Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
athaikadÄ dvÄravatyÄá¹
vasato rÄma-kṛṣṇayoḥ
sÅ«ryoparÄgaḥ su-mahÄn
ÄsÄ«t kalpa-ká¹£aye yathÄ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; atha - then; ekadÄ - on one occasion; dvÄravatyÄm - in DvÄrakÄ; vasatoḥ - while They were living; rÄma-kṛṣṇayoḥ - BalarÄma and Kṛṣṇa; sÅ«rya - of the sun; uparÄgaḥ - an eclipse; su-mahÄn - very great; ÄsÄ«t - there was; kalpa - of Lord BrahmÄ's day; ká¹£aye - at the end; yathÄ - as if.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: Once, while BalarÄma and Kṛṣṇa were living in DvÄrakÄ, there occurred a great eclipse of the sun, just as if the end of Lord BrahmÄ’s day had come.
As ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura points out, the words atha and ekadÄ are commonly used in Sanskrit literature to introduce a new topic. Here they especially indicate that the reunion of the Yadus and Vṛṣṇis at Kuruká¹£etra is being narrated out of chronological sequence.
ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« explains in his Vaiṣṇava-toá¹£aṇī commentary that the events of this Eighty-second Chapter occur after Lord Baladeva’s visit to Vraja (Chapter 65) and before MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira’s RÄjasÅ«ya sacrifice (Chapter 74). This must be so, the ÄcÄrya reasons, since during the eclipse at Kuruká¹£etra all the Kurus, including Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra, Yudhiá¹£á¹hira, BhÄ«á¹£ma and Droṇa, met in friendship and happily shared the company of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa. At the RÄjasÅ«ya-yajña, on the other hand, Duryodhana’s jealousy against the PÄṇá¸avas became irrevocably inflamed. Soon after this, Duryodhana challenged Yudhiá¹£á¹hira and his brothers to the gambling match, in which he cheated them of their kingdom and exiled them to the forest. Right after the PÄṇá¸avas’ return from exile, the great Battle of Kuruká¹£etra took place, during which BhÄ«á¹£ma and Droṇa were killed. So it is not logically possible for the solar eclipse at Kuruká¹£etra to have happened after the RÄjasÅ«ya sacrifice.
