Texts 1-6
śrī-śuka uvāca
narakaṁ nihataṁ śrutvā
tathodvāhaṁ ca yoṣitām
kṛṣṇenaikena bahvīnāṁ
tad-didṛkṣuḥ sma nāradaḥ
citraṁ bataitad ekena
vapuṣā yugapat pṛthak
gṛheṣu dvy-aṣṭa-sāhasraṁ
striya eka udāvahat
ity utsuko dvāravatīṁ
devarṣir draṣṭum āgamat
puṣpitopavanārāma-
dvijāli-kula-nāditām
utphullendīvarāmbhoja-
kahlāra-kumudotpalaiḥ
churiteṣu saraḥsūccaiḥ
kūjitāṁ haṁsa-sārasaiḥ
prāsāda-lakṣair navabhir
juṣṭāṁ sphāṭika-rājataiḥ
mahā-marakata-prakhyaiḥ
svarṇa-ratna-paricchadaiḥ
vibhakta-rathyā-patha-catvarāpaṇaiḥ
śālā-sabhābhī rucirāṁ surālayaiḥ
saṁsikta-mārgāṅgana-vīthi-dehalīṁ
patat-patāka-dhvaja-vāritātapām
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; narakam — the demon Naraka; nihatam — killed; śrutvā — hearing; tathā — also; udvāham — the marriage; ca — and; yoṣitām — with women; kṛṣṇena — by Lord Kṛṣṇa; ekena — one; bahvīnām — with many; tat — that; didṛkṣuḥ — wanting to see; sma — indeed; nāradaḥ — Nārada; citram — wonderful; bata — ah; etat — this; ekena — with a single; vapuṣā — body; yugapat — simultaneously; pṛthak — separate; gṛheṣu — in residences; dvi — two times; aṣṭa — eight; sāhasram — thousand; striyaḥ — women; ekaḥ — alone; udāvahat — He married; iti — thus; utsukaḥ — eager; dvāravatīm — to Dvārakā; deva — of the demigods; ṛṣiḥ — the sage, Nārada; draṣṭum — to see; āgamat — came; puṣpita — flowery; upavana — in parks; ārāma — and pleasure gardens; dvija — of birds; ali — and bees; kula — with flocks and swarms; nāditām — resounding; utphulla — blooming; indīvara — with blue lotuses; ambhoja — day-blooming lotuses; kahlāra — white esculent lotuses; kumuda — moonlight-blooming lotuses; utpalaiḥ — and water lilies; churiteṣu — filled; saraḥsu — within lakes; uccaiḥ — loudly; kūjitām — filled with the calling; haṁsa — by swans; sārasaiḥ — and cranes; prāsāda — with palaces; lakṣaiḥ — hundreds of thousands; navabhiḥ — nine; juṣṭām — adorned; sphāṭika — made of crystal glass; rājataiḥ — and silver; mahā-marakata — with great emeralds; prakhyaiḥ — splendorous; svarṇa — of gold; ratna — and jewels; paricchadaiḥ — whose furnishings; vibhakta — systematically divided; rathyā — with main avenues; patha — roads; catvara — intersections; āpaṇaiḥ — and marketplaces; śālā-sabhābhiḥ — with assembly houses; rucirām — charming; sura — of the demigods; ālayaiḥ — with temples; saṁsikta — sprinkled with water; mārga — whose roads; aṅgana — courtyards; vīthi — commercial streets; dehalīm — and patios; patat — flying; patāka — with banners; dhvaja — by the flagpoles; vārita — warded off; ātapām — the heat of the sun.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing that Lord Kṛṣṇa had killed Narakāsura and had alone married many brides, Nārada Muni desired to see the Lord in this situation. He thought, “It is quite amazing that in a single body Lord Kṛṣṇa simultaneously married sixteen thousand women, each in a separate palace.” Thus the sage of the demigods eagerly went to Dvārakā.
The city was filled with the sounds of birds and bees flying about the parks and pleasure gardens, while its lakes, crowded with blooming indīvara, ambhoja, kahlāra, kumuda and utpala lotuses, resounded with the calls of swans and cranes. Dvārakā boasted nine hundred thousand 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. Traffic moved along a well-laid-out system of boulevards, roads, intersections and marketplaces, and many assembly houses and temples of demigods graced the charming city. The roads, courtyards, commercial streets and residential patios were all sprinkled with water and shaded from the sun’s heat by banners waving from flagpoles.
In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully describes the city of Dvārakā as follows: “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 and 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.”