Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.12.2

tasya janma mahā-buddheh

karmāni ca mahātmanah

nidhanam ca yathaivāsīt

sa pretya gatavān yathā

SYNONYMS

tasya — his (of Mahārāja Parīkshit); janma — birth; mahā-buddheh — of great intelligence; karmāni — activities; ca — also; mahā-ātmanah — of the great devotee; nidhanam — demise; ca — also; yathā — as it was; eva — of course; āsīt — happened; sah — he; pretya — destination after death; gatavān — achieved; yathā — as it were.

TRANSLATION

How was the great emperor Parīkshit, who was a highly intelligent and great devotee, born in that womb? How did his death take place, and what did he achieve after his death?

PURPORT

The king of Hastināpura (now Delhi) used to be the emperor of the world, at least till the time of the son of Emperor Parīkshit. Mahārāja Parīkshit was saved by the Lord in the womb of his mother, so he could certainly be saved from an untimely death due to the ill will of the son of a brāhmana. Because the age of Kali began to act just after the assumption of power by Mahārāja Parīkshit, the first sign of misgivings was exhibited in the cursing of such a greatly intelligent and devoted king as Mahārāja Parīkshit. The king is the protector of the helpless citizens, and their welfare, peace and prosperity depend on him. Unfortunately, by the instigation of the fallen age of Kali, an unfortunate brāhmana's son was employed to condemn the innocent Mahārāja Parīkshit, and so the King had to prepare himself for death within seven days. Mahārāja Parīkshit is especially famous as one who is protected by Vishnu, and when he was unduly cursed by a brāhmana's son, he could have invoked the mercy of the Lord to save him, but he did not want to because he was a pure devotee. A pure devotee never asks the Lord for any undue favor. Mahārāja Parīkshit knew that the curse of the brāhmana's son upon him was unjustified, as everyone else knew, but he did not want to counteract it because he knew also that the age of Kali had begun and that the first symptom of the age, namely degradation of the highly talented brāhmana community, had also begun. He did not want to interfere with the current of the time, but he prepared himself to meet death very cheerfully and very properly. Being fortunate, he got at least seven days to prepare himself to meet death, and so he properly utilized the time in the association of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the great saint and devotee of the Lord.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness