Bhagavatam study 90 1.17.7-12 – When in a position of material responsibility, act responsibly

7 now Krishna is speaking Parikshit Maharaj incident is being narrated by Suta Goswami and Parikshit Maharaj is speaking to the Shudra, to Kali who is dressed like a king but acting like a Shudra tam chamranala dhavala padairjuna pada charan so vrusha roopena kinkashid devona parikhedayan so now Parikshit Maharaj first speaks to the Shudra and says that you deserve to be killed but then he doesn’t want to make a hasty decision he wants to understand what is happening so he turns towards the culprits he has spoken to the culprit and now he is going to speak to the victim so and he turns to the calf to the bull and he asks tamva mrunal dhavala so you are white like a lily mrunal dhavala padairjuna pada charan so you move around on one leg without other legs vrusha roopena kinkashid so who are you? you are in the form of a bull but are you actually a bull? devona parikhedayan so are you some god who has come here so parikhedayan what kind of grief is this? so normally in Parikshit Maharaj’s kingdom the cows and bulls everybody was taken care of very well, the cows were taken care of well the bulls were taken care of well so so when he says that you are in such a pitiable condition you are so weak, so emaciated so injured so who are you? how can you be in such a condition? how did I not know about it? are you some god who has come in this form to convey to me that the grievous condition that is there? parikhedayan I am afflicted by seeing the kind of distress that you are in so who are you? even when a grievous crime is happening Parikshit Maharaj is showing that he doesn’t simply impulsively act to punish someone he still recognizes that people have their own people should have the right to get a fair hearing and he wants to give that fair hearing to everyone so he is trying to understand the situation so text 8 now so text 8 now certainly as long as the Kurus were the kings were the Kurus the kings such tears have not fallen people have not experience such grief, wherever we have been, that they have been protected by our arms.
Bhūtale anutapantya asmin. Bhūtale, on the earth, where we were there, anupatayantya, that grieving, the tears are not falling. Vināte prāṇināṁśu ca.
Except for you, nobody has suffered like this. Some countries have something like, they have zero hunger zones. For example, they say that if anybody is hungry, the government will provide food for them.
And then the kings are very proud that the government is proud, the heads of state are proud. Not proud in an egoistic sense, but proud in a sense of having achieved something worthwhile, that in our kingdom, nobody will go hungry. So, it is such a situation.
And then they find somebody who is starving practically to the point of death. That the head of state or the representatives of the government will say, this has happened in our kingdom. How is such a thing happening? What are we coming to? How could such a thing happen over here? So, if we know that a particular part of the city is a respectable neighborhood, low crime neighborhood, and then we come to know that some grievous crime has happened over there.
Hey, this kind of crime does not happen over here. I am shocked to hear this. So, similarly, something which is very uncharacteristic, that has happened over here.
And Parikshit Maharaj is saying that Kauravendranam. Now, the word Kauravas has sometimes got a negative connotation for us. Because we associate the word Kaurava with Duryodhana and his brothers.
But actually, even the Pandavas are Kauravas. Because the word Kaurava simply refers to a Kauravas. And the Pandavas were also members of the Kuru dynasty.
And that is why Kuru Nandana, sometimes Arjuna is referred to as Kuru Nandana in the Bhagavad Gita. So, Kaurava, because Duryodhana and his brothers, they were ruling the kingdom at that time. So, they were ruling the Kuru kingdom for a good amount of time.
That is why they came to be referred to as the Kauravas. So, sometimes they are also called as Dharatarashtranam. But the name Dharatarashtra is quite a big name.
It’s a clumsy name to use. So, Pandu is a short name. Kaurava is also a relatively short name.
So, Dharatarashtranam is used, but each time to use it is difficult. So, basically, sometimes some words have particular meanings according to particular context. So, in the generation of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, in the generation when Yudhishthira, Duryodhana and others were living, Duryodhana’s brothers were called as the Kauravas.
Yudhishthira and his brothers were called as the Pandavas. But now that generation is over. And Duryodhana and others were not representatives of the illustrious Kuru dynasty.
The Kuru dynasty was filled with great kings and they had a great reputation. So, now that contextual usage of the word Kaurava is over. And Kauravendra, the king of the Kurus, this is a respectable glorious title.
So, here Pariksit is saying that, that when the Kauravas were ruling, wherever the Kaurava kings have been ruling and people have been protected by their arms, such suffering does not occur. So, I am shocked that this kind of suffering is occurring. And how is it occurring? Except for you, it has never happened like this.
So, providing protection to citizens is a prime responsibility of the king. And all of us need a sense of identity. All of us need a sense of self-worth.
Now, we can all get this sense of self-worth in different ways. It depends on the kind of association that we live in. So, some people, if they are living in good association, they get their sense of self-worth by being good.
So, some people, they have a kind of pious pride in saying that anybody who comes to me for help, they will never go empty handed. Now, there might be a little bit of ego in it, but there is also because whatever it is, they are giving some charity. And anybody who comes to our doors, anybody who comes in our house, they will never go out without taking some food.
That is just courtesy, that is hospitality. And eat something, drink something, just do not go like that. So, this is sometimes there is pious pride.
Pride being pious, then that helps people to be pious. So, some people get their pride in doing impious activities. Some people, whenever they see some people who are very crude and uncivilized, they just, wherever they go, if they go to any shop, they think, I cannot go in this shop without robbing something from here, without lifting, doing some kind of shoplifting from here.
So, that is their mentality. So, they get their sense of thrill and identity. You know, I have done shoplifting in so many shops.
So, now that is a perverse way of getting an identity. So, in the Vedic context, especially for the Kshatriyas, it was that they were reputation conscious, but their reputation was that they were meant to be dharmic. And the reputation consciousness made them do activities by which they could be.
So, they cannot actually get it done. So, they would actually act dharmically in a way that will help you to help us. They will act dharmically by which they will benefit others.
They are in an influential position and they can benefit others to the extent they act virtuously. So, here, this is not egoistic pride. This is a pride that helps one to move toward dharma.
Now, Parikshit will turn to the second victim. So, normally, when we meet someone, we do not just talk, if there are two, three people talking, then we talk with all of them, at least acknowledge their presence, greet them. So, here, Parikshit first speaks with the bull and now he is going to speak with the cow.
So, so, he is continuing here to speak to the bull and he says that, you are the son of Surabhi, do not fear. You are in fear, but do not fear. That, it is because of the shudra, you are afraid, but do not be afraid.
He is turning towards the cow and he is speaking here now. Amba, oh mother cow, may there be good upon you, may there be auspiciousness upon you. They do not cry.
That, as long as my Shastri, as long as I am living and I am the king, I will put those who are envious, I will put an end to them. You do not have to fear them. So, king is meant to assure, not just protect, but also assure protection.
Now, there is, when people are in trouble, there is physical trouble and there is an emotional component of the trouble also. And a king is meant to protect people all around, not just physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. In all ways, the king is meant to protect the citizens.
And that point is being conveyed over here, when it is said that, oh cow, do not be afraid. I am going to protect you. As long as I am there, there is nothing for you to fear.
Although this atrocity has happened, but it is not going to continue. It is going to stop. Let us see how he continues then.
Text 10. So, this is, in whose kingdom, praja sarve trasyante sadhya sadhu bhi, O sadhvi, O chaste one, O cow, in that king, in whose kingdom, the citizens, praja atasyante, they are tormented, they are afflicted, they are troubled, tasyamatyasya nasyanti. So, for that illusion king, that king is so intoxicated with just enjoying royal opulence that he is not doing the duty, nasyanti, kirtir ayur bhagati.
For him, his fame, his lifespan, his fortune and his auspicious destination in next life, all these go away. So, now, Vishwacharya Thakur envisions a conversation between the king and the cow and the bull. And the cow is saying that actually, if you kill them, in that killing, I will also become implicated.
And therefore, we don’t want to become implicated. So, please don’t kill. So, Parikshit Maharaj is replying that actually, I am not killing for your sake.
I am killing for my sake. That I am not killing simply because he has tormented you. I am killing because it is my duty to punish him.
It is my duty to protect my citizens. And if I fail in my duty, I will be punished. So, I will get the reactions for that and I will lose my fame, my wealth, my fortune and gati.
In my next life, I won’t get an auspicious destination. So, there is a serious ethos of responsibility that Parikshit Maharaj is displaying over here. The Bhagavatam display explains things in a holistic way.
At one level, we will see that Parikshit Maharaj completely renounces the kingdom and just focuses 7 days continuously on hearing the Bhagavatam. In one moment when he is a king, next moment he is ready to renounce the world after years that he has been cursed. So, that is his renunciation.
But before he is renounced like that, as long as he is the king, he is extremely competent and responsible. He doesn’t tell the cow and the bull, chant Hare Krishna, everything will be alright. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
Just be Krishna conscious and be happy. This is a valuable transcendental instruction and that is definitely, ultimately the purpose of our life is to be Krishna conscious. But if we are having a particular position in this world and we are expected to execute some responsibility according to that position, then it is not for us to give that instruction.
If somebody is in the position of a Kshatriya, somebody in the position of management, then for them, if somebody comes with grievances, then they can’t just tell the victim, those who are afflicted that just chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Chant Hare Krishna and tolerate. No, if something is wrong and they have to, if somebody has taken up a position of material power, then along with that material power comes a material responsibility.
Somebody who is a Brahmana teaching Brahmanically, Brahmanical knowledge, the Brahmana is not having material power and the Brahmana does not have the material position by which they can material rectify things. When the Brahmana make a Brahmanical instruction, okay, life is filled with distress, just tolerate the problems. They come, they go, do not overreact.
That is true. Now, suppose, just imagine, to understand the situation, suppose there is a policeman, police inspector, who is a devotee and somebody who has been robbed and they come and register, they complain to the police, they want to register a complaint, oh, I have been robbed. And the police person tells over, they chant Hare Krishna, everything will be alright.
This is a horrendous misrepresentation. If somebody has taken up the position of being a police person, a cop, then they have to execute the responsibility of being a cop. There is a time for giving spiritual instruction and there is a time for administering a material solution.
The spiritual instruction is not a replacement for the material solution. So, here, Parashith Maharaj is exhibiting that serious responsible behavior when he is saying that, when he is saying that I have to punish you for my sake. If I do not punish you, then it will be I who will get into trouble.
It will be I who will have to suffer. And therefore, I am going to punish. So, when he is talking about I am going to suffer, it is not a self-centered saying, oh, I do not want to get bad karma.
It is simply that I have a responsibility to execute and I am going to execute that responsibility. So, there is a time and a place for different modes of action. And we have to understand which mode of action is required at which time.
Continuing this discussion now, 1712, 1712, So, here he is asking that, in the kingdom which is ruled by Krishna, by the followers of Krishna, such atrocities should not be happening. So, Krishna nu vartinam, those who are the followers of Krishna, and the kings are the followers of Krishna, in their kingdom is Radharishi, ma bhuvaam svadrusha, people should not be in the condition like you are in. ko vrushyatava paadam strin, saurabhina chatuspada, O son of Surabhi, your three legs have been cut off, you have only one leg.
Oh, who has done this to you? Ko vrushyat, who has done this to you? And such a thing should not have happened. So, we see again here, the sense of sensitivity and the sense of responsibility with which Parikshit is acting. Parikshit is not saying that, oh, it is your own karma because of which you are suffering.
He says no, this should not happen in my kingdom. And he is not again saying my kingdom. There is no, if you see both times, when Parikshit is referring, he is conscious of the responsibility he has, because of his connections, because of his antecedents.
He is aware that he belongs to a great dynasty, Kauravendra, he is a king in the Kuru dynasty. And in that dynasty, he has a responsibility. Similarly, he is a devotee of Krishna.
He is Krishna Anuvartinam. And again, that brings responsibility with it. So, he is saying that I cannot allow such a thing to happen.
So, a devotee, when a devotee considers one’s own reputation, that is not for one’s own sake. That is ultimately for the sake of Krishna. Because a devotee’s actions reflect on Krishna’s actions.
A devotee’s actions reflect on the actions of those who have trained that devotee. The devotee’s spiritual master, the devotee’s spiritual guide, the devotee’s spiritual tradition, everyone is manifested through the actions of a devotee. That is why people in this world, they do not perceive God’s presence directly.
What they perceive is the presence of the God, is the actions of the Godly or actions of the, not just the Godly, those who are supposed to represent God. So, those who are priests, those who are preachers, if they behave in an inappropriate way, then it’s not just they behave in an inappropriate way, that sends a message to people that, oh, if people devoted to God are like this, then how must God be? People representing God are like this and that’s how God will also be. And they alienate people.
So, one of the characteristics of Kali Yuga is that people see themselves in isolation. We live in a culture which is highly individualistic. In this individualistic culture, people are I-specialists, not E-Y-E, I-specialists, but single letter I, I-specialists.
They think, I will do what I feel like doing whenever I feel like doing it. And this has grievous consequences. Because, you know, it is social structure that provides mental stability.
If there is no social structure, if there is no proper harmonious society in which people function, then they get carried away. And then they end up, their mind drags them here, there, everywhere. And then they end up in big, big trouble, hurting themselves and hurting others.
So, what is the social structure? Social structure refers to our being connected. Oh, I belong to this family. I belong to this nation.
I belong to this tradition. I belong to this. We all need a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
And we need a purpose bigger than ourselves. And usually, that sense of being a part, that feeling of being a part of something bigger than ourselves, that helps us to come out of ourselves. Otherwise, our own ego, our own mind, our own senses can be like a black hole in which this occurs.
When we feel that we belong to something bigger than ourselves, then that sense of belonging brings us out of ourselves. It brings us out of our petty concerns. And it forces us to become responsible and accountable.
So, here Parichit Maharaj is now talking about his spiritual sense of accountability when he is saying that those who are devoted to Krishna in those king’s kingdom, some suffering like this should never be occurring.