Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.9
॥
Devanāgarī
स एव भगवान् युगसंधिकाले शारदाभ्रसंनिकाशो रौहिणेयो वासुदेवः सर्वाणि गदाद्यायुधशस्त्राणि व्याचक्षाणो नैकान् राजन्यमण्डलान्निराचिकीर्षुः भूभारमखिलं निचखान
Transliteration (IAST)
sa eva bhagavān yugasaṃdhikāle śāradābhrasaṃnikāśo rauhiṇeyo vāsudevaḥ sarvāṇi gadādyāyudhaśastrāṇi vyācakṣāṇo naikān rājanyamaṇḍalānnirācikīrṣuḥ bhūbhāramakhilaṃ nicakhāna
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः एव भगवान् युग-संधि-कालेsaḥ eva bhagavān yuga-saṃdhi-kālehe himself, the lord, at the junction of the ages
शारद-अभ्र-संनिकाशःśārada-abhra-saṃnikāśaḥresembling an autumn cloud
रौहिणेयः वासुदेवःrauhiṇeyaḥ vāsudevaḥthe son of Rohiṇī, Vāsudeva
नैकान् राजन्य-मण्डलान्naikān rājanya-maṇḍalānmany circles of kings
भू-भारम् अखिलं निचखानbhū-bhāram akhilaṃ nicakhānadestroyed the whole burden of the earth
Translation
"He himself, the lord, at the junction of the ages, resembling an autumn cloud, the son of Rohiṇī, Vāsudeva, expounding all maces and other weapons, wishing to remove the many circles of kings, destroyed the whole burden of the earth."
Version
8fa1927911de · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Rauhiṇeya, "son of Rohiṇī," is Balarāma; and he is here called Vāsudeva too, for he too is a son of Vasudeva. It is worth noting the comparison: śārada-abhra-sannikāśaḥ, "resembling an autumn cloud." This comparison in Indian literature signifies whiteness: an autumn cloud, unlike a rain cloud, is white.
Hence Balarāma is depicted white, and Kṛṣṇa dark; and this pair — white and dark — runs through her whole iconographic tradition. Let us add what is worth saying about the phrase bhū-bharam, "the burden of the earth." This phrase is central in the Bhāgavatam's explanation of why Kṛṣṇa appeared: the earth, burdened with armies, took the form of a cow and went to Brahmā to complain (1.16–17, 10.1).
This image is worth keeping, for it is unusual. The earth is burdened not by sinners in general but by armies: not by vice, but by armed force. That is, the trouble is named not moral but social: too many kings, too much military, too much expense on them.
This consideration, to my mind, is more precise than many others. The earth bears the vices of individual people; what it cannot bear is organized violence, feeding off it. Let us add what follows from this for reading the story of Kurukṣetra. It is not only a battle of good against evil; it is a relief of the earth from what had grown upon it; and both sides in it were armies.