Adhyaya 211: The Hunter Jarā, Krishna’s Final Līlā, and the Lord’s Ascension
Adhyāya 211 recounts the final movement of Kṛṣṇa’s earthly līlā, understood as His voluntary withdrawal into the imperishable Brahman. Dāruka, obeying Kṛṣṇa’s command, goes to Dvārakā and brings back Arjuna, along with Vajra, presented as a royal successor-figure. The narrative then turns to Govinda’s inward act of sustaining the supreme Vāsudeva-principle within all beings. Honoring the utterance of the brāhmaṇa Durvāsas, Kṛṣṇa assumes a yogic posture. At that moment the hunter Jarā arrives with an arrow tipped by metal remaining from the muśala, mistakes the Lord’s foot for a deer, and pierces it. Seeing the four-armed form, Jarā repeatedly begs forgiveness and confesses his ignorance; Kṛṣṇa absolves him and grants him immediate ascent to heaven by a vimāna. Thereafter the Lord unites the Self with the stainless, unthinkable, undecaying Brahman—Vāsudeva pervading all—relinquishes the human body, and attains a triadic transcendental destiny.
Chapter Arc
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Thematic Essence
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Emotional Journey
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Tirtha Focus
{"tirthas_covered":["द्वारका"],"jagannath_content":null,"surya_content":null,"cosmology_content":"Implicit dissolution motif at the microcosmic level: the avatāra’s embodied līlā is ‘withdrawn’ into the imperishable Brahman (Vāsudeva as all-pervading Self), echoing Purāṇic saṃhāra logic without a full sarga/pralaya excursus."}
Shlokas in Adhyaya 211
Verse 1
व्यास उवाच इत्य् उक्तो दारुकः कृष्णं प्रणिपत्य पुनः पुनः प्रदक्षिणं च बहुशः कृत्वा प्रायाद् यथोदितम् //
This verse: “1” — a numerical marker for a sacred statement in the Purāṇa.
Verse 2
स च गत्वा तथा चक्रे द्वारकायां तथार्जुनम् आनिनाय महाबुद्धिं वज्रं चक्रे तथा नृपम् //
This verse: “2” — the reference number for a sacred utterance in the Purāṇa.
Verse 3
भगवान् अपि गोविन्दो वासुदेवात्मकं परम् ब्रह्मात्मनि समारोप्य सर्वभूतेष्व् अधारयत् //
This verse: “3” — an identifying number for a sacred sentence in the Purāṇa.
Verse 4
स मानयन् द्विजवचो दुर्वासा यद् उवाच ह योगयुक्तो ऽभवत् पादं कृत्वा जानुनि सत्तमाः //
This verse: “4” — an ordinal number used to arrange sacred statements in the Purāṇa.
Verse 5
संप्राप्तो वै जरा नाम तदा तत्र स लुब्धकः मुशलशेषलोहस्य सायकं धारयन् परम् //
This verse: “5” — an identifying number for marking and citing a sacred utterance in the Purāṇa.
Verse 6
स तत्पादं मृगाकारं समवेक्ष्य व्यवस्थितः ततो विव्याध तेनैव तोमरेण द्विजोत्तमाः //
This verse (no. 6) is preserved as sacred utterance within the Purāṇic tradition.
Verse 7
गतश् च ददृशे तत्र चतुर्बाहुधरं नरम् प्रणिपत्याह चैवैनं प्रसीदेति पुनः पुनः //
This verse (no. 7) is a venerable saying, fit for devotional recitation and scholarly study.
Verse 8
अजानता कृतम् इदं मया हरिणशङ्कया क्षम्यताम् आत्मपापेन दग्धं मा दग्धुम् अर्हसि //
This verse (no. 8) sets forth ancient knowledge while preserving the dignity of the Sanskrit source.
Verse 9
व्यास उवाच ततस् तं भगवान् आह नास्ति ते भयम् अण्व् अपि गच्छ त्वं मत्प्रसादेन लुब्ध स्वर्गेश्वरास्पदम् //
This verse (no. 9) should be read with a tranquil mind and reverence, to grasp its deeper meaning.
Verse 10
व्यास उवाच विमानम् आगतं सद्यस् तद्वाक्यसमनन्तरम् आरुह्य प्रययौ स्वर्गं लुब्धकस् तत्प्रसादतः //
This verse (no. 10) is an ancient-style summary, continuing the heritage of the Purāṇic tradition.
Verse 11
गते तस्मिन् स भगवान् संयोज्यात्मानम् आत्मनि ब्रह्मभूते ऽव्यये ऽचिन्त्ये वासुदेवमये ऽमले //
Verse 211.11: The Sanskrit text has not been provided. Please send the full verse for a faithful Purana-style translation.
Verse 12
अजन्मन्य् अजरे ऽनाशिन्य् अप्रमेये ऽखिलात्मनि त्यक्त्वा स मानुषं देहम् अवाप त्रिविधां गतिम् //
Verse 211.12: The Sanskrit original is missing. Please provide the complete verse so it may be translated accurately and reverently.
Frequently Asked Questions
The chapter centers on divine sovereignty and compassion within the framework of karmic inevitability: an apparent tragedy (Jarā’s strike) is reinterpreted as the Lord’s voluntary conclusion of embodied līlā, paired with an ethic of forgiveness in which ignorance is met by grace and liberation-oriented reassurance.
It articulates a foundational Puranic theological grammar: the avatāra’s departure is not merely historical but cosmological, expressed as reabsorption into the imperishable Brahman identified with Vāsudeva and as an affirmation of the Lord as the inner support of all beings—motifs that anchor later narrative, ritual, and doctrinal layers across the Purāṇic corpus.
No new tīrtha, vrata, or formal rite is instituted in the supplied passage. The chapter’s emphasis is doctrinal and narrative—Dvārakā as a setting is referenced, but the text here functions primarily as a theological account of the Lord’s yogic withdrawal and the salvific outcome granted to Jarā.