A saint, on a pilgrimage, came to Rameshwar, which is a holy place in Tamilnadu South India. There he came down with a stomach disease called dropsy. He became so weak by this condition that he was unable to go continue on his pilgrimage. He became very worried. One night he got a vision. In his dream an ascetic gave him ‘Darshan’ and said “Go to Akkalkot, where you will recover from the disease”. Then the saint found his way to Akkalkot. There Sri Swami Samarth was sitting near a well. There was a big crowd who were waiting for the ‘Darshan’ of Sri Swami. However, in that crowd the kind glance of Sri Swami fell on this saint. Sri Swami called the saint near him and said, “You wanted to go to Dwaraka [1] and you wanted to take the sagun Darshan of Lord Krishna!” so saying Sri Swami Samarth manifested himself in the Divine form of Lord Krishna with four hands, each hand holding, a Conch, a Chakra (Wheel- Divine Weapon), a Mace, and a Lotus. Seeing this Divine form of Lord Krishna with all attributes, the saint lost his consciousness.
Then Sri Swami asked him to eat neem leaves for three days. By doing so, the saint was cured of his disease. He remained in Akkalkot rendering devotional service to Sri Swami till Sri Swami took his last conscious communion with God.
[1] Dwarka: A holy place of Lord Krishna in Gujarath. It is located in the Jamnagar District of Gujarat. It is on the mouth of the Gomti River into Gulf of Kutch. The city lies in the westernmost part of India. .Dwarka is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country. The legendary city of Dvaraka in Hindu mythology was the dwelling place of Krishna. It is believed that, due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dvaraka has submerged six times and modern Dwarka is the 7th city to be built in the area.
Dvaraka is mentioned in the the Mahabharata, the Harivansha, the Bhagavata Purana, the Skanda Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
The legend says that Krishna renounced war in Mathura for the greater good (and hence the name Ranchodrai) and founded (and settled in) Dvaraka. Sri Krishna killed Kamsa (his maternal uncle) and made Ugrasen (his maternal grandfather) the king of Mathura. Enraged, the father-in-law of Kamsa, Jarasandha (king of Magadha) with his friend Kalayavan attacked Mathura 17 times. For the safety of the people, Krishna and Yadavas decided to move the capital from Mathura to Dvaraka.
Land was reclaimed from the sea near the western shores of Saurashtra. A city was planned and built here. Dvaraka was a planned city, on the banks of Gomati River. This city was also known as Dvaramati, Dvaravati and Kushsthali. It had well organized six sectors, residential and commercial zones, wide roads, plazas, palaces and many public utilities. A hall called “Sudharma Sabha” was built to hold public meetings. The city also boasted a good harbour.
After Krishna left for the heavenly abode, and the major Yadava heads were killed in disputes among themselves; Arjuna went to Dvaraka to bring Krishna’s grandsons and the Yadava wives to Hastinapur. After Arjuna left Dvaraka, it was submerged in the sea. Following is the account given by Arjuna, in Mahabharata:
“ The sea, which had been beating against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The sea rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the city. I saw the beautiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the city. Dwaraka was just a name; just a memory.”
The Vishnu Purana states that “On the same day that Krishna departed from the earth the powerful dark-bodied Kali Age descended. The oceans rose and submerged the whole of Dvaraka.”