Transcription
In 1983, some divers jumped into the Arabian Sea. They were going to search for something in the depths of the sea. In the deep sea, many miles below the surface, those divers found something that was shocking for the whole world. A huge city. It looked like an urban city of today was living under the ocean. High walls, roads, statues, palaces, and a well-planned city. Seeing such a city under the ocean, all the divers were shocked.
Taking samples of the stones, they found out that these stones were from the Mahabharata period. And this is the city that has been mentioned in Mahabharata. This story is of Shri Krishna City - Dwarka. One of the four Dhaams of Lord Vishnu - Dwarka, in the Jamnagar district of Gujarat, a small city on the shore of the Arabian Sea where thousands of Krishna devotees come to see the Lord from afar.
According to the tenth chapter of Bhagwat Purana, after killing Kansa, Shri Krishna started living in Mathura with the Yadav dynasty. Angered by the death of Kansa, his father-in-law Jarasandh attacked Mathura. One after another, Jarasandh attacked Mathura 17 times. Troubled by these continuous attacks, Shri Krishna decided to leave Mathura and go somewhere else. He ordered the construction of a huge city on the sea. But it was not possible without the permission of the Sea God. At that time, Shri Krishna prayed to the Sea God. The sea god was pleased and blessed Shri Krishna with 12 Yojanas of land in between the sea. On this land, Lord Vishwakarma created Dwarka.
Dwarka was a well-planned city that can beat the urban planning of today's times. Roads, gold palaces, big doors, gardens, ponds, and everything was built with a great structure. In the middle of the city was Shri Krishna's palace, which was the most beautiful building here. When this city was built, Shri Krishna brought his family and the entire Yadav dynasty from Mathura with his illusionary powers. After that, he went to Mathura and fought with Jarasandh and Kalyavan. After his victory, Lord Krishna returned to Dwarka and started living happily with his family.
But the way every living being born on this earth is trapped between happiness and sorrow, Shri Krishna was also a part of this circle. After some time, Mahabharata, the battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas started. In which, Shri Krishna played a vital role as Arjun's charioteer. For 18 days, this fierce battle continued and finally the Pandavas won. According to the women of Mahabharata, when the Kaurava's mother Gandhari saw her sons' dead bodies, she blamed Shri Krishna for the war. She cursed Shri Krishna in anger, that the way her sons and her dynasty fought and died in the battle, in the same way, after 36 years, Lord Krishna's dynasty will also be destroyed. Lord Krishna knew that his dynasty will be destroyed by a fight within themselves. That's why he accepted this curse.
But there was another curse along with the curse of mother Gandhari which was the cause of the destruction of the Yadav dynasty. Once, in a holy place near Dwarka, in Pindarak, many great saints came. Seeing them, Lord Krishna's son Saamb and some of his friends planned to do a prank with the saints. Saamb, disguised as a pregnant woman, went to the saints and asked them about his baby. The saints got angry on seeing his prank and cursed the boys that Saamb will give birth to an iron pestle which will be the cause of the destruction of the Yadav dynasty. When the boys saw it, they found a real iron pestle in Saamb's clothes. When Shri Krishna's grandfather, King Ugrasen, came to know about this, he cut the pestle into pieces and threw it into the sea. A fish swallowed the pieces. The fish got trapped in the net of the fishermen and when it was cut, the same pieces of iron came out of its stomach. A hunter used the pieces to make poisonous arrows. But even after the pieces were cut and were destroyed, how did the iron pestle become the cause of the destruction of the Yadav dynasty?
36 years had passed and the time had come for the curse of Gandhari to be fulfilled. The Yadav dynasty was intoxicated by the intoxication of alcohol. Gradually, they started fighting with each other. This fight escalated so much that there was a war within the Yadav dynasty. Lord Krishna's sons also started fighting with each other. One by one, the entire dynasty was destroyed. Moreover, Balram also left the earth. When Lord Krishna saw this, he sat under a Peepal tree. At the same time, a hunter named Jara shot him thinking him as a deer. He was the same hunter who made arrows from the pieces in the fish stomach. That poisonous arrow went into Lord Krishna's feet and hit him. Similarly, Lord Krishna also left this world and returned to his abode.
When Arjun came to know about this, he rushed to Dwarka. Seeing the scene, his heart started beating fast. The entire Dwarka was burning with fire, but Arjun composed himself and according to Lord Krishna's promise, he got all the women and children out of there safely. As soon as Dwarka was empty, it got engulfed in the sea. Lord Krishna's Dwarka got lost in the Arabian sea forever.
Dwarka is divided into two parts in the present. Dwarka and Beyt Dwarka. Dwarka is a city situated on the shore of the sea. Beyt Dwarka is an island in the middle of the sea. For many years, Dwarka was neglected as a story and a lie. Even after searching for a long time, there was no evidence that could prove that this beautiful city was actually real. In 1930, the search started and many remains were found in Beyt Dwarka. In 1963, the first archaeological excavation was conducted here in which many old artefacts and statues were found. An interesting theory came across from these findings according to which, Shri Krishna used to see the administration of his entire kingdom from Dwarka and he used to live with his family in Beyt Dwarka.
After this, between 1983-1990, an underwater archaeologist Dr. S.R. Rao and his team came forward to complete this mission. After searching in the water for many days, they found the remains of an amazing city under water. Along with the strong foundation of the city walls, many stones, pillars, statues, irrigation system, and many more. But how could it be possible to guess that the ruins found way below the ground level were of Lord Krishna's kingdom, Dwarka? To confirm this, the archaeologist decided to remove the carbon dating of the stones. Carbon dating is a process in which a possible age of a stone is calculated through experiments. Dr. Narahari Achar calculated this from the information on the planets and asteroids mentioned in Mahabharata that the Mahabharata war took place in 3126 BCE. According to Mahabharata, the construction of Dwarka was also in the Dwapara Yug. And after getting the carbon dating of these stones, it was found that these stones are closely related to that time. But the stones can be of any time. So how can that be considered as strong evidence?
And that's why the archaeologists started measuring the area of this city under the sea. And surprisingly, the measurement of this area was 12 Yojanas. Which according to Bhaagwat Puran was the measurement of the place which the Sea God had given to Shri Krishna for the construction of Dwarka. Not only this, but large numbers of anchors were also found in this place which tells us that Dwarka was a historic port from where India established trade relations with other countries for years. Due to the lack of funds, this excavation stopped here. But in 2007, Archaeological Survey of India started it again. And even today, this excavation is going on.
According to a theory, 3500 years ago, the land on which Dwarka was built, was on the surface of the sea. But as the sea level increased, this city of Lord Krishna sank into the sea. But then the question is that the sea level slowly increases. And according to the Mahabharata Mahaprasthanika Parva, the waves that were colliding with the shore of Dwarka, sunk the entire Dwarka in a moment's time in front of Arjun's eyes.
Today, many people consider Mahabharata and Ramayana, the birth of incarnations of Lord Vishnu on earth, and other ancient stories as a myth. But not only Dwarka, but there are many other discoveries which prove that the existence of humans on this earth is not only from the time of Harappa and Mohenjo daro, but even before that, thousands of years ago. If you liked this video, then like and share it. And tell us in the comments what other topics you want to know about. For more such unheard, unsaid and unseen stories, subscribe to RAAAZ. See you in the next one.