Shloka 64
यादवक्षयः, बलराम-निर्याणम्, कृष्णस्य उपसंहारः (प्रभासे विनाशः)
स तत्पादं मृगाकारम् अवेक्ष्याराद् अवस्थितः तले विव्याध तेनैव तोमरेण द्विजोत्तम
sa tatpādaṃ mṛgākāram avekṣyārād avasthitaḥ tale vivyādha tenaiva tomareṇa dvijottama
Seeing that foot—shaped like a deer’s form—he stood at a distance; and then, O best of the twice-born, he pierced the sole with that very javelin.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The precise act by which Jarā wounded Krishna and how it occurred.
Teaching: Historical
Quality: solemn
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Krishna allows the final bodily wound as the ordained sign of withdrawal from the world, completing the avatāra’s manifest conclusion.
Leela: Moksha-dana
Dharma Restored: Recognition of divine līlā and the supremacy of the Lord beyond bodily events
Concept: The Lord’s apparent vulnerability is a feature of līlā; his essential divinity is not pierced even when the body is struck.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: When confronted by suffering or loss, distinguish between outer events and the inner, sustaining Reality; deepen śraddhā rather than cynicism.
Vishishtadvaita: Supports the distinction between the Lord’s transcendence and his freely assumed, communicative embodiment—immanence without limitation.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
In this verse, the act of piercing the sole functions as a narrative turning-point: a single, targeted action triggers consequences that uphold the Purana’s moral logic of karma and dharma within royal history.
By narrating precise acts—such as striking from a distance and wounding a specific body-part—Parāśara frames history as ethically structured, where choices made by prominent actors shape outcomes for individuals and dynasties.
Even when Vishnu is not named in a given verse, the Vishnu Purana’s royal narratives are ultimately situated under Vishnu’s sovereignty: worldly events unfold within an ordered cosmos where dharma and karmic result are governed by the Supreme Reality.