Shloka 63

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

Devanagari script

आययौ च जरा नाम स तदा तत्र लुब्धकः मुसलावशेषलोहैकसायकन्यस्ततोमरः

Transliteration

āyayau ca jarā nāma sa tadā tatra lubdhakaḥ musalāvaśeṣalohaikasāyakanyastatomaraḥ

Translation

Then there came to that very spot a hunter named Jarā—his spear and single arrow tipped with iron fashioned from the remaining metal of the Musala—drawn onward by fate.

Word by Word

• आययौ: came
• आययौ: Kriya (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु) उपसर्ग: आ-
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• जरा: Jarā (name)
• जरा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• नाम: named
• नाम: Sambandha (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात-अव्यय (particle indicating name)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Apposition to lubdhakaḥ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kriya-viseshana (Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Kriya-viseshana (Place)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• लुब्धकः: hunter
• लुब्धकः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लुब्धक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• मुसलावशेषलोहैकसायकन्यस्ततोमरः: whose spear was set with a single arrow-tip of iron remaining from the pestle
• मुसलावशेषलोहैकसायकन्यस्ततोमरः: Karta (Subject-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुसल + अवशेष + लोह + एक + सायक + न्यस्त + तोमर (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); बहुपद-समासः, विशेषण (लुब्धकस्य)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: The circumstances and agent (Jarā) through whom Krishna’s bodily departure occurred.

Teaching: Historical

Quality: solemn

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: Krishna brings his manifest līlā to a close through a divinely-ordered sequence in which Jarā becomes the instrument for the final bodily withdrawal.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Cosmic order of time (kāla) and the principle that the Lord’s departure is purposeful, not defeat

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Time and destiny (kāla/niyati) operate as instruments in the Lord’s līlā, reminding listeners not to mistake bodily events for ultimate reality.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Hold life’s endings with detachment and discernment, seeing events within a larger providential order rather than as mere accident.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord’s body in līlā is real yet voluntarily assumed; his transcendence remains untouched while events unfold within his governance.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Characters & Entities

• Jara (the hunter)
• Musala (iron pestle fragments)
• Krishna (implied narrative context)

FAQs

What is the significance of the hunter Jarā in the Vishnu Purana?

Jarā’s arrival marks the narrative turning point where the Lord’s earthly manifestation withdraws, showing that even seemingly ordinary agents act within the larger sovereignty of Vishnu’s ordained time (kāla).

How does Sage Parāśara explain the role of fate (kāla) in this episode?

By specifying the hunter’s coming “then and there” with weaponry tied to the Musala remnants, the narration frames events as interconnected consequences within divine order rather than random accident.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

The verse supports the Vaishnava view that the Supreme Reality remains untouched while governing the world-process; Krishna’s departure is presented as the completion of lila and the unfolding of cosmic time, not a defeat of the Divine.