A world bereft of you: The final Krishna-Arjun journey

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤

36 years after the end of the Kurukshetra war, sitting of the wall of the palace of Hastinapur, Arjun was besieged one afternoon with the strangest feeling that the earth had tilted on its axis.

Frowning, he leapt down. His left foot landed wrong--off-balance--causing him to stumble. As someone with impeccable balance, this was exceedingly disconcerting to him.

He took a step forward, cautiously. 

The ground seemed to be spinning. He could only manage an ungainly gait, feeling like he would fall any moment.

Like he would never be steady again.

The sound of horse hooves announced the arrival of Madhav's charioteer Daruka.

***

"Rajkmuar Arjun!" The normally-calm Daruka sounded wild. "You have to come with me at the soonest--My Lord said--"

Arjun hurried towards him. In spite of his conviction he would stumble, he did not. Finally, he concluded it was a hallucination--just inside his head.

"Come inside, Daruka," he said soothingly. "Sit down and tell me the matter."

"There is no time to sit down," wailed Daruka. "The Yadavas are destroyed."

"What?"

"The Brahmins' curse that our clan would slaughter each other with clubs--it came to pass today--My Lord sent me to take you to Dwaraka."

"How many are dead?" asked Arjun anxiously.

"All of the men but the two Princes and I."

An iron fist twisted inside Arjun's chest.

"Pradyumna? Samba? Aniruddha? Satyaki? All of them?"

 "Yes, Rajkumar." 

The tears streaming down Daruka's face made it real to Arjun.

All of Madhav's sons, grandsons, friends--his whole family, his whole life--

How must he be bearing it?

"We shall set off immediately, of course," said Arjun. "Give me a while, Daruka, I must inform the King first."

"Please be quick, Rajkumar Arjun. My Lord told me to summon you with greatest urgency for the protection of Dwaraka's womenfolk..."

"Why does Madhav need me to protect Dwaraka's womenfolk?" asked Arjun, astonished. "Surely Balaram dau and Madhav are more than enough for that--?"

If the Yadava clan had not just been destroyed, Arjun would have concluded it an everyday practical joke of Madhav's--summoning him with great urgency with a grave task; then when he reached, he would be offered to accompany His Highness for a swim. Or organizing a wedding. Or because he was bored and needed company.

It had happened before, several times.

But in the present context, Madhav would hardly be thinking of practical jokes--

"I do not know," said Daruka. "I did not wait to ask. Bring your bow along."

Well, if Madhav had issued the command of coming prepared for fighting, Arjun would have to follow it irrespective of his confusion.

He sprinted into the palace for his Gandiva. On his way back, Subhadra and Uttara stopped him.

"Where are you in going in such a hurry, Pitashree?" asked Uttara in surprise.

Arjun's eyes found Subhadra's.

"Daruka brought along bad news, my dear," he said gently. "You remember the Brahmins who visited Dwaraka last month and were treated with jest? Their curse came to pass today--the Yadavas slaughtered each other with clubs. It got all the men but Balaram dau, Madhav and Daruka."

Uttara covered her mouth with her hands, but Subhadra simply whispered one word in anguish.

"Bhratashree."

"Your brothers are all right." Arjun reached out to catch her as she swayed. "They will be all right once it has sunk in--"

"The curse--"

"Yes, the Brahmins who cursed the destruction of the dynasty--" 

"Not the Brahmins' curse, Arjun. Rajmata Gandhari's curse."

Arjun was transported 36 years back.

***

Aunt Gandhari, out of her mind with grief, shrieking at Madhav in front of the court.

"Behold them, Lord Krishna! Behold them all! The widows with their husbands dead, the mothers with their sons dead, the sisters with their brothers dead. Behold the destruction you have caused in our dynasty, Vasudev Krishna. Hear the wails of our women.

"I curse you, I curse you with all the ascetic merit I have gained in my thankless life. Thirty-six years from this day, you will become the cause of the destruction of your own kin. Your womenfolk will mourn them all the same way as ours does today.

"Then you--you will be shot to death by a powerless hunter. There will be no glory in your death, Vasudev Krishna. You will die a far more ignominious death than my sons, my nephews, my kin." 

***

"No, Subhadra," said Arjun, forcing his voice to be steady. "Daruka said Madhav was all right after the slaughter. Rajmata's curse could wipe out your clan, but not your brother. He is the Lord of the--"

That was when the second messenger arrived.

***

Yudhishthir had them all gathered in court before he requested the messenger to repeat the news he brought.

He spoke of what had happened after the Yadavas killed each other; Balaram dau having passed on into the next realm, his younger brother had taken to meditating in the forest.

"The hunter Jara, mistaking him to be a deer, unwittingly shot him with an arrow in the sole of his foot. Our Lord Krishna is no more."

"How could an arrow kill Govind?" Draupadi demanded over the exclamations of horror that rose from everyone, royalty and servants alike.

"Undoubtedly, he wished to pass on willingly, jiji," said Subhadra without inflection.

Madhav will not pass on without a goodbye to me, was all Arjun could think. Madhav would never do that to me.

Yudhishthir, ashen-faced, spoke above the wailing, something about how a great misfortune had fallen upon them today, that they must all be brave to withstand it. Draupadi was sobbing in a manner ill-fitted to a Queen in front of her court. Uttara was crumpled in Subhadra's arms. Even Bhrata Bheem, Nakul and Sahadev were holding back tears.

Arjun exhaled.

Did none of them realize that the messenger was mistaken?

Oceans could dry up. Mountains could move. The sky could fall. Fire might run cold.

But Madhav could not have died.

Madhav would not have died like this without telling his dearest friend. Arjun knew it, knew it with all his heart and soul.

Why then, asked a part of his brain he had forgot existed, did he ask you to come and protect his womenfolk?

The floor beneath Arjun heaved violently, bringing him down to his knees, gasping, and he finally knew what had been wrong with the earth earlier.

************

A/N: In case the two curses were confusing, in the version I read, there were two curses. The first by Gandhari in Stree Parva about Krishna being the cause of the destruction of his kin and dying himself afterwards. The second in Mausala Parva where a group of Brahmins visited Dwaraka, and some of the Yadavas including Krishna's son Samba played a joke on them, the latter dressing up like a pregnant woman and asking the gender of the baby. The sages were enraged and cursed that Samba would give birth to an iron club that will cause the destruction of their clan. In the end, both of the curses were fulfilled.