At what age was Lord Krishna killed by the hunter?

Question

Does anyone know at what age Lord Krishna was killed by the hunter (the rebirth of Vali)?

Are there any scriptural references available for this?

Answer 1

Krishna lived for 125 years; in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahma tells Krishna that it's time for his life on earth to end:

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O my Lord, You have descended into the Yadu dynasty, and thus You have spent one hundred twenty-five autumns with Your devotees.

There's another popular way to calculate his age: the Matsya Purana apparently contains a reference to Krishna being 89 years old during the Mahabharata War (see here), and the Mausala Parva of the Mahabharata says that Krishna died 36 years after the war, which adds up to 125 years total.

Answer 2

Lord Krishna's birth date was 18th July 3228 BCE and Death date was 18th February 3102 BCE (the start of Kali Yuga) according to DrikPanchang.

Answer 3

Swami Swahananda says that Sri Krishna lived 128 years.

There is a Chandogya Upanishad mantra which says:

Ghora Angirasa expounded this well known doctrine to Devaki's son Krishna and said , 'Such a knower should at the time of death repeat this triad - "Thou art the imperishable, Thou art the unchangeable, Thou art the subtle essence of Prana." (on hearing the above) Krishna became thirstless. There are two Rk stanzas in regard to this.

Chandogya Upanishad mantra 3.17.6

Swami Swahananda writes:

Sri Sankaracharya states that the mention of Krishna is only for the purpose of bringing out the excellence of this Vidya (sacrifice). He says that the desire for Vidyas was quenched in the mind of Krishna after listening to the instruction of Gora Angirasa. The Mimamsakas whose central dogma is that every syllable of the Sruti is beginningless and eternal would consider the reference to Krishna as Arthavada and not an allusion to the historical personality. Students of historical thought, however, find a definite reference to the teacher of the Gita in the epithet Devakiputra. This conclusion is rendered probable by the identification of man and sacrifice (corresponding to the Gita ideal of the dedication of every activity of life to the Divine) and by the long life of Sri Krishna extending to 128 years described in the Bhagavata while a period of 116 years is considered normal in this Vidya. In this passage historians find the earliest reference to Sri Krishna which can not be dismissed as legendary.

Chandogya Upanishad commentary by Swami Swahananda

Answer 4

Lord Krishna disappeared from the material world at the age of 125.

Brahma said to Krishna in Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.25 —

O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O my Lord, You have descended into the Yadu dynasty, and thus You have spent one hundred twenty-five autumns with Your devotees.

Ref:https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/11/6/25

But, he didn't get old. He was ever-fresh or ever-youth all the time.

Another thing is, you have misunderstood Krishna's disappearance pastime. He was not killed by anyone, he just disappeared from the material world in a transcendental way.

There is a story behind his disappearance. From my previous answer to Is there any story behind Lord Krishna's death?:

There are many misconceptions about this because some people do not study the Vedic texts properly and out of curiosity and half-knowledge makes some baseless conclusions like Lord Krishna died from just an arrow by Hunter Jara.

The Story of Jara shoots an arrow at Krishna’s lotus feet should be studied properly.

We should first understand how can a Greatest Kshatriya die from just an arrow which just hit the foot of Lord Krishna? Are the Kshatriyas so weak (I’m talking this on the material plane)? And the person who makes alive the son of his guru and took him back from the abode of Yama (the god of death) to his father (guru) can really die?

The story is as follows:

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.45.45 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Suffering the bondage of his past activity, My spiritual master’s son was brought here to you. O great King, obey My command and bring this boy to Me without delay.

SB 10.45.46 — Yamarāja said, “So be it,” and brought forth the guru’s son. Then those two most exalted Yadus presented the boy to Their spiritual master and said to him, “Please select another boon.”

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/sb/10/45

Lord Krishna defeated Indra as well as Mahakala (The god of god of death) Shiva. //Lord Krishna is the original Mahakala as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita.

When Lord Krishna defeated Lord Shiva and Banasura, Lord Shiva said:

SB 10.63.38 — You are the original person, one without a second, transcendental and self-manifesting. Uncaused, you are the cause of all, and You are the ultimate controller. You are nonetheless perceived in terms of the transformations of matter effected by Your illusory energy — transformations You sanction so that the various material qualities can fully manifest.

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/sb/10/63

Moreover, by the mercy of Lord Krishna, Hunter Jara went to the abode of Lord Krishna without leaving his body:

SB 11.30.39 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Jarā, do not fear. Please get up. What has been done is actually My own desire. With My permission, go now to the abode of the pious, the spiritual world.

SB 11.30.40 — So instructed by the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, who assumes His transcendental body by His own will, the hunter circumambulated the Lord three times and bowed down to Him. Then the hunter departed in an airplane that had appeared just to carry him to the spiritual sky.

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/sb/11/30

The Person, whose pastimes are divine, can he really die and that is too by just an arrow? If we look at the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam carefully that when the hunter shot an arrow at Lord Krishna’s feet, he realized that He was the Lord, he was aghast. He came there, but there is no description that he removed the blood or he treated the wound over there. That arrow just touched the Krishna’s Lotus feet because his body is Fully Transcendental. He was actually very repentful and he was very prayerful, begging forgiveness. So actually it was just a Lila of the Lord to leave this material world.

When Krishna was talking with Daruka, Lord Krishna abandoned his four arm form and appeared in his own original two hand form, this is confirmed in the following verses of Srimad Bhagavatam (SB):

SB 11.30.45 — All the divine weapons of Viṣṇu rose up and followed the chariot. The Lord, Janārdana, then spoke to His chariot driver, who was most astonished to see all this.

SB 11.30.46 — O driver, go to Dvārakā and tell Our family members how their loved ones destroyed one another. Also tell them of the disappearance of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa and of My present condition.

SB 11.30.47 — You and your relatives should not remain in Dvārakā, the capital of the Yadus, because once I have abandoned that city it will be inundated by the ocean.

SB 11.30.48 — You should all take your own families, together with My parents, and under Arjuna’s protection go to Indraprastha.

SB 11.30.49 — You, Dāruka, should be firmly situated in devotion to Me, remaining fixed in spiritual knowledge and unattached to material considerations. Understanding these pastimes to be a display of My illusory potency, you should remain peaceful.

SB 11.30.50 — Thus ordered, Dāruka circumambulated the Lord and offered obeisances to Him again and again. He placed Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet upon his head and then with a sad heart went back to the city.

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/sb/11/30

After this incident, Lord Krishna manifests his last divine pastime and disappears from the material world:

SB 11.31.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then Lord Brahmā arrived at Prabhāsa along with Lord Śiva and his consort, the sages, the Prajāpatis and all the demigods, headed by Indra.

SB 11.31.2-3 — The forefathers, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas and great serpents also came, along with the Cāraṇas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Kinnaras, Apsarās and relatives of Garuḍa, greatly eager to witness the departure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As they were coming, all these personalities variously chanted and glorified the birth and activities of Lord Śauri [Kṛṣṇa].

SB 11.31.4 — O King, crowding the sky with their many airplanes, they showered down flowers with great devotion.

SB 11.31.5 — Seeing before Him Brahmā, the grandfather of the universe, along with the other demigods, who are all His personal and powerful expansions, the Almighty Lord closed His lotus eyes, fixing His mind within Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 11.31.6 — Without employing the mystic āgneyī meditation to burn up His transcendental body, which is the all-attractive resting place of all the worlds and the object of all contemplation and meditation, Lord Kṛṣṇa entered into His own abode.

SB 11.31.7 — As soon as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa left the earth, Truth, Religion, Faithfulness, Glory and Beauty immediately followed Him. Kettledrums resounded in the heavens and flowers showered from the sky.

SB 11.31.8 — Most of the demigods and other higher beings led by Brahmā could not see Lord Kṛṣṇa as He was entering His own abode, since He did not reveal His movements. But some of them did catch sight of Him, and they were extremely amazed.

SB 11.31.9 — Just as ordinary men cannot ascertain the path of a lightning bolt as it leaves a cloud, the demigods could not trace out the movements of Lord Kṛṣṇa as He returned to His abode.

SB 11.31.10 — A few of the demigods, however — notably Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva — could ascertain how the Lord’s mystic power was working, and thus they became astonished. All the demigods praised the Lord’s mystic power and then returned to their own planets.

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/sb/11/31

Lord Krishna says:

Bg 4.6 — Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.

Ref: Vedabase.com/en/bg/4

Also, It was not Vali who re-incarnated as Jara. It is another famous misconception about Hunter Jara that is he was a re-incarnation of Vali. There is no single statement from shastra to support such claim. Valmiki Ramayana says vali attained Moksha after getting killed by Lord Rama himself.