I have the same arms, the same chariot, the same horses, the same Gandiva bow and the same arrows, with which I had blown the heads of great charioteers in a matter of words. The Arjuna who had never had a face-off with the enemies in his life, the same Arjuna was today defeated by the Bhils like a coward.
The Bhil people looted all their wives and money etc. and I kept watching like an unarmed person. Without that Lord Shri Krishna Chandra, my entire strength has become weak. The Yadavs whose well-being you have inquired about in Dwarka, all those Yadavs had attained the state of ignorance due to the curse of the Brahmins and they died by killing each other after drinking too much alcohol. All this is the Leela of the same Lord Shri Krishna Chandra.
Hearing the news of Shri Krishna’s return to his home and the destruction of the entire Yaduvanshi from Arjuna’s mouth, Yudhishthira immediately determined his duty and said to Arjuna – “O Arjuna! Lord Shrikrishna Chandra, taking off the burden of this earth from his cosmic body, abandoned it in such a way, just as one discards those thorns after removing a thorn from a thorn. Now the fierce Kali Yuga is also going to come. So now we should ascend to heaven soon.
When Mother Kunti heard the news of Lord Shri Krishnachandra’s return to his abode, she left her body by focusing her attention on Shri Krishnachandra. Dharmaraj Yudhishthira gave the kingdom of entire Jambudweep to his great grandson Parikshit and coronated him in Hastinapur and made him the king of Shurasen country and crowned Aniruddha’s son Vajra in Mathurapuri. After that, the great sage Yudhishthira performed the Prajapati Yajna and retired after being immersed in Shri Krishna. He gave up respect, insult, arrogance and attachment and controlled the mind and speech. The whole world became visible to him in the form of Brahman.
He untied his hair, renouncing royal clothes, wearing rags and giving up food and water, observed a vow of silence. After doing this, without looking at anyone, went out of the house in the north direction. Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and Draupadi also followed him.
Engrossed in the love of Lord Krishnachandra, they all started towards Uttarakhand. On the other side, Vidur also left his body after becoming divine in Prabhas area and left for his Yamlok. All the Pandavas were traveling on the road chanting the eight hundred hundred names of Sri Hari. Draupadi, Sahadeva, Nakula, Arjuna and Bhimsen fell one by one in that great path. Now only Yudhishthira was left alive. says
