Mahabharata — Mausala Parva, Shloka 12
अध्याय १: उत्पात-दर्शनम् तथा वृष्णि-विनाश-श्रवणम्
Omens Observed and the Hearing of the Vṛṣṇi Destruction
जनमेजय उवाच कथं विनष्टा भगवन्नन्धका वृष्णिभि: सह | पश्यतो वासुदेवस्य भोजाश्वचैव महारथा:
janamejaya uvāca kathaṁ vinaṣṭā bhagavann andhakā vṛṣṇibhiḥ saha | paśyato vāsudevasya bhojāś caiva mahārathāḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “O revered one, how did the Andhakas perish together with the Vṛṣṇis—how did the Bhojas too, those great chariot-warriors, meet destruction while Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) was looking on?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the mightiest lineages and heroes are subject to decline when time (kāla) and accumulated karma ripen; worldly power is impermanent, and ethical vigilance is required because internal discord can undo what external enemies cannot.
King Janamejaya asks the sage to explain the shocking end of Kṛṣṇa’s own people—the Andhakas, Vṛṣṇis, and Bhojas—who were destroyed despite Kṛṣṇa being present, setting up the account of the Yādavas’ self-destruction in the Mausala Parva.
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