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KB 1970-2-13 / The Marriage of Samba
13 / The Marriage of Samba
Duryodhana, the son of Dhrtarastra, had a marriageable daughter
by the name of Laksmana. She was a very highly qualified girl
of the Kuru dynasty, and many princes wanted to marry her. In
such cases, the svayamvara ceremony is held so that the girl
may select her husband according to her own choice. In Laksmana'
s svayamvara assembly, when the girl was to select her husband,
Samba appeared. He was a son of Krsna's by Jambavati, one of
the chief wives of Lord Krsna. This son Samba is so
named because he was a very bad child, and he always lived
close to his mother. The name Samba indicates a son who is very
much his mother's pet. Amba means mother, and sa means with.
So this special name was given to him because he always
remained with his mother. He was also known as
Jambavatisuta for the same reason. As previously explained,
all the sons of Krsna were as qualified as their great father,
Lord Krsna. Samba wanted the daughter of Duryodhana,
Laksmana, although she was not inclined to have him. Therefore
Samba kidnapped Laksmana by force from the svayamvara assembly.
Because Samba took Laksmana away from the assembly by force,
all the members of the Kuru dynasty, namely, Dhrtarastra,
Bhisma, Vidura, Ujahan and Arjuna, thought it an insult to
their family tradition that the boy, Samba, could possibly have
kidnapped their daughter. All of them knew that Laksmana was
not at all inclined to select him as her husband and that she
was not given the chance to select her own husband; instead she
was forcibly taken away by this boy. Therefore, they decided
that he must be punished. They unanimously declared that he was
most impudent and that he had degraded the Kurus' family
tradition. Therefore, all of them, under the counsel of the
elderly members of the Kuru family, decided to arrest the boy
but not kill him. They concluded that the girl could not be
married to any boy other than Samba since she had already been
touched by him. (According to the Vedic system, once being
used by some boy, a girl cannot be married or given to any
other boy. Nor would anyone agree to marry a girl who had
already thus associated with another boy.) The elderly members
of the family, such as Bhisma, wanted to arrest him. All
the members of the Kuru dynasty, especially the great fighters,
joined together just to teach him a lesson, and Karna was made
the commander-in-chief for this small battle.
While the plan was being made to arrest Samba, the Kurus
counseled amongst themselves that upon his arrest, the members
of the Yadu dynasty would be very angry with them. There was
every possibility of the Yadus' accepting the challenge and
fighting with them. But they also thought, "If they came here
to fight with us, what could they do? The members of the Yadu
dynasty cannot equal the members of the Kuru dynasty because
the kings of the Kuru dynasty are the emperors whereas the
kings of the Yadu dynasty are able to enjoy their landed
property." The Kurus thought, "If
they come here to challenge us because their son was arrested,
we will nevertheless accept the fight. All of us will teach
them a lesson, so that automatically they will become subdued
under pressure, as the senses are subdued by the mystic yoga
process, pranayama." (In the mechanical system of mystic yoga,
the airs within the body are controlled, and the senses are
subdued and checked from being engaged in anything other than
meditation upon Lord Visnu.)
After consultation and after receiving permission from the
elderly members of the Kuru dynasty, such as Bhisma and
Dhrtarastra, six great warriors -- Karna, Sala, Bhurisrava,
Yajnaketu and Duryodhana, the father of the girl --
all maha-rathis and guided by the great fighter
Bhismadeva, attempted to arrest the boy Samba. There are
different grades of fighters, including maha-rathi, eka-rathi
and rathi, classified according to their fighting capacity.
These maha-rathis could fight alone with many thousands of men.
All of them combined together to arrest Samba. Samba was also a
maha-rathi, but he was alone and had to fight with the six
other maha-rathis. Still he was not deterred when he saw all
the great fighters of the Kuru dynasty coming up behind him to
arrest him.
Alone, he turned towards them and took his nice bow, posing
exactly as a lion stands adamant in the face of other animals.
Karna was leading the party, and he challenged Samba, "Why are
you fleeing? Just stand, and we shall teach you a lesson!" When
challenged by another ksatriya to stand and fight, a ksatriya
cannot go away; he must fight. Therefore, as soon as Samba
accepted the challenge and stood alone before them,
he was overpowered by showers of arrows thrown by
all the great warriors. As a lion is never afraid of being
chased by many wolves and jackals, similarly, Samba, the
glorious son of the Yadu dynasty, endowed with inconceivable
potencies as the son of Lord Krsna, became very angry at the
warriors of the Kuru dynasty for improperly using arrows
against him. He fought them with great talent. First of all, he
struck each of the six charioteers with six separate arrows.
Another four arrows he used to kill the charioteers'
horses, four on each chariot. One arrow was used to
kill the driver and one arrow was used for Karna as well as the
other celebrated fighters. While Samba was so diligently
fighting alone with the six great warriors, they all
appreciated the inconceivable potency of the boy. Even in
the midst of fighting, they admitted frankly that this boy
Samba was wonderful. But the fighting was conducted in the
ksatriya spirit, so all together, although it was improper,
they obliged Samba to get down from his chariot, now broken to
pieces. Of the six warriors, four took care to kill Samba's
four horses, and one of them
managed to cut the string of Samba's bow so that he could no
longer fight with them. In this way, with great difficulty and
after a severe fight, Samba was left bereft of his chariot,
and they were able to arrest him. Thus, the warriors of the
Kuru dynasty accepted their great victory and took their
daughter, Laksmana, away from him. Thereafter, they entered the
city of Hastinapura in great triumph.
The great sage Narada immediately carried the news to the Yadu
dynasty that Samba was arrested and told them the whole
story. The members of the Yadu dynasty became very angry at
Samba's being arrested, and improperly so by six warriors. Now,
with the permission of the head of the Yadu dynasty's king,
Ugrasena, they prepared to attack the capital city of the
Kuru dynasty.
Although Lord Balarama knew very well that by slight
provocation people are prepared to fight with one another in
the age of Kali, He did not like the idea that the two great
dynasties, the Kuru dynasty and the Yadu dynasty, would fight
amongst themselves, even though they were influenced by Kali-
yuga. "Instead of fighting with them," He wisely thought, "let
Me go there and see the situation, and let Me try to see if the
fight can be settled by mutual understanding." Balarama's idea
was that if the Kuru dynasty could be induced to release Samba
along with his wife, Laksmana, then the fight could be avoided.
He therefore immediately arranged for a nice chariot to go to
Hastinapura, accompanied by learned priests and brahmanas, as
well as by some of the elderly members of the Yadu dynasty. He
was confident that the members of the Kuru dynasty would agree
to this marriage and avoid fighting amongst themselves.
As Lord Balarama proceeded towards Hastinapura in His chariot,
accompanied by the learned brahmanas and the elderly members
of the Yadu dynasty, He looked like the moon shining in the
clear sky amongst the glittering stars. When Lord Balarama
reached the precincts of the city of Hastinapura, He did not
enter, but stationed Himself in a camp outside the city in a
small garden house. Then He asked Uddhava to see the
leaders of the Kuru dynasty and inquire from them whether they
wanted to fight with the Yadu dynasty or to make a settlement.
Uddhava went to see the leaders of the Kuru dynasty, and he met
all the important members, including Bhismadeva, Dhrtarastra,
Dronacarya, Bali, Duryodhana and Bahlika. After offering them
due respects, he informed them that Lord Balarama had already
arrived at the garden, outside the city door.
The leaders of the Kuru dynasty, especially Dhrtarastra and
Duryodhana, were very joyful because they knew very well that
Lord Balarama was a great well-wisher of their family. There
were no bounds to their joy on hearing the news, and so
immediately they welcomed Uddhava. In order to
properly receive Lord Balarama, they all took
auspicious paraphernalia for His reception in their hands and
went to see Him outside the city door. According to their
respective positions, they welcomed Lord Balarama by giving Him
in charity nice cows and argha (an assortment of articles
such as aratrika water, sweet preparations of honey,
butter, etc., and flowers, and garlands scented with pulp).
Because all of them knew the exalted position of Lord Balarama
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they bowed their heads
before the Lord with great respect. They all exchanged words of
reception by asking one another of their welfare, and when
such formality was finished, Lord Balarama, in a great voice
and very patiently, submitted before them the following words
for their consideration. "My dear friends, this time I have
come to you as a messenger with the order of the all-powerful
King Ugrasena. Please, therefore, hear the order with attention
and great care. Without wasting a single moment, please try to
carry out the order. King Ugrasena knows very well that you
warriors of the Kuru dynasty improperly fought with the pious
Samba, who was alone, and that with great difficulty and
tactics you have arrested him. We have all heard
this news, but we are not very agitated because we are
most intimately related to each other. I do not think we
should disturb our good relationship; we should continue our
friendship without any unnecessary fighting. Please, therefore,
immediately release Samba and bring him, along with his wife,
Laksmana, before Me."
When Lord Balarama spoke in a commanding tone full of heroic
assertion, supremacy and chivalry, His statements were not
appreciated by the leaders of the Kuru dynasty
. Rather, all of them became agitated,
and with great anger they said: "Hello! These words are very
astonishing but quite befitting the age of Kali; otherwise how
could Balarama speak so vituperatively? The language and tone
used by Balarama are simply abusive, and due to the influence
of this age, it appears that the shoes befitting the feet want
to rise to the top of the head where the helmet is worn. We
are connected with the Yadu dynasty by marriage, and because of
this they have been given the chance to come live with us, dine
with us, and sleep with us; now they are taking advantage of
these privileges. They had practically no position before we
gave them a portion of our kingdom to rule, and now they are
trying to command us. We have allowed the Yadu dynasty to use
the royal insignias like the whisk, fan, conchshell, white
umbrella, crown, royal throne, sitting place, bedstead
and everything befitting the royal order. They
should not have used such royal paraphernalia in our presence,
but we did not check them due to our family relationships. Now
they have the audacity to order us to do things. Well, this is
enough of their impudence! We cannot allow them to do any more
of these things, nor shall we allow them to use these royal
insignias. It would be best to take all these things away; it
is improper to feed a snake with milk, since such merciful
activities simply increase his venom. The Yadu dynasty is now
trying to go against those who have fed them so nicely. Their
flourishing condition is due to our gifts and merciful behavior,
and still they are so shameless that they are trying to order
us. How regrettable are all these activities! No one in the
world can enjoy anything if the members of the Kuru dynasty
like Bhisma, Dronacarya and Arjuna do not allow them to.
Exactly as a lamb cannot enjoy life in the presence of a lion,
without our desire it is not even possible for the demigods in
heaven, headed by King Indra, to find enjoyment in life, not
to speak of ordinary human beings!" Actually the members of the
Kuru dynasty were very puffed up due to their opulence,
kingdom, aristocracy, family tradition, great warriors, family
members and vast expansive empire. They did not even observe
common formalities of civilized society, and in the presence of
Lord Balarama they uttered insulting words about the Yadu
dynasty. Speaking in this unmannerly way, they returned
to their city of Hastinapura.
Although Lord Balarama patiently heard their insulting words
and simply observed their uncivil behavior, from His appearance
it was clear that He was burning with anger and was thinking of
retaliating with great vengeance. His bodily features became so
agitated that it was difficult for anyone to look at Him.
He laughed very loudly and said: "It is true that if a man
becomes too puffed up because of his family, opulence,
beauty and material advancement, he no longer wants a peaceful
life but becomes belligerent toward all others. It is useless
to give such a person good instruction for gentle behavior and
peaceful life, but on the contrary, one should search out the
ways and means to punish him." Generally, due to material
opulence a man becomes exactly like an animal. To give an
animal peaceful instructions is useless, and the only means is
argumentum vaculum. In other words, the only means to
keep animals in order is a stick. "Just see how impudent
the members of the Kuru dynasty are! I wanted to make a
peaceful settlement despite the anger of all the other members
of the Yadu dynasty, including Lord Krsna Himself. They were
preparing to attack the whole kingdom of the Kuru dynasty, but
I pacified them and took the trouble to come here to settle the
affair without any fighting. Still these rascals behave like
this! It is clear that they do not want a peaceful settlement,
but that they are factually warmongers. With great pride they
have repeatedly insulted Me by calling the Yadus dynasty ill
names.
"Even the King of heaven, Indra, abides by the order of the
Yadu dynasty; and you consider King Ugrasena, who is the head
of the Bhojas, Vrsnis, Andhakas and Yadavas, to be the leader
of a small phalanx! Your conclusion is wonderful! You do not
care for King Ugrasena, whose order is obeyed even by King
Indra. Consider the exalted position of the Yadu dynasty. They
have forcibly used both the assembly house and the parijata
tree of the heavenly planet, and still you think that they
cannot order you. Don't you even think that Lord Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, can sit on the exalted royal
throne and command everyone? All right! If your thinking is
like that, then you deserve to be taught a very good lesson.
You have thought it wise that the royal insignias like the
whisk, fan, white umbrella, royal throne and other princely
paraphernalia not be used by the Yadu dynasty. Does this mean
that even Lord Krsna, the Lord of the whole creation and the
husband of the goddess of fortune, cannot use this royal
paraphernalia? The dust of Krsna's lotus feet is worshiped by
all the great demigods. The Ganges water is inundating
the whole world, and since it is emanating from His lotus
feet, its banks have turned into great places of pilgrimage.
The principal deities of all planets engage in His service, and
they consider themselves most fortunate to take the dust of the
lotus feet of Krsna on their helmets. Great demigods like Lord
Brahma, Lord Siva, and even the goddess of fortune and I are
simply plenary parts of His spiritual identity, and still you
think that He is not fit to use the royal insignia or even sit
on the royal throne? Alas, how regrettable it is that these
fools consider us, the members of the Yadu dynasty, to be like
shoes and themselves like helmets. It is clear now that these
leaders of the Kuru dynasty have become mad over their worldly
possessions and opulence. Every statement they made was full of
crazy proposals. I should immediately take them to task and
bring them to their senses. If I do not take steps against them,
it will be improper on My part. Therefore, on this very day, I
shall rid the whole world of any trace of the Kuru dynasty. I
shall finish them off immediately!" While talking like this,
Lord Balarama seemed so furious that He looked as if He could
burn the whole cosmic creation to ashes. He stood up steadily,
and taking His plow in His hand, began striking the earth with
it. In this way the whole city of Hastinapura was separated
from the earth. Lord Balarama then began to drag the city
toward the flowing water of the river Ganges. Because of this,
there was a great tremor throughout Hastinapura, as if there
had been an earthquake, and it seemed that the whole city would
be dismantled.
When all the members of the Kuru dynasty saw that their city
was about to fall into the water of the Ganges and when they
heard their citizens howling in great anxiety, they immediately
came to their senses and understood what was happening. Thus
without waiting another second they brought forward their
daughter Laksmana. They also brought Samba, who had forcibly
tried to take her away, keeping him in the forefront with
Laksmana at his back. All the members of the Kuru dynasty
appeared before Lord Balarama with folded hands just to beg the
pardon of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now using good
sense, they said: "O Lord Balarama, You are the reservoir of
all pleasures. You are the maintainer and support of the entire
cosmic situation. Unfortunately we were all unaware of Your
inconceivable potencies. Dear Lord, please consider us most
foolish. Our intelligence was bewildered and not in order.
Therefore we have come before You to beg Your pardon. Please
excuse us. You are the original creator, sustainer and
annihilator of the whole cosmic manifestation, and still Your
position is always transcendental. O all-powerful Lord, great
sages speak about You. You are the original puppeteer, and
everything in the world is just like Your toys. O unlimited one,
You have a hold on everything, and like child's play You hold
all the planetary systems on Your head. When the time for
dissolution comes, You close up the whole cosmic manifestation
within Yourself. At that time nothing remains but Yourself
lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Visnu. Our dear Lord, You
have appeared on this earth in Your transcendental body just
for the maintenance of the cosmic situation. You are above all
anger, envy and enmity. Whatever You do, even in the form of
chastisement, is auspicious for the whole material existence.
We are offering our respectful obeisances unto You because
You are the imperishable Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
reservoir of all opulences and potencies. O creator of
innumerable universes, let us fall down and offer You our
respectful obeisances, again and again. We are now completely
surrendered unto You. Please, therefore, be merciful upon us
and give us Your protection." When the prominent members of the
Kuru dynasty, beginning with grandfather Bhismadeva down to
Arjuna and Duryodhana, had offered their respectful prayers in
that way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Balarama,
immediately became softened and assured them that there was no
cause for fear and that they need not worry.
For the most part it was the practice of the ksatriya kings to
inaugurate some kind of fighting between the parties of the
bride and bridegroom before the marriage. When Samba forcibly
took away Laksmana, the elder members of the Kuru dynasty were
pleased to see that he was actually the suitable match for her.
In order to see his personal strength, however, they fought
with him, and without any respect for the regulations of
fighting, they all arrested him. When the Yadu dynasty decided
to release Samba from the confinement of the Kurus, Lord
Balarama came personally to settle the matter, and as a
powerful ksatriya, He ordered them to free Samba immediately.
The Kauravas became superficially insulted by this order, so
they challenged Lord Balarama's power. They simply wanted to
see Him exhibit His inconceivable strength. Thus with great
pleasure they handed over their daughter to Samba, and the
whole matter was settled. Duryodhana, being affectionate
towards his daughter Laksmana, had her married to Samba in
great pomp. For her dowry, he first gave 1,200 elephants, each
of which were at least sixty years old; then he gave 10,000
nice horses, 6,000 chariots, which were dazzling just like the
sunshine, and 1,000 maidservants who were decorated with golden
ornaments. Lord Balarama, the most prominent member of the Yadu
dynasty, acted as guardian of the bridegroom, Samba, and very
pleasingly accepted the dowry. Balarama was very satisfied
after His great reception from the side of the Kurus, and
accompanied by the newly married couple, He started towards His
capital city of Dvaraka.
Lord Balarama triumphantly reached Dvaraka, where He met with
many citizens who were all His devotees and friends. When they
all assembled, Lord Balarama narrated the whole story of the
marriage, and they were astonished to hear how Balarama had
made the city of Hastinapura tremble. It is confirmed by
Sukadeva Gosvami that the site of Hastinapura is now known as
New Delhi, and the river flowing through the city is called
the Yamuna, although in those days it was known as
the Ganges. From
authorities like Jiva Gosvami it is also confirmed that the
Ganges and Yamuna are the same river flowing in different
courses. The part of the Ganges which flows through Hastinapura
to the area of Vrndavana is called the Yamuna because it is
sanctified by the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krsna. The
part of Hastinapura which slopes towards the Yamuna becomes
inundated during the rainy season and reminds everyone of Lord
Balarama's threatening to cast the city into the Ganges.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume,
Thirteenth Chapter, of Krsna, "The Marriage of Samba."
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KB 68: The Marriage of Samba
CHAPTER SIXTY–EIGHT
The Marriage of Samba
Duryodhana, the son of Dhrtarastra, had a marriageable daughter
by the name of Laksmana. She was a very highly qualified girl
of the Kuru dynasty, and many princes wanted to marry her. In
such cases, the svayamvara ceremony is held so that the girl
may select her husband according to her own choice. In Laksmana'
s svayamvara assembly, when the girl was to select her husband,
Samba appeared. He was a son of Krsna's by Jambavati, one of
Lord Krsna's chief wives. This son Samba was so
named because be was a pet child and always lived
close to his mother. The name Samba indicates a son who is very
much his mother's pet. Amba means "mother," and sa means "with."
So this special name was given to him because he always
remained with his mother. He was also known as Jambavati-
suta for the same reason. As previously explained, all the sons
of Krsna were as qualified as their great father.
Samba wanted Duryodhana's daughter, Laksmana,
although she was not inclined to have him. Therefore Samba
kidnapped Laksmana by force from the svayamvara assembly.
Because Samba took Laksmana away from the assembly by force,
all the members of the Kuru dynasty, such as Dhrtarastra,
Bhisma, Vidura and Arjuna, thought it an insult to
their family tradition that the boy, Samba, could possibly have
kidnapped their daughter. All of them knew that Laksmana was
not at all inclined to select him as her husband and that she
was not given the chance to select her own husband; instead she
was forcibly taken away by this boy. Therefore, they decided
that he must be punished. They unanimously declared that he was
most impudent and had degraded the Kurus' family
tradition. Therefore, all of them, under the counsel of the
elder members of the Kuru family, decided to arrest the boy
but not kill him. They concluded that the girl could not be
married to any boy other than Samba, since she had already been
touched by him. (According to the Vedic system, once being
touched by some boy, a girl cannot be married or given to any
other boy. Nor would anyone agree to marry a girl who had
already thus associated with another boy.) The elder members
of the family, such as Bhisma, wanted to arrest him. Thus all
the members of the Kuru dynasty, especially the great fighters,
joined together just to teach him a lesson, and Karna was made
the commander in chief for this small battle.
While making the plan to arrest Samba, the Kurus
counseled amongst themselves that upon his arrest the members
of the Yadu dynasty would be very angry with them. There was
every possibility of the Yadus' accepting the challenge and
fighting with them. But they also thought, "If they came here
to fight with us, what could they do? The members of the Yadu
dynasty cannot equal the members of the Kuru dynasty because
the kings of the Kuru dynasty are the emperors whereas the
kings of the Yadu dynasty are able to enjoy their land only
because we have granted it to them." The Kurus thought, "If
they come here to challenge us because their son was arrested,
we shall accept the fight and teach
them a lesson, so that automatically they will be subdued
under pressure, as the senses are subdued by the mystic yoga
process of pranayama." (In the mechanical system of mystic yoga,
the airs within the body are controlled, and the senses are
subdued and checked from being engaged in anything other than
meditation upon Lord Visnu.)
After consultation and after receiving permission from the
elder members of the Kuru dynasty, such as Bhisma and
Dhrtarastra, five great warriors -- Karna, Sala, Bhuri,
Yajnaketu and Duryodhana, the father of the girl -- who were
all maha-rathis and who were guided by the great fighter
Bhismadeva, attempted to arrest the boy Samba. There are
different grades of fighters, including maha-rathi, eka-rathi
and rathi, classified according to their fighting ability.
These maha-rathis could fight alone with many thousands of men.
All of them combined together to arrest Samba. Samba was also a
maha-rathi, but he was alone and had to fight with the six
other maha-rathis. Still he was not deterred when he saw all
the great fighters of the Kuru dynasty coming up behind him to
arrest him.
Alone, he turned toward them and took his nice bow, posing
exactly as a lion stands adamant in the face of other animals.
Karna, leading the party, challenged Samba, "Why are
you fleeing? Just stand, and we shall teach you a lesson!" When
challenged by another ksatriya to stand and fight, a ksatriya
cannot run away; he must fight. Therefore, Samba
accepted the challenge and stood alone before them, but as soon
as he did so he was overpowered by showers of arrows shot by
all the great warriors. A lion is never afraid of being
chased by many wolves and jackals. Similarly, Samba, the
glorious son of the Yadu dynasty, endowed with inconceivable
potencies as the son of Lord Krsna, became very angry at the
warriors of the Kuru dynasty for improperly using arrows
against him. He fought them with great talent. First of all, he
struck each of the six charioteers with six separate arrows.
He used another four arrows to kill the charioteers'
horses, four on each chariot. Then he used one arrow to
kill the driver and one arrow for Karna as well as the
other celebrated fighters. While Samba so diligently
fought alone with the six great warriors, they all
appreciated the boy's inconceivable potency. Even in
the midst of the fighting they admitted frankly that this boy
Samba was wonderful. But the fighting was conducted in the
ksatriya spirit, so all together, although it was improper,
they obliged Samba to get down from his chariot, now broken to
pieces. Of the six warriors, four took care to kill Samba's
four horses, one struck down his chariot driver, and one
managed to cut the string of Samba's bow so that he could no
longer fight with them. In this way, with great difficulty and
after a severe fight, they deprived Samba of his chariot
and were able to arrest him. Thus, the warriors of the
Kuru dynasty accepted their great victory and took their
daughter, Laksmana, away from him. Thereafter, they entered the
city of Hastinapura in great triumph.
The great sage Narada immediately carried the news to the Yadu
dynasty that Samba had been arrested and told them the whole
story. The members of the Yadu dynasty became very angry at
Samba's being arrested, and improperly so by six warriors. Now,
with the permission of the head of the Yadu dynasty,
King Ugrasena, they prepared to attack the capital city of the
Kuru dynasty.
Although Lord Balarama knew very well that by slight
provocation people are prepared to fight with one another in
the Age of Kali, He did not like the idea that the two great
dynasties, the Kuru dynasty and the Yadu dynasty, would fight
amongst themselves, even though they were influenced by Kali-
yuga. "Instead of fighting with them," He wisely thought, "let
Me go there and see the situation, and let Me try to see if the
fight can be settled by mutual understanding." Balarama's idea
was that if the Kuru dynasty could be induced to release Samba
along with his wife, Laksmana, then the fight could be avoided.
He therefore immediately arranged for a nice chariot to go to
Hastinapura, accompanied by learned priests and brahmanas, as
well as by some of the elder members of the Yadu dynasty. He
was confident that the members of the Kuru dynasty would agree
to this marriage and avoid fighting with the Yadus.
As Lord Balarama proceeded toward Hastinapura in His chariot,
accompanied by the brahmanas and elders
, He looked like the moon shining in the
clear sky amongst the glittering stars. When Lord Balarama
reached the precincts of the city of Hastinapura, He did not
enter but stationed Himself in a camp outside the city, in a
small garden house. Then He asked Uddhava to meet with the
leaders of the Kuru dynasty and inquire from them whether they
wanted to fight with the Yadu dynasty or to make a settlement.
Uddhava went to see the leaders of the Kuru dynasty, and he met
all the important members, including Bhismadeva, Dhrtarastra,
Dronacarya, Duryodhana and Bahlika. After offering them
due respects, he informed them that Lord Balarama had
arrived at the garden outside the city gate.
The leaders of the Kuru dynasty, especially Dhrtarastra and
Duryodhana, were joyful because they knew very well that
Lord Balarama was a great well-wisher of their family. There
were no bounds to their joy on hearing the news, and so
they immediately welcomed Uddhava. In order to
properly receive Lord Balarama, they all took in their hands
auspicious paraphernalia for His reception and
went to see Him outside the city gate. According to their
respective positions, they welcomed Lord Balarama by giving Him
in charity nice cows and arghya (a mixture of arati
water and an assortment of items such as honey,
butter, flowers and sandalwood pulp).
Because all of them knew the exalted position of Lord Balarama
as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they bowed their heads
before the Lord with great respect. They all exchanged words of
reception by asking one another about their welfare, and when
such formalities were finished, Lord Balarama, in a great voice
and very patiently, submitted before them the following words
for their consideration: "My dear friends, this time I have
come to you as a messenger with the order of the all-powerful
King Ugrasena. Please, therefore, hear the order with attention
and great care. Without wasting a single moment, please try to
carry out the order. King Ugrasena knows very well that you
warriors of the Kuru dynasty improperly fought with the pious
Samba, who was alone, and that with great difficulty and
unrighteous tactics you have arrested him. We have all heard
this news, but we are not very much agitated because we are
most intimately related to one another. I do not think we
should disturb our good relationship; we should continue our
friendship without any unnecessary fighting. Please, therefore,
immediately release Samba and bring him, along with his wife,
Laksmana, before Me."
When Lord Balarama spoke in a commanding tone full of heroic
assertion, supremacy and chivalry,
the leaders of the Kuru dynasty did not
appreciate His statements. Rather, all of them became agitated,
and with great anger they said, "Oh! These words are very
astonishing but quite befitting the Age of Kali; otherwise how
could Balarama speak so vituperatively? The language and tone
used by Balarama are simply abusive, and due to the influence
of this age it appears that the shoes befitting the feet want
to rise to the top of the head, where the helmet is worn. We
are connected with the Yadu dynasty by marriage, and because of
this they have been given the chance to come live with us, dine
with us and sleep with us; now they are taking advantage of
these privileges. They had practically no position before we
gave them a portion of our kingdom to rule, and now they are
trying to command us. We have allowed the Yadu dynasty to use
the royal insignias like the whisk, fan, conchshell, white
umbrella, crown, royal throne, sitting place and bedstead,
along with everything else befitting the royal order. They
should not have used such royal paraphernalia in our presence,
but we did not check them due to our family relationships. Now
they have the audacity to order us to do things. Well,
enough of their impudence! We cannot allow them to do any more
of these things, nor shall we allow them to use these royal
insignias. It would be best to take all these things away; it
is improper to feed a snake with milk, since such merciful
activities simply increase his venom. The Yadu dynasty is now
trying to go against those who have fed them so nicely. Their
flourishing condition is due to our gifts and merciful behavior,
and still they are so shameless that they are trying to order
us. How regrettable are all these activities! No one in the
world can enjoy anything if members of the Kuru dynasty
like Bhisma, Dronacarya and Arjuna do not allow them to.
Exactly as a lamb cannot enjoy life in the presence of a lion,
without our desire it is not even possible for the demigods in
heaven, headed by King Indra, to find enjoyment in life, what
to speak of ordinary human beings!" Actually the members of the
Kuru dynasty were very much puffed up due to their opulence,
kingdom, aristocracy, family tradition, great warriors, family
members and vast, expansive empire. They did not even observe
common formalities of civilized society, and in the presence of
Lord Balarama they uttered insulting words about the Yadu
dynasty. Having spoken in this unmannerly way, they returned
to their city of Hastinapura.
Although Lord Balarama patiently heard their insulting words
and simply observed their uncivil behavior, from His appearance
it was clear that He was burning with anger and was thinking of
retaliating with great vengeance. His bodily features became so
much agitated that it was difficult for anyone to look at Him.
He laughed very loudly and said, "It is true that if a man
becomes too much puffed up because of his family, opulence,
beauty and material advancement, he no longer wants a peaceful
life but becomes belligerent toward all others. It is useless
to give such a person good instruction for gentle behavior and
a peaceful life; on the contrary, one should search out the
ways and means to punish him." Generally, due to material
opulence a man becomes exactly like an animal. To give an
animal peaceful instructions is useless, and the only means is
argumentum ad baculum. In other words, the only means to
keep animals in order is a stick. "Just see how impudent are
the members of the Kuru dynasty! I wanted to make a
peaceful settlement despite the anger of all the other members
of the Yadu dynasty, including Lord Krsna Himself. They were
preparing to attack the whole kingdom of the Kuru dynasty, but
I pacified them and took the trouble to come here to settle the
affair without any fighting. Yet these rascals behave like
this! It is clear that they do not want a peaceful settlement,
for they are factually warmongers. With great pride they
have repeatedly insulted Me by calling the Yadu dynasty ill
names.
"Even the King of heaven, Indra, abides by the order of the
Yadu dynasty; and you consider King Ugrasena, the head
of the Bhojas, Vrsnis, Andhakas and Yadavas, to be the leader
of a small phalanx! Your conclusion is wonderful! You do not
care for King Ugrasena, whose order is obeyed even by King
Indra. Consider the exalted position of the Yadu dynasty. They
have forcibly used both the assembly house and the parijata
tree of the heavenly planets, and still you think that they
cannot order you. Don't you even think that Lord Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, can sit on the exalted royal
throne and command everyone? All right! If your thinking is
like that, you deserve to be taught a very good lesson.
You have thought it wise that the royal insignias like the
whisk, fan, white umbrella, royal throne and other princely
paraphernalia not be used by the Yadu dynasty. Does this mean
that even Lord Krsna, the Lord of the whole creation and the
husband of the goddess of fortune, cannot use this royal
paraphernalia? The dust of Krsna's lotus feet is worshiped by
all the great demigods. The Ganges water inundates
the whole world, and since it emanates from His lotus
feet, its banks have turned into great places of pilgrimage.
The principal deities of all planets engage in His service and
consider themselves most fortunate to take the dust of the
lotus feet of Krsna on their helmets. Great demigods like Lord
Brahma, Lord Siva and even the goddess of fortune and I are
simply plenary parts of His spiritual identity, and still you
think that He is not fit to use the royal insignia or even sit
on the royal throne? Alas, how regrettable it is that these
fools consider us, the members of the Yadu dynasty, to be like
shoes and themselves like helmets. It is clear now that these
leaders of the Kuru dynasty have become mad over their worldly
possessions and opulence. Every statement they made was full of
crazy proposals. I should immediately take them to task and
bring them to their senses. If I do not take steps against them,
it will be improper on My part. Therefore, on this very day I
shall rid the whole world of any trace of the Kuru dynasty. I
shall finish them off immediately!"
While talking like this, Lord Balarama seemed so furious that
He looked as if He could burn the whole cosmic creation to
ashes. He stood up steadily and, taking His plow in His hand,
began striking the earth with it, separating the whole city of
Hastinapura from the earth, and then He began to drag the city
toward the flowing water of the river Ganges. This caused a
great tremor throughout Hastinapura, as if there had been an
earthquake, and it seemed that the whole city would be
dismantled.
When all the members of the Kuru dynasty saw that their city
was about to fall into the water of the Ganges, and when they
heard their citizens howling in great anxiety, they immediately
came to their senses and understood what was happening. Thus
without waiting another second they brought forward their
daughter Laksmana. They also brought Samba, who had forcibly
tried to take her away, keeping him in the forefront with
Laksmana at his back. All the members of the Kuru dynasty
appeared before Lord Balarama with folded hands just to beg the
pardon of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now using good
sense, they said, "O Lord Balarama, reservoir of
all pleasures, You are the maintainer and support of the entire
cosmic situation. Unfortunately we were all unaware of Your
inconceivable potencies. Dear Lord, please consider us most
foolish. Our intelligence was bewildered and not in order.
Therefore we have come before You to beg Your pardon. Please
excuse us. You are the original creator, sustainer and
annihilator of the whole cosmic manifestation, and still Your
position is always transcendental. O all-powerful Lord, great
sages speak about You. You are the original puppeteer, and
everything in the world is just like Your toy. O unlimited one,
You have a hold on everything, and like child's play You hold
all the planetary systems on Your head. When the time for
dissolution comes, You close up the whole cosmic manifestation
within Yourself. At that time, nothing remains but Yourself
lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Visnu. Our dear Lord, You
have appeared on this earth in Your transcendental body just
for the maintenance of the cosmic situation. You are above all
anger, envy and enmity. Whatever You do, even in the form of
chastisement, is auspicious for the whole material existence.
We offer our respectful obeisances unto You because
You are the imperishable Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
reservoir of all opulences and potencies. O creator of
innumerable universes, let us fall down and offer You our
respectful obeisances again and again. We are now completely
surrendered unto You. Please, therefore, be merciful upon us
and give us Your protection." When the prominent members of the
Kuru dynasty, from grandfather Bhismadeva to
Arjuna and Duryodhana, had offered their respectful prayers in
that way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Balarama,
immediately became softened and assured them that there was no
cause for fear and that they need not worry.
For the most part it was the practice of the ksatriya kings to
inaugurate some kind of fighting between the parties of the
bride and bridegroom before the marriage. When Samba forcibly
took away Laksmana, the elder members of the Kuru dynasty were
pleased to see that he was actually the suitable match for her.
In order to see his personal strength, however, they fought
with him, and without respect for the regulations of
fighting, they all arrested him. When the Yadu dynasty decided
to release Samba from the confinement of the Kurus, Lord
Balarama came personally to settle the matter, and, as a
powerful ksatriya, He ordered them to free Samba immediately.
The Kauravas were superficially insulted by this order, so
they challenged Lord Balarama's power. They simply wanted to
see Him exhibit His inconceivable strength. Thus with great
pleasure they handed over their daughter to Samba, and the
whole matter was settled. Duryodhana, being affectionate
toward his daughter Laksmana, had her married to Samba in
great pomp. For her dowry, he first gave 1,200 elephants, each
at least 60 years old; then he gave 10,000
nice horses, 6,000 chariots, dazzling just like the
sunshine, and 1,000 maidservants decorated with golden
ornaments. Lord Balarama, the most prominent member of the Yadu
dynasty, acted as guardian of the bridegroom, Samba, and very
pleasingly accepted the dowry. Balarama was very satisfied
after His great reception from the side of the Kurus, and
accompanied by the newly married couple, He started toward His
capital city of Dvaraka.
Lord Balarama triumphantly reached Dvaraka, where He met with
many citizens who were all His devotees and friends. When they
all assembled, Lord Balarama narrated the whole story of the
marriage, and they were astonished to hear how Balarama had
made the city of Hastinapura tremble. It is confirmed by
Sukadeva Gosvami that in
those days the river flowing through the city of
Hastinapura, present-day New Delhi, was known as
the Ganges, although today it is called the Yamuna. From
authorities like Jiva Gosvami it is confirmed that the
Ganges and Yamuna are the same river flowing in different
courses. The part of the Ganges which flows through Hastinapura
to the area of Vrndavana is called the Yamuna because it is
sanctified by the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krsna. The
part of Hastinapura which slopes toward the Yamuna becomes
inundated during the rainy season and reminds everyone of Lord
Balarama's threatening to cast the city into the Ganges.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixty-eighth
Chapter of Krsna, "The Marriage of Samba."
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