yadhavabhyudhaya chapter11continued

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Description of Dvaraka

 

The fragrance emitted out of the mansions were giving their smell to the the celestial chariots that came near, meaning that the mansions were so high.The devas stood immobile like painted ones admiring the beauty of Dvaraka and its inhabitants as though they were given pranaprathishta.

 

The residents were not affected by the six external and internal sfflictions.. 'na shadbhirAsan vyasanAni pumsAm yadvAmsinAm eethibhH oormibhih vA,' The external difficulties to life are called eethis and were six in number. They are athvrshti, excess of rains, anAvrshti,drought,SalabhAH,locusts,mooshakAH,rats,SukA,parrots ( these cause damage by eating the crops.) The internal afflicitions are caused by kama,krodha , lobha .moha . madha and mathsarya, the internal enemies of man. The intellect became firmly established in the Lord without any disciplines like yoga.

 

The city was like a beautiful forest fit for the enjoyment of the god of love.The presence of the Lord who could be seen only by men of renunciation was enjoyed by the royal damsels in human form.

The verse comparing the city to the forest is full of pun, using same adjectives for both, with different meanings.

pravALachithreekrthajAlakashreeH

sAlAvrthA sambhrtha pathrajAlA

parishkrthA bhadhramrgAdhibhiryA

babhou smarasyEva vihAravanya

 

On the part of the city, it abounds in pravALa, corals, jalaka, windows which were chithreekrtha, well decorated and surrounded with walls,sAla and has vehicles, pathrajala. It has bhadra, auspiciousness and inhabited by elephants, mrga.

 

On the part of the forest, pravALa, means sprouts, jAlaka is the flower-bud, sAla means the trees and pathrajAla, leaves.bhadhra is a kind of elephant and mrga denotes other animals and birds.

 

The flags were so high that they appeared to pierce the orb of the moon and shower the nectar on the tall mansions. That is, they were always clean and white-washed and looked newly built.. 'soudhaih nithyam naveenairiva nirbabhAse' The word 'soudhaih' is derived from sudhA, which means nectar as well as lime. The sun appeared more luminous being reflected by the gems on the mansions.

 

Having many lotus ponds, pushkara, the yaga done by the detached persons being prayaga ( the word pra added gives a special meaning- Yagas are usually done with expectations of fulfilment of desire and the word prayaga means the yaga done without it and hence special.) There was prabhAsa great luminence due to the pious men, and thus Dvaraka was like the combination of all the sacred places. Pushkara, Prayaga and prabhasa are the dharmakshethras, places of piety.

 

The whols city was like a huge heap of gems of which Krishna was the central gem and Dvaraka was like a gem necklace worn by the sea.Thus the whole city had so many shining qualities but the predomonantly praiseworthy feature was the presence of krishna and Balarama. Desika, makes a comparison saying, 'sathyEva thArAnikare thrilOkee chakshushmathee chandradhivAkarabhyAm,' even though there are numerous stars on the sky only the moon and the sun are said to be the eyes of all the worlds.

 

Desika concludes the description by

'prabhuNA sahasravadhanEna varnyathAm

dhviguNairamushya nayanairavEkshyathAm

Sruthibhischa thasya bahuDHA nisamyathAm

aDHIkAm thathaH Sriyam avApa sA puree

 

The meaning of the sloka is as follows:

The city of Dvaraka attained more glory than even Adhisesha with his

thousand faces and mouths can describe, can see and hear with twice as much eyes and ears.

 

Krishna lived in a palace which was like the mount meru and excelled even that of Indra. Desika briefly mentions the exploits of Balarama in pulling the river Yamuna to his door when he went to Gokula to see his friends, and married Revathi, daughter of Revatha ,a king of Ikshvaku clan.

 

The episode of Revatha is told in the 9th skandha of Bhagavatha during the description of the kings of Suryavamsa.Revatha went to Brahmaloka with Revathi looking for a bridegroom for his daughter and spent sometime listening to the music of gandharvas during which several yugas were lapsed on earth and Brahma told him to go to the earth where the Lord had incarnated as Balarama at that time and give his daughter to him in marriage. Ravathi was very tall belonging to the early yuga and Balarama shortened her with the tip of his plough and married her.Desika says the exploits of the Lord as Rama in all the three incarnations in that name have been wonderful.the next chapter deals with the marriage of Krishna with Rukmini.