ĹrÄŤ-bÄdarÄyaášir uvÄca
bibhrad vapuḼ sakala-sundara-sanniveĹaáš
karmÄcaran bhuvi su-maáš galam Äpta-kÄmaḼ
ÄsthÄya dhÄma ramamÄáša udÄra-kÄŤáštiḼ
saášhartum aicchata kulaáš sthita-káštya-ĹeᚣaḼ
ĹrÄŤ-bÄdarÄyaášiḼ - Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ, the son of BÄdarÄyaáša; uvÄca - said; bibhrat - bearing; vapuḼ - a divine body; sakala - of all; sundara - beautiful things; sanniveĹam - the amalgamation; karma - activities; Äcaran - performing; bhuvi - on the earth; su-maáš galam - very auspicious; Äpta-kÄmaḼ - being satisfied in all His desires; ÄsthÄya - residing; dhÄma - in His abode (DvÄrakÄ); ramamÄášaḼ - enjoying life; udÄra-kÄŤrtiḼ - He whose glories are very magnanimous in themselves; saášhartum - to destroy; aicchata - He wanted; kulam - His dynasty; sthita - there remaining; káštya - of His business; ĹeᚣaḼ - some remnant.
This verse answers ParÄŤkᚣit MahÄrÄjaâs question as to how the powerful members of the Yadu dynasty could be cursed by the brÄhmaášas and thus destroy themselves in a fratricidal war. By the words saášhartum aicchata kulam it is clearly stated that Lord KášášŁáša Himself desired to withdraw His dynasty and therefore engaged the brÄhmaášas as His agent. ViĹvanÄtha CakravartÄŤ ᚏhÄkura remarks here that KášášŁáša had clearly demonstrated the insurpassable beauty and strength of His personal form, pastimes and pleasures to all the residents of the earth. Thus His incarnation to kill the demons, save the devotees and reestablish religious principles had been completely successful. When Lord KášášŁáša noticed that His mission was now complete, everything having been done perfectly, He desired to return to His transcendental abode, along with the VášášŁášis. Thus the Lord personally arranged for the Yadu dynasty to be cursed by the brÄhmaášas.
According to ViĹvanÄtha CakravartÄŤ ᚏhÄkura, Äpta-kÄmaḼ means that KášášŁáša is always self-satisfied, and yet in order to execute His transcendental pastimes He arranged to destroy His own dynasty for three specific purposes, namely, to reestablish in the heavenly planets those demigods who had taken birth among the Yadus to assist Him, to reestablish His plenary Viᚣášu expansions in Their abodes, such as Vaikuášášha, ĹvetadvÄŤpa and BadarikÄĹrama, and to remove Himself from the vision of the material world, along with His eternal associates.
In this connection, BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄŤ has made several important remarks about the destruction of the Yadu dynasty. He states that many so-called religious persons have fallen down by committing the second offense against chanting the holy name, namely viᚣášau sarveĹvareĹe tad-itara-sama-dhčḼ, considering another living entity to be equal to Lord Viᚣášu, who is the Lord of lords. One who is captured by the impersonal tendency of MÄyÄvÄda philosophy falsely thinks that the external, material energy of the Lord is equal to His internal, spiritual potency. In this way, one equates ordinary living entities with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, taking KášášŁáša to be another aspect of mÄyÄ. This is a most unfortunate misconception, for it spoils oneâs opportunity to understand God as He actually is.
Persons inclined toward this illusory conception of life would undoubtedly consider the members of the Yadu dynasty equal in all respects to KášášŁáša and worship the future descendants of KášášŁášaâs family as being equal to KášášŁáša Himself. Thus the continued presence of the Yadu dynasty on the earth would certainly constitute a great impediment on the path of spiritual understanding and a great burden on the earth. To counteract the danger to the world from the offense of equating Viᚣášu with the family of Viᚣášu, the Lord decided to crush the Yadu family.
The Supreme Lord, ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša, is always affectionate to His devotees, but whenever the familial descendants of Lord KášášŁáša become inimical or indifferent to Him, not loving His pure devotees or making friendship with His servants, such so-called family members of the Lord become impediments to His will. There is a tangible danger that ignorant living beings will worship such inimical persons, revering them as close associates of KášášŁáša. For example, to consider Kaášsa the maternal uncle of KášášŁáša and therefore a faithful servant of KášášŁáša would be a completely erroneous conclusion. By such a misconception, evil men who oppose the Lord may be accepted as His intimate associates, and persons inimical to KášášŁáša may be thought of as His surrendered dependents appearing in His own family. The purpose of the destruction of the Yadu dynasty was to eradicate the false logic of the MÄyÄvÄdÄŤs who desire to see everything as one in all respects and who therefore improperly reason that the enemies of KášášŁášaâs devotees can be His intimate family members.