To avenge Kansa, his father-in-law Jarasandha attacked Mathura again and again; seventeen times, the story says. To save his people from endless war, Shri Krishna left Mathura, and so he came to be called "Ranchhod", the one who left the battlefield. By this name he is still worshipped today as Ranchhodrai in Dakor.
Shri Krishna asked the ocean for land on the western coast of Saurashtra and had Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods, build the golden city of Dwarka there. From here he ruled the kingdom of the Yadavas, and so he is worshipped as "Dwarkadhish", the Lord of Dwarka. Today Dwarka in Gujarat is one of the four great pilgrimage sites, the Char Dham.
Rukmini, the princess of Vidarbha, had already chosen Shri Krishna in her heart, but her brother Rukmi had arranged her marriage to Shishupala. Honouring the letter Rukmini sent him, Shri Krishna came himself, carried her away in his chariot to Dwarka and married her.
Years later his childhood friend Sudama, worn down by poverty, came to Dwarka at his wife's urging, bringing only a handful of rice. Shri Krishna ran to embrace him, washed his feet with his tears and lovingly ate the rice. Sudama asked for nothing, yet when he reached home, a palace stood where his hut had been. This story is a symbol of true friendship and selfless devotion.