Kṛṣṇa constructed a Fort in the midst of the Sea

Dvārakā Fort - Kṛṣṇa's Amazing City
By Mohini Devi Dasi

KB - CHAPTER FIFTY
Kṛṣṇa Erects the Dvārakā Fort

Kṛṣṇa therefore decided to construct a formidable fort in a place where no two-legged animal, either man or demon, could enter. He decided to keep His relatives there so that He would then be free to fight with the enemy. IT APPEARS THAT FORMERLY DVARAKA WAS ALSO PART OF THE KINGDOM OF MATHURA because in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Kṛṣṇa constructed a fort in the midst of the sea. Remnants of the fort which Kṛṣṇa constructed are still existing on the Bay of Dvārakā.

He first of all constructed a very strong wall covering NINETY-SIX SQUARE MILES and the wall itself was within the sea. It was certainly wonderful and was planned and constructed by Viśvakarmā. No ordinary architect could construct such a fort within the sea, but an architect like Viśvakarmā, who is considered to be the engineer among the demigods, can execute such wonderful craftsmanship anywhere in any part of the universe.

If huge planets can be floated in weightlessness in the outer space by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surely the architectural construction of a fort within the sea covering a space of NINETY-SIX SQUARE MILES was not a very wonderful act.

Kṛṣṇa enters the City of Dvārakā

"While entering the city of Dvaraka, Lord Krishna acknowledged all the inhabitants’ by casting His transcendental glance over them. The city was filled with the opulences of all seasons. There were hermitages, orchards, flower gardens, parks and reservoirs of water filled with lotus flowers. The highways, subways, lanes, markets and public meeting places were all thoroughly cleansed and then moistened with scented water, And to welcome the Lord, the residents of Dvaraka strew flowers, fruits and unbroken seeds everywhere. The residents hastened toward the Lord on chariots, upon which rode brahmanas bearing flowers, In front of the chariots were elephants, which are emblems of good fortune. Conchshells and bugles were sounded, and Vedic hymns were chanted. Thus, the residents offered their respects, which were saturated with affection, In return, Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, approached them and offered due honor and respect to each and every one of the friends, relatives, citizens and others who came to receive and welcome Him. As the Lord passed along the public road of Dvaraka, His head was protected from sunshine by a white umbrella. White feathered fans moved in semicircles, and showers of flowers fell upon the road. His yellow garments and garlands of flowers made it appear as if a dark cloud were surrounded simultaneously by the sun, the moon, lighting and rainbows."

It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that this new, well-constructed city, developed within the sea, had regular planned roads, streets and lanes. Not only were there well-planned roads, streets and lanes, but there were well-planned paths and gardens filled with plants known as kalpavṛkṣas, or desire trees. These desire trees are not like the ordinary trees of the material world; the desire trees are found in the spiritual world.

By Kṛṣṇa’s supreme will, everything is possible, so such desire trees were planted in the city of Dvārakā constructed by Kṛṣṇa. The city was also filled with many palaces and gopuras, or big gates. These gopuras are still found in some of the larger temples. They are very high and constructed with extreme artistic skill. Such palaces and gates held golden waterpots (kalaśa). These waterpots on the gates or in the palaces are considered to be auspicious signs.

Almost all the palaces were skyscrapers. In each and every house there were big pots of gold and silver and grains stocked in underground rooms. And there were many golden waterpots within the rooms. The bedrooms were all bedecked with jewels, and the floors were mosaic pavements of marakata jewels ( green emerald).

The Viṣṇu Deity, worshiped by the descendants of Yadu, was installed in each house in the city. The residential quarters were so arranged that the different castes, brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras, had their respective quarters. It appears from this that the caste system was existing even at that time.

In the center of the city there was another residential quarter made specifically for KING UGRASENA. This place was the most dazzling of all the houses.

KB - CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE: The Genealogy of the Family of Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 wives, and in each of them He begot TEN sons, all of them equal to their father in the opulences of strength, beauty, wisdom, fame, wealth and renunciation. ”Like father like son.“

KB - CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
The Great Sage Nārada Visits the Different Homes of Lord Kṛṣṇa

The great sage Nārada heard that Lord Kṛṣṇa had married sixteen thousand wives after He had killed the demon Narakāsura, sometimes called Bhaumāsura. Nārada became astonished that Lord Kṛṣṇa had expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms and married these wives simultaneously in different palaces. Being inquisitive as to how Kṛṣṇa was managing His household affairs with so many wives, Nārada desired to see these pastimes and so set out to visit Kṛṣṇa’s different homes.

"When Nārada arrived in Dvārakā, he saw that the gardens and parks were full of various flowers of different colors and orchards that were overloaded with a variety of fruits. Beautiful birds were chirping, and peacocks were delightfully crowing. There were tanks and ponds full of blue and red lotus flowers, and some of these sites were filled with varieties of lilies. The lakes were full of nice swans and cranes whose voices resounded everywhere."

In the city there were AS MANY AS 900,000 GREAT PALACES built of first-class marble with gates and doors made of silver. The posts of the houses and palaces were bedecked with jewels such as touchstone, sapphires and emeralds, and the floors gave off a beautiful luster. The highways, lanes, streets, crossings and marketplaces were all beautifully decorated. The whole city was full of residential homes, assembly houses, and temples, all of different architectural beauty. All of this made Dvārakā a glowing city. The big avenues, crossings, lanes, streets, and also the thresholds of every residential house, were very clean. On both sides of every path there were bushes, and at regular intervals there were large trees that shaded the avenues so that the sunshine would not bother the passersby.

In this greatly beautiful city of Dvārakā, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had many residential quarters. The great kings and princes of the world used to visit these palaces just to worship Him.

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was the King of Dvārakā and was known as Dvārakādhīśa.

The architectural plans were made personally by Viśvakarmā, the engineer of the demigods, and in the construction of the palaces he exhibited all of his talents and ingenuity. These residential quarters numbered more than sixteen thousand, and a different queen of Lord Kṛṣṇa resided in each of them. The great sage Nārada entered one of these houses and saw that the pillars were made of coral and the ceilings were bedecked with jewels.

KB - CHAPTER NINETY
Summary Description of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Pastimes

The concluding portion of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes is found in the Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and in this chapter Śukadeva Gosvāmī wanted to explain how Kṛṣṇa lived happily at Dvārakā with all opulences.

Kṛṣṇa’s opulence of strength has already been displayed in His different pastimes, and now it will be shown how His residence at Dvārakā displayed His opulences of wealth and beauty. In this material world, which is only a perverted reflection of the spiritual world, the opulences of wealth and beauty are considered to be the highest of all opulences. Therefore, while Kṛṣṇa stayed on this planet as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His opulences of wealth and beauty had no comparison within the three worlds.

Kṛṣṇa enjoyed sixteen thousand beautiful wives, and it is most significant that He lived at Dvārakā as the only husband of these hundreds and thousands of beautiful women. It is specifically stated in this connection that He was the only husband of sixteen thousand wives. It is, of course, not unheard of in the history of the world that a powerful king would keep many hundreds of queens, but although such a king might be the only husband of so many wives, he could not enjoy all of them at one time. Kṛṣṇa, however, enjoyed all of His sixteen thousand wives simultaneously.

Although it may be said that yogīs also can expand their bodies into many forms, the yogī’s expansion and Lord Kṛṣṇa’s expansion are not one and the same. Kṛṣṇa is therefore sometimes called Yogeśvara, the master of all yogīs. In the Vedic literature we find that the yogī Saubhari Muni expanded himself into eight. But that expansion was like a television expansion. The television image is manifested in millions of expansions, but those expansions cannot act differently; they are simply reflections of the original and can only act exactly as the original does. Kṛṣṇa’s expansion is not material like the expansion of the television or the yogī. When Nārada visited the different palaces of Kṛṣṇa, he saw that Kṛṣṇa, in His different expansions, was variously engaged in each and every palace of the queens.

Kṛṣṇa with Rukmiṇī

"After defeating all the opposing elements and forcibly carrying away Rukmiṇī, Kṛṣṇa brought her to His capital city, Dvārakā, and then married her according to the Vedic ritualistic principle. After this marriage, Kṛṣṇa became the King of the Yadus at Dvārakā. On the occasion of His marriage with Rukmiṇī, all the inhabitants were happy, and in every house there were great ceremonies. The inhabitants of Dvārakā City became so pleased that they dressed themselves with the nicest possible ornaments and garments, and they went to present gifts according to their means to the newly married couple, Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī. All the houses of Yadupurī (Dvārakā) were decorated with flags, festoons and flowers. Each and every house had an extra gate specifically prepared for this occasion, and on both sides of the gate there were big water jugs filled with water. The whole city was flavored by the burning of high quality incense, and at night there was illumination by thousands of lamps, decorating each and every building."

The entire city appeared jubilant on the occasion of Lord Kṛṣṇa's marriage with Rukmiṇī. Everywhere in the city there was profuse decorations of banana trees and betel nut trees. These two trees are considered very auspicious in happy ceremonies. At the same time there was an assembly of many elephants, who carried the respective kings of different friendly kingdoms. It is the habit of the elephant that whenever he sees some small plants and trees, out of his sportive frivolous nature, he uproots the trees and throws them hither and thither. The elephants assembled on this occasion also scattered the banana and betel nut trees, but in spite of such intoxicated action, the whole city, with the trees thrown here and there, looked very nice.

All the SIXTEEN THOUSAND PALACES of Kṛṣṇa’s queens were situated in this beautiful city of Dvārakā, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme eternal enjoyer of all these facilities, expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms and simultaneously engaged in different family affairs in those sixteen thousand palaces.

The unparalleled beauty of Dvārakā

As we find herewith in the description of its opulence, Dvārakā was surrounded by flower gardens and fruit orchards along with reservoirs of water and growing lotuses. The City was filled with the sounds of birds and bees flying about the parks and pleasure gardens, while its lakes, crowded with blooming indivara, ambhoja, kahlara, kumuda, and utpala lotuses, resounded with the calls of swans and cranes.

Dvaraka boasted 900,000 royal palaces, all constructed with crystal and silver and splendorously decorated with huge emeralds. Inside these palaces, the furnishings were bedecked with gold and jewels. In each and every one of the palaces there were nicely decorated gardens and lakes. The crystal-clear water of the lakes contained many blooming lotus flowers of different colors like blue, yellow, white and red, and the saffron powder from the lotus flowers was blown all around by the breeze. All the lakes were full of beautiful swans, ducks and cranes, crying occasionally with melodious sounds.

The Deliverance of Bhaumāsura

The story of Bhaumāsura--how he kidnapped and made captive 16,000 princesses by collecting them from the palaces of various kings and how he was killed by Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord of wonderful character--is all described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to King Parīkṣit in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

There were 16,100 beautiful girls who were daughters of many kings and were forcibly stolen by Bhaumasura, who kept them captive for his carnal desire. These girls prayed piteously to Lord Krishna for their deliverance, and the merciful Lord, called by their fervent prayer, released them all by fighting and killing Bhaumasura. (SB 1.10.29 purport)

It is already known to us that Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 wives. All these wives were exalted liberated souls, and among them Queen Rukmiṇī was the chief. After Rukmiṇī there were seven other principal wives, and the names of the sons of these eight principal queens have already been mentioned. Besides these eight queens, LORD KRSNA HAD TEN SONS WITH EACH OF THE OTHER QUEENS. Thus all together Kṛṣṇa’s children numbered 16,108 TIMES TEN. One should not be astonished to hear that Kṛṣṇa had so many sons.

ONE SHOULD ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT KRSNA IS THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD AND THAT HE HAS UNLIMITED POTENCIES. HE CLAIMS ALL LIVING ENTITIES AS HIS SONS. SO EVEN IF HE HAD SIXTEEN MILLION SONS ATTACHED TO HIM PERSONALLY THERE WOULD BE NO CAUSE FOR ASTONISHMENT.

It is stated by Śukadeva Gosvāmī that ALL the members of the Yadu dynasty had MANY children. Just as Kṛṣṇa had many sons, grandsons and great-grandsons, so EACH ONE OF THE KINGS named herewith also had SIMILAR FAMILY EXTENSIONS. Not only did all of them have many children, but all were extraordinarily rich and opulent. None of them were weak or short-lived, and above all, all the members of the Yadu dynasty were staunch devotees of the brahminical culture.

It is the duty of the kṣatriya kings to maintain the brahminical culture and to protect the qualified brāhmaṇas, and all these kings discharged their duties very rightly. The members of the Yadu dynasty were SO NUMEROUS that it would be very difficult to describe them all, even if one had a DURATION OF LIFE OF MANY THOUSANDS of years.

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed Mahārāja Parīkṣit that he had heard from reliable sources that simply TO TEACH THE CHILDREN of the Yadu dynasty, there were as many as 38,800,000 TUTORS OR ACARYAS. If so many teachers were needed to educate their children, one can simply imagine HOW VAST was the number of family members. As for their military strength, it is said that King Ugrasena alone had TEN QUADRILLION SOLDIERS AS PERSONAL BODYGUARDS.

Note:

One Quadrillion is 1.000.000.000.000.000 ( fifteen zeroes )
One billion is 1.000.000.000 ( 9 zeroes ) world population today roughly 8.000.000.000
16,108 Queens, 161,080 Sons, 900,000 Palaces, 38,800,000 Teachers and Ten Quadrillion Bodyguards alone for King Ugrasena ......... in NINETY SIX SQUARE MILES !

WOW

ONE MAY ASK HOW THIS WAS POSSIBLE, and Srila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura reminds us that Kṛṣṇa, although bound by a small rope, could show His mother the whole universe within His mouth. How was this possible? The answer is that He can do anything for the pleasure of His devotees.

THE TRANSCENDENTAL PASTIMES OF THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD ARE SO POWERFUL THAT SIMPLY BY HEARING, READING AND MEMORISING THIS BOOK KRSNA, ONE IS SURE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THE SPIRITUAL WORLD WHICH IS ORDINARILY VERY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE.

THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PASTIMES OF LORD KRSNA IS SO ATTRACTIVE THAT AUTOMATICALLY IT GIVES US AN IMPETUS TO STUDY REPEATEDLY, AND THE MORE WE STUDY THE PASTIMES OF THE LORD, THE MORE WE BECOME ATTACHED TO HIM. THIS VERY ATTACHMENT TO KRSNA MAKES ONE ELIGIBLE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO HIS ABODE, GOLOKA VRNDHAVANA.

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada !