The Revenge of the Ages
It was 36 years after the great Mahabharata war. The man who sitting in the grove at the edge of the ocean was sitting and thinking back about his life. From being born as princeling, to being the son of a cowherd and reclaiming his royal duties after killing his evil uncle, he had indeed lived a full life. He had reunited the nation under the banner of Dharma in the form of his favorite cousin, Yudhistra. And he had been cursed by the great devotee of Shiva, Gandhari to die alone and lonely. Out of love and respect for the three eyed god, he had accepted the curse and was partly relieved. This avatar had made him very tired. He had seen a lot of tragedy and grief in his life. His sons were all dead at the battle of the reeds and so we are all his friends. The memory of Pradyumna and Satyaki brought him a smile. He had loved Satyaki as a son and brother.
And his brother Balarama had departed the earth before the battle of the reeds. He did not want to see the destruction of his sons and friends. Balarama and him had been the best of friends and had disagreed about the Kauravas and the Pandavas. But Balarama had deferred to him for the sake of dharma and to the wishes of sister Subhadra, who had wanted to marry Arjuna.
He grinned at the thought of Arjuna. They had been best friends and cousins. They had fought several battles together and won all of them. He secretly had supported the love affair of Subhadra and Arjuna. He loved Abhimanyu, the son of Shubadra and Arjuna more than anything and the death of him at the battle of the chakravyuha by the Kauravas had basically maimed his spirit. He had never been the same again. He had sent word to Arjuna to come and take care of Dwaraka after the destruction of the Andhakas and Vrishnis, his clansmen. Rukmini and Satyabhama had decided to leave the world along with Balarama and he was relieved. He knew that the end of the yuga was near and the circle of time would continue its inexorable grind with or without him. Even he, the supreme lord of the Universe had to respect the arrow of time.
And then he remembered an incident a long time ago. A sage had come and given a paste to Yashodha and had asked him to bathe him as a baby with it. She had done it but had forgotten to clean to apply it to his heel. In later times, it would be called the Achilles heel and not the Krishna heel. He mused about it and wondered how he would leave this realm. He decided to use his yoga and leaned back against the sala tree in the cool breeze.
Jara, the hunter was getting tired. It was evening and he had not caught any prey for food. His family would have to go hungry again and he resented it. He came by the grove of sala trees on the shores of the ocean. He had found deer there and then he saw something. He saw the heel of a being and he wondered what it was. But he did not care. He took out his poisoned arrow and took aim and waited. The being did not move. He was a good archer and he would not miss and he let loose his arrow. Then he heard the scream of a human. He was aghast. He ran towards the grove and he saw it was a man in royal garb. He knelt at the side of that human and asked for his forgiveness. The human started to feel the effect of the poisoned arrow. He then looked at Jara and an ancient memory stirred in him. He looked at the hunter and said, “Do you remember me?” And he touched the hand of the hunter. The same memory stirred in him.
He remembered his previous birth. He was the mighty warrior, Vali and he was invincible because of his boons. He had been fighting his brother Sugriva who for some mysterious reason was wearing a garland. He had not given any thought to it and he was going to finish the battle today. And then in the middle of the battle, the arrow hit him. It had hit his chest with a force that he had never experienced before and he fell. He wondered who had committed this treachery. And he saw Rama. He was distraught and had asked how an epitome of justice could do this to him. Rama had explained to him but he had made his peace and wished in his mind he would do the same to him. And Rama sensing his mind, had said so be it.
Jara now understood his life purpose but was still unhappy. This thing did not give him any joy. Krishna asked him not to worry and said he was merely fulfilling the path of dharma and karma. It would have happened whether he liked it or not. Krishna then asked Jara to leave and take care of his family. He asked him to take his jewelry so he could use it to feed his family during tough times. Jara sat next to him. The poison wreaked havoc on Krishna and his breathing started slowing. Then a light came out of his body and leapt to the skies. The end of the avatar happened. Jara went back and spent the rest of his life making amends and serving his community.
