Prem Sagar: Chapter XC

This is a passage from a Hindu devotional text (Purana) in the tradition of Krishna bhakti literature, likely an 18th or 19th-century English translation of a Sanskrit or vernacular source, printed at a colonial-era military press in India. It describes the divine city of Dwarka under Krishna's reign as a scene of ideal prosperity — abundant markets, Vedic recitation, music, and courtly splendor surrounding the god-king. The central content focuses on Krishna's domestic and amorous life with his 16,108 wives, depicting their erotic play, water sports, and lovesick addresses to birds, the moon, the sea, and natural phenomena as expressions of devotion. A distinctive feature is the wives' poetic apostrophes — comparing their own lovesickness to the mournful call of separated geese or the moon's waning — which blend erotic longing with spiritual surrender in the characteristic mode of Krishna devotionalism. The passage closes with an account of Krishna's impossibly vast progeny (requiring nearly 400,000 schools) and a standard benediction asserting that reciting or hearing this narrative confers the same spiritual merit as pilgrimage, fasting, and sacrifice. The text is presented as a recitation by the sage Shukadeva to King Parikshit, the framing device canonical to the Bhagavata Purana tradition.

Prem Sagar: Chapter XC

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