Shloka 42
यादवक्षयः, बलराम-निर्याणम्, कृष्णस्य उपसंहारः (प्रभासे विनाशः)
चारुवर्मा चारुकश् च तथाक्रूरादयो द्विज एरकारूपिभिर् वज्रैस् ते निजघ्नुः परस्परम्
cāruvarmā cārukaś ca tathākrūrādayo dvija erakārūpibhir vajrais te nijaghnuḥ parasparam
O brāhmaṇa, Cāruvarmā and Cāruka, and likewise Akrūra and others—taking up vajra-like weapons formed as eraka reeds—struck one another down in mutual slaughter.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the eraka reeds became instruments of destruction and who fell
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: When adharma arises as collective intoxication and hostility, even ordinary objects become instruments of ruin, revealing how inner vice externalizes as violence.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Watch for escalation in groups—substance, anger, factionalism—and intervene early with restraint and reconciliation.
Vishishtadvaita: Moral disorder in the jīvas manifests in prakṛti’s field, while Bhagavān remains the governing Lord who allows karmic fruition without being tainted.
Vamsha: Chandra
Dharma Exemplar: Akrūra (traditionally dharmic and devoted)
Key Kings: Cāruvarmā, Cāruka, Akrūra
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
They symbolize destiny and karmic ripening—ordinary reeds become vajra-like instruments, showing how adharma and inevitable consequence can transform the mundane into catastrophic power.
Through concise narration of mutual violence: when internal restraint and dharma fail, the same community turns upon itself, and the lineage’s strength becomes the cause of its dissolution.
Even in a verse focused on human conflict, the Purana’s larger frame implies Vishnu as the supreme regulator of cosmic order—events unfold within His governing law of dharma and karma across the yuga cycle.