As Lord Krishna heads back to Dwaraka after the Kurukshetra war, He comes across sage Udanga, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse. Krishna alights from His chariot and pays His respects to Udanga. Udanga places flowers at Krishna’s feet and asks Krishna if He managed to ensure peace between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He adds that he has no doubt that Krishna would have helped avert a war. Krishna tells Udanga that all His efforts to prevent war had come to nought, and had been like cotton cast in fire. War had broken out and many lives had been lost. None can go against karma, Krishna says. Udanga loses his temper. “How can You say this? Could You not have guided the Kauravas from taking a destructive path? Why did You allow bad thoughts to take root in the minds of the Kauravas? You are responsible for their wrong intentions. I cannot accept what has happened. I am going to curse You. How can You say that Fate is always strong?”
Krishna addresses Udanga as a worthy son of the clan of sage Brighu. Krishna says to Udanga, “You cannot use your tapas to insult me. You will lose the benefits of your penance if you do so. I do not want you to lose them. Do you know who I am? I am the root cause for all Creation, including Brahma and Siva. All creation and destruction takes place through Me. In every yuga it is My duty to establish dharma. I take avataras to save those with satvik qualities. I have now taken an avatara as a human being. As such, I do not want to use My divine sakthi. That is why I went as a messenger to the Kauravas and pleaded with them to do justice to the Pandavas.”
Vaishnavite Acharya Pilla Lokacharya says messengers used to wear a palm leaf around their necks, and Krishna went with such a palm leaf around His neck.
