Krishna Battles Shalva and Receives Bad News

Shalva rose into the sky again. Krishna had been fighting him for some time — the king of Saubha, the flying fortress, the man who had sworn vengeance after Krishna killed his friend Shishupala. Now Shalva hovered above, and in his desire for victory, he hurled everything he had: shataghnis (iron clubs studded with spikes), giant bludgeons, flaming lances, swords. The weapons descended like a storm. Krishna met them with arrows. He sliced them into two and three pieces as they fell, and the sky filled with the sound of breaking metal. But Shalva was relentless. He covered Daruka — Krishna's charioteer — and the horses and the chariot itself with a hundred thousand nataparva arrows. Daruka was wounded everywhere: his chest, his head, his torso, both arms. Blood flowed from every wound. He looked like a mountain of red chalk after a rain shower. Still he held the reins. "O brave one," Daruka said, "though I am suffering from Shalva's arrows, I will stay here, because I must." Krishna saw his charioteer's condition and cheered him. Then a man came swiftly from Dvaraka, appearing at Krishna's chariot. He was Ahuka's servant, carrying a message. He spoke in a sad, breathless voice. "O valiant one! Ahuka, the lord of Dvaraka, has sent a message for you. While you were restrained, Shalva has attacked Dvaraka today. He has forcibly killed Shura's son. Therefore refrain from fighting here. Your greatest task now is to defend Dvaraka." Krishna's mind was extremely distressed. He could not decide what the right course of duty was. He thought of the warriors he had left behind to protect Dvaraka and his father: Baladeva, Satyaki, Pradyumna, Charudeshna, Samba. He had entrusted the city to them before coming to destroy Saubha. How could Baladeva still be alive if Shura's son had been killed? How could any of them? Not even the wielder of the vajra (Indra's thunderbolt) himself could have killed Shura's son if those tigers among men were alive. But Shura's son was dead. So they must all be dead. He kept thinking about their destruction, over and over. And still he continued to fight Shalva. Then he saw it. Shura's son — his father — fell from Saubha. Krishna saw the exact form of his father falling, like Yayati falling from heaven to earth after all the merits of his good deeds had been exhausted. His father was faded, deprived of his headdress, his garments and hair dishevelled. He fell like a planet that had lost all its merits. Sharnga, Krishna's supreme bow, fell from his hand. In complete bewilderment, he sat down on his chariot. A loud wail of lamentation arose from his army. They could see him on his chariot, as if he had lost his life. Krishna watched his father drop like a vulture from the sky, arms extended, feet extended. As he fell, powerful warriors struck at him with lances and spears. Krishna's heart began to tremble. But in an instant, he regained his senses. When he did, he could no longer see Saubha. He could not see the enemies. He could not see Shalva. And he could not see his old father. He concluded in his mind: this was certainly nothing but maya (illusion). He picked up Sharnga. He began to shoot hundreds of arrows again.