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2024-04-19, 4:34 AM |
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Chapter 18: Mahârâja Parîkchit
Cursed by a Brahmin Boy
(1) Sûta said: "He [Parîkchit] who in
the womb of his mother was scorched by the weapon of the son of Drona,
did not die thanks to the mercy of the Supreme Lord S'rî
Krishna whose actions are so wonderful. (2)
Cursed by a brahmin to die by a snake-bird, he was never overwhelmed by
the great fear of death because he had consciously surrendered himself
to the Supreme Lord. (3) After he had
left behind all the ones surrouding him and had understood the actual
position of the Invincible One, he
as a disciple of the son of Vyâsa [S'ukadeva Gosvâmî] gave up his material body at the bank of the
Ganges. (4) They who remembering
His feet occupy themselves with His hymns and appreciate the nectarine
stories in which He is glorified, will not even
at
the
time
of
their
death
be confounded. (5) Even though he is present everywhere, the
personality of Kali cannot flourish as long as the mighty ruler, the
son of Abhimanyu, is the one who factually rules. (6) The moment the Supreme Lord left this
earth,
Kali, he who promotes irreligion, appeared in this world. (7) The emperor who as a realist lived for the
essence was never envious of the personality of Kali. Like a bee going
for the nectar, he knew that auspicious things lead to immediate
success, while working for the inauspicious one never attains. (8) Kali, who in the eyes of the weaker ones
appears to be a great power, is to the self-controlled a cause of
apprehension, and thus
Parîkchit as a tiger among
man was the one who among the
careless took care. (9) Upon your request I have related almost
all the stories that in relation to Vâsudeva can be told about the pious Parîkchit. (10) Those
who
want
to
develop
and
prove
themselves
should
take
notice
of all and everything about the Supreme
Lord His wonders, transcendental qualities and uncommon deeds I spoke
about."
(11) The sages said: "O Sûta, may you live a
long, happy and particularly eternally famous life, because you
speaking so nicely about Lord Krishna grant us mortals certainly the
nectar of eternity. (12) In this
performance of sacrifice, of which the outcome is uncertain, we are
black of the smoke, but by the pleasing
of
Govinda's
feet
of your good
self we enjoy the nectar of a lotus flower. (13)
Attaining higher worlds or liberation from matter, not even mentioning
the worldly benedictions of those who inevitably head for their death,
is nothing compared to finding but for a moment one's perfect balance
in enjoying the company of a devotee of the Lord. (14) Once having acquired the taste someone will
never get enough of relishing the nectar of the stories about the
greatest and only refuge among the living beings, He whose
transcendental qualities could never be measured by
even the greatest masters of mystic union like Lord Brahmâ and
Lord S'iva. (15) Be so kind oh learned one to describe to us
who are eager to hear about it, His impartial transcendental
activities, for He to the good self of you, our most important person
in relation to the Supreme Lord, is the one and only shelter, the
greatest of the great. (16) Evidently
Parîkchit,
as
a
first-class
devotee,
attained
the
lotus
feet
of
Him
who has Garuda in His banner, after he had
strengthened his intelligence with the knowledge that was voiced by the
son of Vyâsa in order to inform him about the path of liberation.
(17) Please tell us therefore about the supreme
and purifying that is so wonderfully contained in bhakti [devotion].
Describe to us, the way it was spoken to Parîkchit, the
activities of the Unlimited One that are so particularly dear to the
pure devotees."
(18) Sûta said: "See how we, this way being
connected to the great ones in conversation, despite of having a
mixed background, today clearly are promoted to take [a higher] birth [in the
spirit of the Lord]. By serving the ones who are advanced in knowledge
one
is quickly freed from the suffering that is a consequence of one's
being born in a lower [material] sense. (19)
And, again, what to say of those who exclusively take to the shelter of
the great devotees and thereto chant the holy name of Him who is called
Ananta because of the fact that He is unlimited in His potency and
unmeasurably great by His attributes? (20)
To give a description of Him unlimited in His attributes and equal to
none, it suffices to say, that the Goddess of Fortune, with rejecting
others who asked for it, wished to serve in the dust of His feet, while
He Himself never asked for it. (21)
Who else would be worth the position of carrying the name of Supreme
Lord besides Mukunda [Lord Krishna as the one granting liberation] from
whose toenails the water [of the Ganges] collected by
Brahmâjî emanated that via Lord S'iva purifies the whole
universe. (22) Those who are firmly attached to Him are
capable of instantly leaving aside
the attachments of the gross
body and the
subtle mind and go away to take shelter of the highest stage of
perfection [sannyâsa], the stage of life in which
nonviolence and renunciation is found. (23) Because
you
who
are
as
strong
as
the
sun asked me, I can give you an
account
of the knowledge I have acquired; it is in this matter as with the
birds who fly as far as they can: I can enlighten you on Vishnu as far
as my realization permits.
(24-25) Once upon a time when Parîkchit was
hunting stags with bow and arrows, he got very fatigued, hungry and
thirsty. Looking for a reservoir of water he entered the hermitage of
the famous rishi S'amîka where he saw the sage silently
sitting down with his eyes closed. (26)
Having restrained his sense organs, breath, mind and intelligence he,
in quality equal to the Supreme Absolute,
had ceased all activity while he remained unaffected in trance elevated
above the three modes of consciousness [wakefulness, dream and
unconsciousness]. (27) He was
covered by his long, compressed hair as also by the skin of a stag. The
king, whose palate was dry of thirst, asked for water. (28) Not being properly received with a place to
sit, water and nice words, he felt neglected and so he got angry. (29) Oh brahmins, given the circumstance of being
distressed because of his hunger and thirst, his anger and hostility
against the brahmin was unprecedented. (30)
Having lost his respect he with the tip of his bow picked up a lifeless snake and placed it angrily over the shoulder of
the
sage as he left to return to his palace. (31)
There he wondered whether or not the sage's meditative state of
withdrawing from the senses with closed eyes was a false, pretended
trance to remain in avoidance of seeing a lower ruler.
(32) When the sage's son, who was a
very powerful personality, heard of the grief the king had caused his
father while he was playing with some children, he said this: (33)
'Just see how irreligious these rulers are! Enriching themselves like
crows they defy what is settled for servants, while they are nothing
but dogs keeping watch at the door! (34)
The sons of the ruling class are to guard the learned ones like
watchdogs -
on what grounds would he who is supposed to stay at the door deserve it
to enter the house of the master and eat from the same plate? (35) Since Krishna our protector, who is the
Supreme Lord and ruler of those upstarts, has departed, I shall today
punish them myself, just witness my power!' (36)
Thus with eyes red-hot of anger speaking to his playmates, the son of
the rishi touched the water of the Kaus'ika river and
discharged the following thunderbolt of words: (37) 'Verily,
seven
days
from
now the
wretched one of the dynasty who offended my father will, because of breaking with the etiquette,
be
bitten by a snake-bird.' (38) When the boy thereafter returned to the
hermitage, he saw the snake over his father's shoulder and wept aloud over that sorry plight.
(39) Oh S'aunaka,
when
the
rishi heard his son crying in distress, he who was born in
the family of Angirâ slowly opened his eyes and saw the dead
snake on his shoulder. (40) Throwing it
aside, he asked: 'My dear son, what are you crying about? Has someone
wronged you?' Thus being requested, the boy told him everything. (41) After hearing about the curse pronounced
against the king who should never have been condemned because he is the
best among man, he did not compliment his son, but lamented
instead: 'Alas! What a great sin you have committed yourself today in
awarding such a heavy punishment for such an insignificant offense! (42) In fact
no one may ever place a transcendental man of God on the same footing
with common men - your command of intelligence is immature... by his
unsurpassable prowess his subjects completely
protected enjoy the
prosperity. (43)
Oh my boy, the Lord who carries the wheel of the chariot is represented
by this monarch; once he is abolished, this world will be full of
thieves who immediately will vanquish the ones unprotected like they
were
lambs. (44) Because of us negating the monarch, from this day on,
the reaction upon this sin will overtake us causing great social
disorder. The wealth will be taken by thieves and among the people
there will be murder and molestation as also abuse of women and animals. (45)
The righteous civilization of human progress in the vocations and
stages of life according to the vedic injunctions will at that time
systematically be vanquished, and with the economy then only serving
sense-gratification will result in an unwanted population on the
level of dogs and monkeys. (46)
The protector of the
religion, the king, is a highly celebrated emperor, a direct, first class devotee of the Lord and a saint of nobility;
a great
performer of horse sacrifices - and when he hungry and thirsty is
stricken with fatigue he never deserves it to be cursed by us like
this.'
(47) Next the sage addressed the Supreme,
All-pervading Lord
in order to beg His pardon for the great sin that by the child immature
of intelligence was committed against a sinless, worthy and subordinate
soul. (48) [He prayed:] 'Whether they are defamed,
cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even when one of them is
killed, the forbearing devotees
of the Lord for certain never will avenge
themselves
for
any of this.' (49) Thus the sage regretted the sin of his son
while he
personally didn't consider the king insulting him sinful. (50)
Generally the saints in this world prove themselves not distressed or
happy when they because of others are engaged in worldly duality,
because they are situated in the transcendence of the soul."
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