Bhalka Tirtha Mandir
Bhalka Tirtha (Bhalka
Pilgrimage) located in the Prabhas Patan near Veraval in Saurashtra on the
western coast of Gujarat, India, is the place where Krishna was hit by an arrow
shot by a hunter named Jara, after which he is said to have left the earth for
the heavenly abode, an act referred to in the Puranas as Shri Krishn Neejdham
Prasthan Leela.
Background:
The hunter Jara about to
shoot arrow towards Krishna
According to Mahabharata,
the Kurukshetra war resulted in the death of all the hundred sons of Gandhari.
On the night before Duryodhana's death, Krishna visited Gandhari to offer his
condolences. Gandhari felt that Krishna knowingly did not put an end to the
war, and in a fit of rage and sorrow, Gandhari cursed that Krishna, along with
everyone else from the Yadu dynasty, would perish after 36 years. Krishna
himself knew and wanted this to happen as he felt that the Yadavas had become
very haughty and arrogant (adharmi), so he ended Gandhari's speech by saying
"tathastu" (so be it).
After 36 years passed, a
fight broke out between the Yadavas, at a festival, who killed each other. His
elder brother, Balarama, then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into
the forest and started meditating under a tree. The Mahabharata also narrates
the story of a hunter who becomes an instrument for Krishna's departure from
the world. The hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that
of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. After he realised the
mistake, While still bleeding, Krishna told Jara, "O Jara, you were Bali
in your previous birth, killed by myself as Rama in Tretayuga. Here you had a
chance to even it and since all acts in this world are done as desired by me,
you need not worry for this". Then Krishna, with his physical body
ascended back to his eternal abode, Goloka vrindavan and this event marks
departure of Krishna from the earth. The news was conveyed to Hastinapur
and Dwaraka by eyewitnesses to this event. The place of this incident is
believed to be Bhalka, near Somnath temple.
According to Puranic
sources, Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of
Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. dubious – discuss]
Story:
As per the writing in Ramayana, Rama, i.e. Krishna in his earlier Rama Avatar (Avatars) is supposed to have given a boon to a monkey king Vali (Hindu mythology) whom he killed indirectly in hiding and not directly fighting with him in front. The above action of the hunter in Krishna avatar (Avatars) is supposed to be in compliance to the boon of Rama i.e. Krishna in his earlier Avatar. It is believed that Krishna left his footprints. It is a common site of pilgrimage for people who visit Somnath.
