Mausala Parva (The Book of the Clubs)

Summary

The Mausala Parva describes the tragic end of Lord Krishna's clan, the Yadavas, thirty-six years after the Kurukshetra War. The events are a fulfillment of Gandhari's curse. The Yadava youth, arrogant with power, mock sages who curse them to give birth to an iron club (Mausala) that will destroy their race.

Despite Krishna's orders to grind the club to dust and cast it into the sea, the dust washes ashore and grows into razor-sharp reeds (eraka grass). During a drunken revelry at Prabhasa, a fight breaks out among the Yadava warriors. They pluck the reeds, which turn into iron clubs, and slaughter each other in a fratricidal war. Balarama leaves his body in a meditative state. Lord Krishna, resting under a tree, is mistaken for a deer by a hunter named Jara, who shoots an arrow into his foot (his only vulnerable spot). Krishna forgives the hunter and ascends to Vaikuntha. Arjuna arrives to perform the last rites but finds his powers diminishing as the age of Kali Yuga begins.

Key Events

• The curse of the sages on the Yadava youth (Samba).
• The birth of the iron club and the growth of the eraka grass.
• Ominous signs in Dwaraka and the pilgrimage to Prabhasa.
• The drunken brawl and the destruction of the Yadava clan.
• The death of Pradyumna, Satyaki, and others.
• Balarama's departure (Sheshanaga).
• The death of Lord Krishna by Jara's arrow.
• Arjuna's arrival and the submersion of Dwaraka by the ocean.
• Arjuna's loss of power and the onset of Kali Yuga.