Shloka 68
अर्जुनस्य अन्त्येष्टि, द्वारकाप्लावनम्, कलिप्रवेशः, कालोपदेशः
कः श्रद्दध्यात् सगाङ्गेयान् हन्यास् त्वं सर्वकौरवान् आभीरेभ्यश् च भवतः कः श्रद्दध्यात् पराभवम्
kaḥ śraddadhyāt sagāṅgeyān hanyās tvaṃ sarvakauravān ābhīrebhyaś ca bhavataḥ kaḥ śraddadhyāt parābhavam
Who could believe that you would strike down all the Kauravas—Bhīṣma, the son of the Gaṅgā, included? And who could believe that you yourself would be defeated at the hands of the Ābhīras?
Unspecified in the provided excerpt (within Parāśara’s dynastic narration to Maitreya, likely quoted speech addressed to a Kuru hero/king).
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The astonishing reversal after the Bhārata war—Arjuna’s later defeat by Ābhīras
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: He orchestrates improbable turns in history to accomplish the burden-removal of the earth and the rebalancing of dharma.
Leela: Yuddha
Dharma Restored: Reassertion of righteous kingship and exposure of human limitation without divine support
Concept: Even the greatest worldly prowess is unstable; fate turns and the mighty can be humbled by the lowly.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Cultivate detachment from reputation and power; anchor identity in dharma and devotion rather than achievement.
Vishishtadvaita: Dependence (śeṣatva) of the jīva on the Lord: competence flourishes only under his sanction
Vamsha: Chandra
Key Kings: Arjuna, Bhīṣma, Kauravas
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
It highlights the astonishing scale of the Kaurava catastrophe—so great that even Bhīṣma (the famed Gaṅgā-born elder) is included in the unimaginable outcome.
Within the dynastic narration, such reversals function as markers of time’s moral and political decline—power shifts away from celebrated royal houses, reflecting the instability associated with later ages.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s historiography assumes a providential order under Vishnu’s sovereignty—great lineages rise and fall within the larger divine governance of time (kāla) and dharma.