The demon armies surround them and there appears to be no possible way of escape.  Jarasandha orders wood to be brought from the surrounding towns and villages, piled up round the hill, saturated with oil and then set fire to.  A vast flame shoots up.  The whole hill is ablaze but Krishna and Balarama slip out unseen, take the road to Mathura and finally reach Dwarka.  When the hill is reduced to ashes, Jarasandha concludes that Krishna and Balarama have perished.  He advances to Mathura, occupies the empty town, proclaims his authority and returns to Magadha.

[Footnote 35:  Dwarka is sited on the western seaboard, 300 miles north-west of Bombay.]

(ii) Marriages and Offspring

The immediate position, then, is that Krishna has abandoned his life among the cowherds, has been accepted as a Yadava, has coped with the difficult and dangerous situation arising from the tyrant king’s death and finally has saved the Yadavas from extinction by demons.  This, however, has meant the abandonment of Mathura and the movement of the Yadavas to a new city, Dwarka.  The same problem, therefore, which faced him earlier, confronts him once again.  Having obtained immunity for the Yadavas and brought them to a new land, can Krishna now regard his mission as accomplished?  Or must he linger on earth still longer?  The answer can hardly be in doubt; for although the Yadavas appear to be installed in good surroundings, demon hordes still range the world.  The tyrant Kansa was only the worst and most powerful member of the demon hosts.  The war with Jarasandha has rid the world of many demons, but vast numbers remain and until their ranks have been appreciably reduced, Krishna’s mission will be unfulfilled.  Only one course of action, therefore, is possible.  He must accept a permanent position in Yadava society, live as an honoured noble, a prince of the blood royal and as occasion warrants continue to intervene in the struggle between the good and the bad.

Such a decision is taken and Krishna installs himself at Dwarka.  Before he can fulfil his duties as an adult member of the race, however, certain preliminaries are necessary and among them is the important issue of his marriage.  Both he and Balarama require wives and the question is how are they to get them.  Balarama’s problem is easily settled by a marriage to Revati, a princess.  Krishna’s, on the other hand, is less straightforward and he is still undecided when news is brought that the Raja of Kundulpur has a daughter of matchless loveliness, her name Rukmini.  Her eyes, it was said, were like a doe’s, her complexion like a flower, her face dazzling as the moon.  Rukmini in turn has overheard some beggars reciting Krishna’s exploits, has fallen in love with his image and is at once delighted and disturbed.  In this way each is fascinated by the other.  Almost immediately, however, a crisis occurs.  Rukmini’s brother, Rukma, urges her father to marry her to a rival, Sisupala.  Krishna’s claims as Vishnu