Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Canto 1: Creation | Chapter 16: How Parikshit Received the Age of Kali |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.5
SYNONYMS
saunakah uvaca -- Saunaka Rishi said; kasya -- for what; hetoh -- reason; nijagraha -- sufficiently punished; kalim -- the master of the age of Kali; digvijaye -- during the time of his world tour; nripah -- the King; nri-deva -- royal person; cihna-dhrik -- decorated like; sudrakah -- lowest of the sudras; asau -- he; gam -- cow; yah -- one who; pada ahanat -- struck on the leg; tat -- all that; kathyatam -- please describe; maha-bhaga -- O greatly fortunate one; yadi -- if, however; krishna -- about Krishna; katha-asrayam -- related with His topics.
TRANSLATION
Saunaka Rishi inquired: Why did Maharaja Parikshit simply punish him, since he was the lowest of the sudras, having dressed as a king and having struck a cow on the leg? Please describe all these incidents if they relate to the topics of Lord Krishna.
PURPORT
Saunaka and the rishis were astonished to hear that the pious Maharaja Parikshit simply punished the culprit and did not kill him. This suggests that a pious king like Maharaja Parikshit should have at once killed an offender who wanted to cheat the public by dressing like a king and at the same time daring to insult the purest of the animals, a cow. The rishis in those days, however, could not even imagine that in the advanced days of the age of Kali the lowest of the sudras will be elected as administrators and will open organized slaughterhouses for killing cows. Anyway, although hearing about a sudraka who was a cheat and insulter of a cow was not very interesting to the great rishis, they nevertheless wanted to hear about it to see if the event had any connection with Lord Krishna. They were simply interested in the topics of Lord Krishna, for anything that is dovetailed with the narration of Krishna is worth hearing. There are many topics in the Bhagavatam about sociology, politics, economics, cultural affairs, etc., but all of them are in relation with Krishna, and therefore all of them are worth hearing. Krishna is the purifying ingredient in all matters, regardless of what they are. In the mundane world, everything is impure due to its being a product of the three mundane qualities. The purifying agent, however, is Krishna.
Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness