Shloka 4

यादवक्षयः, बलराम-निर्याणम्, कृष्णस्य उपसंहारः (प्रभासे विनाशः)

Devanagari script

उत्सृज्य द्वारकां कृष्णस् त्यक्त्वा मानुष्यम् आत्मभूः सांशो विष्णुमयं स्थानं प्रविवेश पुनर् निजम्

Transliteration

utsṛjya dvārakāṃ kṛṣṇas tyaktvā mānuṣyam ātmabhūḥ sāṃśo viṣṇumayaṃ sthānaṃ praviveśa punar nijam

Translation

Forsaking Dvārakā, Kṛṣṇa—self-manifest, a divine portion of the Supreme—cast off the human mode and entered once more His own abode, the realm wholly pervaded by Viṣṇu.

Word by Word

• उत्सृज्य: having left/abandoned
• उत्सृज्य: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्-सृज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund/absolutive), ‘उत्सृज्य’ = having abandoned

• द्वारकाम्: Dvārakā
• द्वारकाम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वारका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• कृष्णः: Kṛṣṇa
• कृष्णः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• त्यक्त्वा: having given up
• त्यक्त्वा: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund/absolutive), ‘त्यक्त्वा’ = having abandoned

• मानुष्यम्: human (state/nature)
• मानुष्यम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानुष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• आत्मभूः: the self-existent one
• आत्मभूः: Karta (Apposition/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मभू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—‘आत्मना भूः/भवति’ (self-existent)

• सांशः: as a partial manifestation
• सांशः: Karta (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + अंश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (‘सः अंशः’ = with (his) portion/partial manifestation)

• विष्णुमयम्: consisting of Viṣṇu
• विष्णुमयम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विष्णु + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तद्धितान्त ‘-मय’ (made of/consisting of)

• स्थानम्: abode/place
• स्थानम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• प्रविवेश: entered
• प्रविवेश: Kriya (Verbal action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-विश् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Sambandha (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: काल/पुनरावृत्त्यर्थक-अव्यय (adverb: again)

• निजम्: his own
• निजम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘स्थानम्’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Devotional

Quality: revealing

Cosmological Context

Yuga: Dvapara

Manvantara: Vaivasvata

Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: Having completed the earth’s burden-removal, Kṛṣṇa withdraws the avatāra-līlā and returns to his own Viṣṇu-pervaded abode.

Leela: Moksha-dana

Dharma Restored: Completion of divine mission and re-establishment of cosmic order through orderly withdrawal

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The avatāra assumes a human mode for loka-saṅgraha, yet remains self-manifest and finally returns to his own divine realm.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Hold worldly forms as transient and anchor devotion in the Lord’s eternal abode and presence.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord is both accessible in embodied līlā and eternally transcendent in his own Viṣṇumaya-dhāma, affirming qualified non-duality (world as his mode, not his limit).

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Bhakti Type: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Krishna
• Dvaraka
• Vishnu

FAQs

What is the significance of Kṛṣṇa abandoning Dvārakā in the Vishnu Purana?

It marks the closure of Kṛṣṇa’s earthly līlā and the withdrawal of divine presence from the Yādava capital, signaling a turning point that aligns with the end of the Dvāpara age and the onset of Kali’s conditions.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the idea of ‘tyaktvā mānuṣyam’ (relinquishing the human mode)?

Within the narrator-disciple frame, Parāśara presents Kṛṣṇa’s humanity as assumed for cosmic purpose; the verse emphasizes that the Lord discards only the adopted human appearance/condition, not His divinity.

What is the theological importance of ‘viṣṇumayaṃ sthānaṃ’ in this context?

It affirms a distinctly Vaiṣṇava metaphysics: the highest destination is the Lord’s own domain, entirely constituted by and suffused with Viṣṇu, underscoring Viṣṇu as the Supreme Reality to whom the avatāra returns.