Text* 1: Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ said: Then Lord BrahmÄ arrived at PrabhÄsa along with Lord Ĺiva and his consort, the sages, the PrajÄpatis and all the demigods, headed by Indra.
Text* 2-3: The forefathers, Siddhas, Gandharvas, VidyÄdharas and great serpents also came, along with the CÄraášas, Yakᚣas, RÄkᚣasas, Kinnaras, ApsarÄs and relatives of Garuá¸a, greatly eager to witness the departure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As they were coming, all these personalities variously chanted and glorified the birth and activities of Lord Ĺauri [KášášŁáša].
Text* 4: O King, crowding the sky with their many airplanes, they showered down flowers with great devotion.
Text 5: Seeing before Him BrahmÄ, the grandfather of the universe, along with the other demigods, who are all His personal and powerful expansions, the Almighty Lord closed His lotus eyes, fixing His mind within Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Text 6: Without employing the mystic ÄgneyÄŤ meditation to burn up His transcendental body, which is the all-attractive resting place of all the worlds and the object of all contemplation and meditation, Lord KášášŁáša entered into His own abode.
Text 7: As soon as Lord ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša left the earth, Truth, Religion, Faithfulness, Glory and Beauty immediately followed Him. Kettledrums resounded in the heavens and flowers showered from the sky.
Text* 8: Most of the demigods and other higher beings led by BrahmÄ could not see Lord KášášŁáša as He was entering His own abode, since He did not reveal His movements. But some of them did catch sight of Him, and they were extremely amazed.
Text 9: Just as ordinary men cannot ascertain the path of a lightning bolt as it leaves a cloud, the demigods could not trace out the movements of Lord KášášŁáša as He returned to His abode.
Text 10: A few of the demigods, however â notably Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Ĺiva â could ascertain how the Lordâs mystic power was working, and thus they became astonished. All the demigods praised the Lordâs mystic power and then returned to their own planets.
Text 11: My dear King, you should understand that the Supreme Lordâs appearance and disappearance, which resemble those of embodied conditioned souls, are actually a show enacted by His illusory energy, just like the performance of an actor. After creating this universe He enters into it, plays within it for some time, and at last winds it up. Then the Lord remains situated in His own transcendental glory, having ceased from the functions of cosmic manifestation.
Text 12: Lord KášášŁáša brought the son of His guru back from the planet of the lord of death in the boyâs selfsame body, and as the ultimate giver of protection He saved you also when you were burned by the brahmÄstra of AĹvatthÄmÄ. He conquered in battle even Lord Ĺiva, who deals death to the agents of death, and He sent the hunter JarÄ directly to Vaikuášášha in his human body. How could such a personality be unable to protect His own Self?
Text 13: Although Lord KášášŁáša, being the possessor of infinite powers, is the only cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of innumerable living beings, He simply did not desire to keep His body in this world any longer. Thus He revealed the destination of those fixed in the self and demonstrated that this mortal world is of no intrinsic value.
Text* 14: Anyone who regularly rises early in the morning and carefully chants with devotion the glories of Lord ĹrÄŤ KášášŁášaâs transcendental disappearance and His return to His own abode will certainly achieve that same supreme destination.
Text* 15: As soon as DÄruka reached DvÄrakÄ, he threw himself at the feet of Vasudeva and Ugrasena and drenched their feet with his tears, lamenting the loss of Lord KášášŁáša.
Text* 16-17: DÄruka delivered the account of the total destruction of the VášášŁášis, and upon hearing this, O ParÄŤkᚣit, the people became deeply distraught in their hearts and stunned with sorrow. Feeling the overwhelming pain of separation from KášášŁáša, they struck their own faces while hurrying to the place where their relatives lay dead.
Text 18: When DevakÄŤ, RohiášÄŤ and Vasudeva could not find their sons, KášášŁáša and RÄma, they lost consciousness out of anguish.
Text* 19: Tormented by separation from the Lord, His parents gave up their lives at that very spot. My dear ParÄŤkᚣit, the wives of the YÄdavas then climbed onto the funeral pyres, embracing their dead husbands.
Text 20: The wives of Lord BalarÄma also entered the fire and embraced His body, and Vasudevaâs wives entered his fire and embraced his body. The daughters-in-law of Lord Hari entered the funeral fires of their respective husbands, headed by Pradyumna. And RukmiášÄŤ and the other wives of Lord KášášŁáša â whose hearts were completely absorbed in Him â entered His fire.
Text 21: Arjuna felt great distress over separation from Lord KášášŁáša, his dearmost friend. But he consoled himself by remembering the transcendental words the Lord had sung to him.
Text* 22: Arjuna then saw to it that the funeral rites were properly carried out for the dead, who had no remaining male family members. He executed the required ceremonies for each of the Yadus, one after another.
Text 23: As soon as DvÄrakÄ was abandoned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ocean flooded it on all sides, O King, sparing only His palace.
Text* 24: Lord MadhusĹŤdana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is eternally present in DvÄrakÄ. It is the most auspicious of all auspicious places, and merely remembering it destroys all contamination.
Text* 25: Arjuna took the survivors of the Yadu dynasty â the women, children and old men â to Indraprastha, where he installed Vajra as ruler of the Yadus.
Text* 26: Hearing from Arjuna of the death of their friend, my dear King, your grandfathers established you as the maintainer of the dynasty and left to prepare for their departure from this world.
Text* 27: A person who with faith engages in chanting the glories of these various pastimes and incarnations of Viᚣášu, the Lord of lords, will gain liberation from all sins.
Text 28: The all-auspicious exploits of the all-attractive incarnations of Lord ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and also the pastimes He performed as a child, are described in this ĹrÄŤmad-BhÄgavatam and in other scriptures. Anyone who clearly chants these descriptions of His pastimes will attain transcendental loving service unto Lord KášášŁáša, who is the goal of all perfect sages.