जनमेजय उवाच
कथं विनष्टा भगवन्न् अन्धका वृष्णिभिः सह ॥
पश्यतो वासुदेवस्य भोजाश् चैव महारथाः ॥
वैशंपायन उवाच
षट्त्रिंशे ऽथ ततो वर्षे वृष्णीनाम् अनयो महान् ॥
अन्योन्यं मुसलैस् ते तु निजघ्नुः कालचोदिताः ॥
जनमेजय उवाच
केनानुशप्तास् ते वीराः क्षयं वृष्ण्यन्धका ययुः ॥
भोजाश् च द्विजवर्य त्वं विस्तरेण वदस्व मे ॥
janamejaya uvāca
kathaṃ vinaṣṭā bhagavann andhakā vṛṣṇibhiḥ saha ||
paśyato vāsudevasya bhojāś caiva mahārathāḥ ||
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
ṣaṭtriṃśe 'tha tato varṣe vṛṣṇīnām anayo mahān ||
anyonyaṃ musalais te tu nijaghnuḥ kālacoditāḥ ||
janamejaya uvāca
kenānuśaptās te vīrāḥ kṣayaṃ vṛṣṇyandhakā yayuḥ ||
bhojāś ca dvijavarya tvaṃ vistareṇa vadasva me ||
Janamejaya said: How did the Andhakas together with the Vrishnis and the Bhojas, great warriors, perish before the eyes of Vasudeva, O lord? Vaishampayana said: In the thirty-sixth year thereafter, a great calamity befell the Vrishnis: they struck one another down with clubs, impelled by Time. Janamejaya said: By whom were those heroes cursed, that the Vrishnis, Andhakas, and Bhojas came to destruction, O best of the twice-born? Tell me this in full detail.
878b7889da0f · published Jun 21, 2026, 1:05:00 AM UTC
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The listener marvels at the very heart of the coming narrative: how could a clan protected by Krishna Himself perish 'before the eyes of Vasudeva'? In this bewilderment lies a profound question about why the Lord, almighty and loving, permits the destruction of those dear to Him. The answer is concealed in the words 'impelled by Time': even an invincible clan is subject to the hour appointed by the supreme will, and Krishna Himself does not annul what has been ordained, for therein lies His design for the completion of His earthly lila. The verse teaches that even the Lord's presence among His own does not annul the workings of Time and karma, which are guided by His own will; and that the destruction of a great clan, permitted by Him, is not His powerlessness but a part of an inscrutable Providence, closing one age of the world in order to open another.