Shloka 25
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
वे जो नारायण नामसे प्रसिद्ध सनातन देवाधिदेव हैं उन्हींके अंश वसुदेवनन्दन श्रीकृष्ण थे, जो अवतारका कार्य पूरा करके पुन: अपने स्वरूपमें प्रविष्ट हो गये ।। षोडश स्त्रीसहस्राणि वासुदेवपरिग्रह: । अमज्जंस्ता: सरस्वत्यां कालेन जनमेजय,जनमेजय! भगवान् श्रीकृष्णकी जो सोलह हजार स्त्रियाँ थीं, उन्होंने अवसर पाकर सरस्वती नदीमें कूदकर अपने प्राण दे दिये
ṣoḍaśa strīsahasrāṇi vāsudevaparigrahaḥ | amajjantāḥ sarasvatyāṃ kālena janamejaya ||
Vaiśampāyana said: O Janamejaya, in due course the sixteen thousand women who had been the consorts of Vāsudeva (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) cast themselves into the river Sarasvatī and ended their lives—an act presented here as occurring after Kṛṣṇa’s departure and the closing of his earthly mission, marking the dissolution of his household ties in the wake of time’s inexorable course.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the power of Kāla (time) and impermanence: once the divine mission is complete and the Lord withdraws, worldly bonds and supports dissolve, and human lives—overwhelmed by loss and circumstance—move toward an inevitable end. It frames the episode as part of cosmic closure rather than triumph or blame.
After Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s departure from the world, his sixteen thousand women (his household/consorts) later plunge into the Sarasvatī river and die. Vaiśampāyana narrates this to King Janamejaya as one of the final unravelings that follow the end of the Yādava era and the completion of Kṛṣṇa’s avatāra-work.