Killing of Satrājit and Śatadhanvā

Subject matter: "Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva."

After Akrūra visited Hastinapura and he reported the condition of the Panḍavas to Krsna, there were further development, that the Panḍavas were transferred to…

[break] …made of shellac, and later on set fire into the house, and everyone understood that the Panḍavas, with their mother Kunti, were killed. This information was also sent to Lord Krsna and Balarama. Both of Them consulting together decided to go to Hastinapura to show sympathy to the relatives in their bereavement, although everything was known to Him. Krsna and Balarama knew it certainly that the Panḍavas could not be killed in that fire devastation, but in spite of their knowing to the contrary, They wanted to go to Hastinapura to take part in the bereavement.

After going there, Krsna and Balarama first of all saw Bhismadeva, because he was the chief man of the Kuru dynasty. Then They saw altogether with Krpacarya and Vidura, Gandhari and Drona, other members of the Kuru dynasty, they were not sorry because they wanted that the Panḍavas with their mother might be killed. But other family members, headed by Bhisma, they were actually very sorry for the incidence, and Krsna and Balarama expressed equally sorrow with them without any disclosure of the actual situation.

When Krsna and Balarama was out of the city of Dvaraka, there was a conspiracy to take away the jewel known as Syamantaka from Satrajit, and the chief of the conspiracy was Satadhanva. It appears from the fact that Satadhanva along with others wanted to marry Satyabhama, the beautiful daughter of Satrajit. But Satrajit, although superficially promised everyone that he would give in charity his beautiful daughter to so many candidates, but later on the whole decision was changed and Satyabhama was given to Krsna along with the jewel, Syamantaka, by Satrajit in order to be free from the awkward position. Satrajit had no desire to give the jewel Syamantaka to Krsna, but as Krsna formally wanted the jewel from him he delivered it with his daughter to Krsna. But Krsna, knowing his mentality, accepted his daughter but returned the jewel.

Satrajit actually did not want to separate with the jewel, and after getting it back from Krsna he was satisfied and keeping it with him always. So in the absence of Krsna and Balarama there was a conspiracy by all men, even including Akrūra and Krtavarma, who were devotees of Lord Krsna. Akrūra and Krtavarma joined the conspiracy because they wanted the jewel for Krsna. They knew that Krsna wanted the jewel and Satrajit had not delivered it properly. He wanted to keep it by so many devices. Satadhanva and others joined the conspiracy because they were disappointed in not having the hand of Satyabhama. So in that big conspiracy, some of them incited Satadhanva to kill Satrajit and take away the jewel from him.

The question is generally raised, why a great devotee like Akrūra joined also this conspiracy? True also-why Krtavarma also joined this conspiracy, although both of them were devotees of the Lord? The answer is given by great authorities like Jiva Gosvami and others that Akrūra, although he was a great devotee, he was cursed by the inhabitants of Vrndavana on account of his taking away Krsna from their midst. So on account of their feelings being wounded by Akrūra, he was forced to join this conspiracy made by the sinful men. Similarly, Krtavarma, although he was a devotee, but on account of his intimate association with Kamsa he also contaminated some sinful reaction, therefore he also joined the conspiracy.

So in this way, Satadhanva being inspired by all the members of the conspiracy, one night he entered in the house of…

[break] …and killed him while he was sleeping. Satadhanva was a sinful man of abominable character, and although he was not to live for many days on account of his sinful activities, still, he decided to kill Satrajit while he was sleeping at home. When he entered the house for killing Satrajit, all the women inmates of the house began to cry very loudly, and in spite of great protest by crying, Satadhanva mercilessly butchered Satrajit without any hesitation exactly like a butcher kills an animal in the slaughterhouse.

When Krsna was absent from home, His wife Satyavati [Satyabhama], the daughter of Satrajit, was also present on that night of his killing, and she became too much afflicted on account of father being mercilessly killed and thus began to cry, "My dear father! My dear father! How you have been mercilessly been killed!" The dead body of Satrajit was not immediately moved for cremation because Satyabhama immediately wanted to go to Krsna in Hastinapura. Therefore, the whole body was preserved in a oil tank so that Krsna may come back and see the dead body of Satrajit so that He could take real action against Satadhanva. Satyabhama immediately started to inform Krsna about the ghastly death of his father…, of her father.

Krsna, being informed of the sudden murdering of His father-in-law from Satyabhama, began to lament like ordinary man, expressing His great sorrow in the incidence. Lord Krsna, although He had nothing to do with the action and reaction of this world, still, because He was playing the part of a human being, He expressed His full sympathy with the bereavement of Satyabhama, and His eyes were filled with tears upon hearing about the death of His father-in-law. He thus began to lament, "Oh, what unhappy incidents have taken place!" Needless to say, both Krsna and Balarama along with Satyabhama, the wife of Krsna, immediately returned to Dvaraka and began to make different plans how to kill Satadhanva and take away the jewel from him. Satadhanva, although he was a great outlaw in the city, still he was very much afraid of Krsna's power, and thus he became very much afraid of Him.

Understanding the plan of Krsna for killing Satadhanva, with a desire of being saved from being killed by Krsna in that conspiracy, he immediately went to take shelter of Krtavarma, and on his approach Krtavarma began to say as follows: "I shall never be able to offend Lord Krsna and Balarama, because They are not ordinary persons. They are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Who can be saved from death if one has offended Rama and Krsna? Nobody can be saved from Their wrath." Krtavarma continued to say that "Kamsa, so powerful and assisted by so many demons, could not be saved from the wrath of Krsna, and what to speak of Jarasandha, who was defeated eighteen times by Krsna in the fight, and at last Jarasandha had to retire from the fighting in disappointment."

In this way, when Satadhanva was refused help by Krtavarma, he went to Akrūra for the same purpose, implored him to help him in that awkward condition. Akrūra also replied that both Rama and Krsna were Themselves the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and anyone who knows Their unlimited strength would never dare to offend Them or fight with Them.

He informed Satadhanva that Krsna and Balarama were so powerful that by simply willing They are creating the whole cosmic manifestation, maintaining and dissolving it. Unfortunately, persons who are bewildered by the illusory energy cannot understand the strength of Krsna, although the whole cosmic manifestation is fully under His control.

He cited the examples exhibited by Krsna, even at the age of seven years old, and how He lifted the Govardhana Hill and continued to hold up the mountain for seven days, exactly like a child carries a small umbrella. Akrūra plainly informed Satadhanva that he offered his most respectful obeisances to Krsna, that He is the Supersoul of everything that is created and the original cause of all causes. When Akrūra also refused to give shelter to Satadhanva, he decided to deliver the Syamantaka jewel unto him. Riding on a horse which could run at great speed up to four hundred miles at a stretch, he ran away from the city on the back of that horse.

Krsna and Balarama were both informed of running away of Satadhanva. Therefore, They immediately also got up on Their chariot, unfurled with the flag which was marked by the photo of Garuḍa. Krsna was specifically angry upon Satadhanva and wanted to kill him because he had killed a superior personality, Satrajit. Satrajit happened to be the father-in-law of Krsna, and it is the injunction of the sastras that anyone who has had rebelled against a superior person, guru-druha, such person must be punished in proportion to the volume of offense. So Satadhanva killed Satrajit, the father-in-law of Krsna; therefore, He was determined to kill him by any way.

The horse being too much exasperated died immediately near a garden house of Mithila. So Satadhanva, when he was unable to take help of the horse, he began to run away on legs with great speed. In order to make justice to Satadhanva, Krsna and Balarama left Their charity [chariot] and began to follow Satadhanva on Their legs. Both Satadhanva and Krsna were running on legs, but Krsna immediately took His disc and cut off the head of Satadhanva separated from his body. When Satadhanva was killed, Krsna searched out the jewel Syamantaka from his clothings, but He could not find it out.

When the jewel could not be found out, Krsna came back to Balarama and said that "We have uselessly killed this person because the jewel is not found in his body." Sri Baladeva suggested to Krsna that "The jewel might have been kept in custody of some other man in Dvaraka, so You better return to Dvaraka City to search out the jewel by proper investigation." Sri Balarama expressed His desire to remain in the Mithila City for some days because He was very intimately in friendship with the king and He wanted to stay there for some days. So Sri Balarama did not return, but Krsna returned to Dvaraka and Balarama entered the city of Mithila.

When the king of Mithila saw the arrival of Sri Balarama in his city, he became very much pleased and received the Lord with great honor and hospitality. Immediately he presented so many valuable things before Balaramaji in order to seek His pleasure on the occasion. Sri Balarama lived in that city for several years. The king of Mithila, namely Janaka Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, was very honorably receiving Baladevaji. During this time, Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhrtarastra, took the opportunity of coming to Balarama and learn from Him the art of fighting with club.

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Krsna also, after killing Satadhanva, returned back to Dvaraka, and in order to please His wife Satyabhama He informed her of the death of Satadhanva, the killer of her father. But He also informed her that the jewel was not found in his possession. Then, according to religious principle, Krsna along with Satyabhama performed all kinds of ceremonies after death of His father-in-law, Satrajit. In that ceremony all friends and relatives of the family joined together.

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Akrūra and Krtavarma, who were the prominent two members in the conspiracy for killing Satrajit and incited Satadhanva to kill him, when both of them heard of the death of Satadhanva by Krsna, and they heard also that Krsna had returned to Dvaraka, immediately both of them, namely Akrūra and Krtavarma, left Dvaraka. The city of Dvaraka was faced with many kinds of pestilence and natural disturbances on account of the absence of Akrūra from the city. Actually, this impression of the citizen of Dvaraka was a kind of superstition, but in fact, while Lord Krsna was present there, there cannot be any pestilence, famine or natural disturbances.

The superstition that in the absence of Akrūra there was evidences of inauspicity in Dvaraka was due to the following reason: Sometimes back in the province of Kasi (within bracket) [Varanasi] there was severe drought and practically no rainfall. At that time the king of Kasi arranged the marriage of his daughter, known as Gandini, with Svaphalka, the father of Akrūra. This was done by the king of Kasi on the advice of some astrologer, and actually it was effective that after the marriage of the king's daughter with Svaphalka there was sufficient rainfall in that province.

On the strength of this supernatural power of Svaphalka, his son Akrūra was also considered equally powerful, and people were under impression that wherever Akrūra or his father would remain, there would be no natural disturbance, famine or drought. Actually, that kingdom is considered to be happy where there is no famine, pestilence, excessive heat and cold, and people are happy mentally, spiritually and bodily. As soon as there is some disturbance on this condition of life, people would adduce the cause to some extraordinary man in the city. Thus there was a great rumor that on account of absence of Akrūra things inauspicious are happening.

So after the departure of Akrūra, some of the elderly members of the town began to perceive that on account of the absence of the jewel Syamantaka from the city, there were some inauspicious signs. When Lord Sri Krsna heard all this rumor made by the people, He decided to call back Akrūra from the kingdom of Kasi.

Akrūra was in relationship with Krsna His uncle; therefore, when he came back to Dvaraka, Lord Krsna first of all welcomed him befitting a superior person. Krsna is the Supersoul in everyone's heart; therefore, He knows everything what is going on in everyone's heart. He knew everything what had happened in connection with Akrūra's conspiracy with Satadhanva. Therefore, He smilingly began to address Akrūra in the following words.

He addressed him as the chief of the munificent men. "My dear uncle, it is already known to Me that the jewel Syamantaka was left by Satadhanva with you. Although presently there is no direct claimant of the Syamantaka jewel from you, because King Satrajit has no male issue, his daughter Satyabhama, although is not very much anxious for this jewel, but still her expected son would be the legal claimant of the jewel after performing the regulative principles of inheritance, as grandson of Satrajit."

In other words, Lord Krsna indicated by this statement that Satyabhama was already in pregnancy and "Her son would be the real claimant for the jewel and would certainly take the jewel from you. This jewel is so powerful that no ordinary man will be able to keep it. I know that you are very much pious in activities, so there is no objection of the jewel being kept with you. There is one difficulty, that My elder brother, Sri Balarama, does not believe My version that the jewel is with you. I therefore request you, O the large-hearted, to show Me the jewel only once before My other relatives so that they may be pacified from various kinds of rumors. You cannot, however, deny that the jewel is not existing with you, because actually We can see how you have enhanced your opulence and how you are performing different kinds of sacrifices on the altar made of gold only."

As already stated before that wherever the jewel would remain, the keeper would get every day almost about nine maunds of pure gold produced by the jewel. Akrūra also getting in the same proportion, and he was distributing gold very profusely on the occasion of performing different kinds of sacrifices. Lord Krsna gave Akrūra positive evidence of his possessing the Syamantaka jewel on account of his lavishly spending in gold.

In this way, when Lord Krsna, in friendly terms and in sweet language, impressed Akrūra about the real fact and Akrūra understood that nothing could be concealed from the knowledge of Sri Krsna, at that time he brought the valuable jewel, shining like the sun, covered by cloth and presented it before Krsna. In this way, Lord Krsna took the Syamantaka jewel in His hand and showed it to all His relatives and friends present there, and again He returned the jewel to Akrūra so that they would know that the jewel was actually in Dvaraka City kept by Akrūra.

This story of Syamantaka jewel is very significant. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that anyone hearing about the story of the Syamantaka jewel or describing about it or simply by remembering it, one would be free from all kinds of defamation and reaction of all impious activities, and thus would attain highest perfectional condition of peace.

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Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Fifty-seventh Chapter of Krsna in the matter of "Killing of Satrajit and Satadhanva."