The savior of the whole universe, Gopesh Giridhari Shri Krishna is called the essence of human life. His glory is spread in every particle of the whole universe. That is why it is said that to ignite and illuminate one’s life-consciousness, man should always worship Shri Giridhari. In different provinces of the country, Lord Shri Krishna is worshipped in different forms. Some call him Dwarkadhish, some Keshav, some Murli Manohar, every devotee sees his beloved in a unique form. But do you know that apart from all these names of Lord Shri Krishna, he is also known as Ranchod?

Hearing this question, you must be thinking that Shri Giridhari is God, so what was the need for him to leave the battlefield, due to which he was named Ranchod? Actually, the answer to this question lies in a very interesting and mysterious story, about which we are going to tell you. This story is of the time when Shri Krishna accepted to be called Ranchod to protect Mathura from Jarasandha and Kalayavan. The description of this story is found in Shrimad Bhagwat Purana. According to the story, Magadhraj Jarasandha was the father-in-law of Mathura King Kansa. Kansa was married to his two daughters, Asti and Prapti.

When Shri Krishna killed Mathura King Kansa, his two wives went to their ancestral home and started mourning their husband’s death to their father. Seeing his daughters in this condition, Magadhraj was furious and he immediately decided to attack Mathura with his 23 Akshauhini army. When Shri Krishna saw that Jarasandh had surrounded Mathura from all sides with his army, he thought in his mind, “Jarasandh has gathered the army of all the demons and wicked people around him. The only purpose of my incarnation is that I destroy the demons and lighten the burden of sin on the earth. But killing Jarasandh right now is not the right principle, because if he remains alive, he will bring more armies of demons and I will destroy them too and destroy the sins.”

Thinking all this, Shri Krishna consulted his elder brother Balarama and both of them sat on their chariots and set out to fight Jarasandha. As soon as Shri Krishna’s charioteer, Daruk, blew the Panchajanya conch before the battle began, the enemy army trembled with fear. After this, a fierce battle took place between the two sides and Shri Krishna and Balarama together started destroying the enemies. At the end of the battle, 23 Akshauhini army was completely destroyed and Shri Krishna left only Jarasandha alive. Jarasandha could not bear the fact that a child had shown mercy to him due to shame. He again gathered the army and got ready for the battle.

This sequence continued for 17 times, every time Jarasandh would attack with a huge army and in the end he alone would survive. He could not harm Shri Krishna or his army even a bit. But when Jarasandh was about to attack for the 18th time with his 23 Akshauhini army, suddenly Kalayavan sent by Narad Muni appeared in his army. Seeing this, Shri Krishna and Dau Balram got worried that it is impossible to defeat Kalayavan. Then both of them thought that this time before going to the battlefield, it is necessary to take the people of Mathura to a safe place.

Therefore, if this war takes place, the lives of the people of Mathura will be in danger. Thinking all this, Shri Krishna then started building an inaccessible city inside the sea, every direction of which was very wonderful. That city, built with the expertise of science and craftsmanship of Lord Vishwakarma, was extremely beautiful and huge. It also had roads, squares and lanes divided into sections. There was also a fair of wonderfully beautiful gardens in that city, whose walls were decorated with precious gems. After the complete construction of the city, Shri Krishna sent his relatives to that city with the help of Yogmaya. This beautiful city later came to be known as Dwarkapuri.

Listening to this interesting story of Lord Krishna’s construction of Dwarkapuri, we learn that force is not always necessary in war, but intelligence is equally important. Therefore, man should use intelligence without losing patience in any difficult situation of his life. This helps man to get out of any situation. Therefore, do not always use force, use intelligence.

Did you like this story of the creation of Dwarkapuri by Shri Krishna? If yes, then stay tuned to Srimandir to know more such interesting stories.