Bhagavatam study 83 1.16.1-6 How Parikshit Maharaj manifested his predicated qualities

Hare Krishna. Welcome to this Bhagavatam study.
We are continuing our discussion on the Srimad Bhagavatam. We will today discuss on the 16th chapter of the first canto. The chapter is entitled how Parikshit received the age of Kali and we will go verse by verse looking at Parikshit Maharaj’s reaction.
So the background here is that Parikshit Maharaj has now been appointed the king the Pandavas have departed from the world following the departure of Krishna and Parikshit is ruling the world. So this whole section the first canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam is actually preparing the setting for Parikshit Maharaj. So the first canto is actually preparing the setting for Parikshit Maharaj’s meeting with Shukdev Goswami and here one of the pivotal scenes which will eventually lead their meeting is being described.
So Sut Vach Tathah Parikshit Vijavarya Shikshaya Mahim Mahabhagvata Shashashya Yathahi Suryam Abhijat Kovidah Samadisham Vipramahad Gunas Tatha So Goswami is speaking to the sages at Naimisharanya Tathah Parikshit Vijavarya Shikshaya. So in this way Parikshit Maharaj is instructed Dvijavarya Shikshaya. Dvijavarya is the Shikshaya.
He received instructions from him. Normally whenever we are to act in any position in life we may bring our talent, our intelligence, our creativity into the work but also we need elders who can guide us. In corporate circles we talk about KT knowledge transfer.
If a new person is coming into a particular job then they need to have some experience from the previous person who will be able to guide how best to work in that particular situation. So that knowledge is being provided here by Parikshit Maharaj. Provided to Parikshit Maharaj by whom? By the Brahmana.
Dvijavarya Shikshaya Mahim Mahabhagvata Shashashya So the earth he was ruling. Shashashya. Shashana is to rule.
Mahi is the earth. Mahipate. The word comes often in the Bhagavad Gita which refers to king.
So Mahim Shashashya means one who was ruling the earth. Mahabhagvata. So it’s interesting that Bhagavatam repeatedly reminds us that it was not that Parikshit Maharaj became a great saint afterwards.
Rather he was already a great saint. Mahabhagvata. So it is not that after he became cursed, after he was cursed unfairly and then he heard the Srimad Bhagavatam, it was not at that point he became a great saint.
Rather he was already a great saint. Mahabhagvata Shashashya. He ruled the earth.
So Kovidha is wise people. Abhijat Kovidha is when he was born the wise people are for the astrologers over here. So the astrologers as they had predicted Sutyam.
Suta is child. Sutyam refers to at the time of his birth. So samadhishan vipra maha gunas tatha samadhishan.
Just as the great astrologers had foretold, Parikshit Maharaj manifested those qualities. We see a couple of chapters earlier when Parikshit’s birth is being described. His qualities are told by astrologers and those qualities are being manifested by him now.
This is his speciality. So Parikshit Maharaj is actually focused completely in fulfilling a divine destiny. So it’s interesting that at the time of birth astrologers if they tell that this person will manifest this quality, this quality, this quality like that, then what does it mean? Samadhishan.
As they had given their opinions. So does that mean our life is completely predestined? No. If his life had been completely predestined then why consider him to be doing anything great at all? You know it is just that he is simply playing out like a robo or a or a puppet who is enacting something.
No, it is not like that. Parikshit is actually describing something very special and what he is describing is that what he is manifesting is a divine destiny and even for the manifestation of divine destiny one has to have a certain amount of determination, purity and seriousness. So that is there and he as he ruled by those qualities.
See the Bhagavatam describes historically significant periods. It is not exactly a history in the linear sense of the word. So it does not describe chronologically this happened in this year, this happened in this year, this happened in this year.
History by its very nature has to be a selection. So now on what basis somebody selects that will vary. The Bhagavatam is a spiritual is wherever it describes history to describe spiritual history that means it is describing those episodes in history and describing those episodes in history from the particular way by which they will serve the purpose of spiritual edification.
So here the qualities of Parikshit are described so that the greatness of Parikshit and eventually taking shelter of the Bhagavatam will be brought out. That this was not just an ordinary person who when he was about to die had nothing to do and that’s when he decided to surrender his life. No, he was already a great person.
So this is text two. उत्तर्स्य तनयां उपयें इलावतिम् जन्मे जयाधिम् चतुरस् तस्यां उत्पादयत् सुतान् So, सह उत्तरस्य तनयां. Now Parikshit married the daughter of King Uttara and he begot उपयें इलावतिम्.
So he married इलावतिम् and he begot जन्मे जयाधिम् चतुरस् four children तस्यां उत्पादयत् सुतान् तस्यां उपयें इलावतिम्. So, basically the life story of Parikshit is being described here chronologically and the point being made here is that Parikshit was actually very devoted. So, there is Arjuna, he was offered the hand of Uttara but when that didn’t work out then his daughter married and she has a brother also.
Her brother’s daughter was married to Abhimanyu. So, Abhimanyu also married that family, the Virat family and Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit also married in that family and जन्मे जयाधिम् was the child who was born, the leader. जन्मे जयाधिम् is mentioned first because by the principle of primogeniture he would become the next king.
So, now he would become the next king, he would perform the great सर्पयज्य that is described later after the snake kills Parikshit. So, now here the background is एवायत्राक्षिगोचरः अश्वमेधान। So, now for a king to do activities for social welfare is considered very important, of course in a spiritual context. So, the sacrifices that were performed, the horse sacrifices, they indicate the king’s glory and they attracted piety and auspiciousness for the king as well as his kingdom.
So, naturally the soldiers would try to perform, the illustrious kings would try to perform these great sacrifices. Now even one अश्वमेध यज्या is actually very difficult to perform. But अश्वमेधान’s three, three he performed and गंगायां, भूरि दक्षिणान, it’s interesting that religious sacrifices are always associated with charity, that it is not just a show of opulence to brag about one’s wealth, but also meant to give a lot of charity.
And the success of a sacrifice is considered in terms of the magnitude of the charity that is given. So, भूरि दक्षिणान शारद्वं गुरं कृत्वा। Now, when he was performing sacrifice, naturally he would need some guru. So, he accepted शारद्वत्म, that is, शारद्व is कृपाचार्य, as his guru, and देवा यत्राक्षि गौचरहा, and even the Devas themselves became visible over there.
Now, कृपा had almost like a, had a vow of living as long as he wanted, he could not be killed till he wanted to die. So, we see कृपा was there and he was a veteran, even at the time of the Kurukshetra war, he was almost a contemporary of Drona, slightly younger. He is the brother of Drona’s wife, who is known as Kripi.
But he continues into the generation of Parikshit also. So, the Pandavas had appointed him as their priest and they continued. So, in the past, especially in the time of the Bhagavatam, if we see, the गुरुं कृत्वा, it is said, he made him a guru, that means, the idea of guru was, at the time of doing a yajna, one has to be sanctified, initiated and there would be a particular teacher who would initiate.
So, Krupacharya was not exactly his spiritual master in the sense in which we have Diksha. But it was more, he was the priest appointed for supervising that particular sacrifice. So, initiation in the Vedic times was not so much of a lifelong commitment.
That might also have been there. But at least the way it is described in the Bhagavatam is more of a connection for the purpose of purification through the performance of sacrifice. So, now, depending on how gorgeous and glorious the sacrifice was and how well it was performed, the Devatas would sometimes make themselves visible.
And if they would make themselves visible, that is considered to be a glorious success. Just like sometimes if we hold a big festival, say we hold a big Rathyatra and say some VIP, if we have the Chief Minister of a state, they send their good wishes for the Rathyatra. That itself is considered, oh, this event is so significant enough that the Chief Minister is sending good wishes.
But if the Chief Minister comes and attends the ceremony, that’s even greater. So, similarly, the Devatas are far bigger than the Chief Minister of this world. If the Devatas themselves come, then that is considered to be far more glorious.
So, if in a particular fire sacrifice, the Devatas themselves are coming and becoming visible, then that means that sacrifice is special, that sacrifice is great. And such a sacrifice that Parikshit Maharaj performed. And in this sacrifice, he was not just once, not just twice, but thrice.
So, his glory is described. He performed Ashwamedh. He performed it thrice.
He gave great charity. He had an illustrious veteran like Sharadwata. That is, Kripa was performing the sacrifice and Devatas themselves became visible.
That is like the crowning glory. So, in five ways, the glory of Parikshit is brought out in this verse. So, text fours.
निजग्रहाऊजसावीरहा कलिंदिग्वजेक्वचेत् नुपलिंगधरम्शूद्रम् घ्नतं गोमितुनंपदा निग्रहाऊजसावीरहा So, आउजसावीरहा. There was a… Parikshit Maharaj was such a great hero. By his prowess, निजग्रहा.
निजग्रहा means he punished sufficiently. कलिंदिग्वजेक्वचेत् So, when Parikshit Maharaj was traveling around the world to ensure that the rule of dharma was maintained everywhere, at that time, once he saw Kali. Nripalingadharaṁ śūdraṁ.
He saw Kali but he was in what form? Nripalingadharaṁ. That means he was wearing the dress of a king. Dharaṁ, dharaṁ means to have adorned.
Linga refers to the symbol. So, it could be symbols, it can refer to the dress, it can refer to a crown, it can refer to any of the royal paraphernalia which marks a person as a king. So, Nripalingadharaṁ.
He had adorned it all but who was he? He was a śūdraṁ. Nantam gomitunampada. And he was a śūdra but he was not even doing the activity of śūdra.
He was doing an activity worse than śūdra. What was it? Nantam. He was hurting a cow and a bull.
He was attacking their legs. So, now this one incident is so shocking, it’s so out of character. Suppose we hear the description of a particular very beautiful place, maybe a natural scenic place and then suddenly we hear a ghastly description over there.
It’s a jolt. There’s a serene, sweet atmosphere being created and people are being told a story of somewhere in a hill station where things are very nice and suddenly it’s told, you know, there was this ghastly crime happened and there’s blood and gore lying everywhere. What’s this? What’s going on? People were taken aback.
This is what happened to the sages who are hearing. So, immediately, this is a class going on but it is not, if you want to understand the Bhāgavatam, the Bhāgavatam is not exactly like a class. Normally when we have a class, we finish the class, at the end we have question answers.
But in the case of the Bhāgavatam, it is not exactly like that. It is more of like, there is a class but it is an interactive class. At any point, when there is any doubt, ask a question.
So, as I said, sometimes teachers are more structured where they will say, no, no more questions now, at the end of the class we will have questions. Some teachers may be a little more free form. Whenever you have a question, you can ask.
So, the Bhāgavatam is more free form because in a sense the whole Bhāgavatam is not a class. It is a question driven discussion. It is a, you could say it is more or less, the whole Bhāgavatam is a question answer session.
It is, Parīkṣit Mahārāja asks questions and in answer to those questions, Śukadeva Goswāmī tells various things. And sometimes if a question answer session is there, as soon as the questions stop, the session will stop. But if the questions go on, the session goes on.
So, it was not that Åšukadeva GoswāmÄ« spoke on for 7 days, just continuously. ParÄ«ká¹£it Mahārāja’s eagerness to hear manifested as his questions also. And that same principle applies in the first canto where the ParÄ«ká¹£it-Åšukadeva-Åšukadeva conversation has not yet begun.
Here it applies to the same principle of being a question directed discussion that applies even to the first canto which is a discussion between Sūta Goswāmī and Śaunakruṣī. So, the first chapter of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself starts with questions by the sages. So, that itself indicates that the whole book is a question driven discussion.
It is not just a question answer session. It is a question driven discussion. So, you could say, the difference between question answer session is that one question, second question, third question comes along.
Whichever question comes along, they will go. And sometimes there may be different people asking different questions. So, then there may not be any correlation between the first and second questions.
But a question driven discussion means that the Bhāgavatam is spoken to people in such a way that there is one person who is a representative who is asking all the questions. And that is why there is a flow and a structure that is maintained in the Bhāgavatam despite it being a question answer format. Because that one person knows when to interrupt and asks valid questions which maintain the overall flow of the discussion.
So, let us look what is the question. Åšaunak This is text 5. So, it is a beautiful question. Now, for what reason did he punish? It is interesting.
The question is that why did he simply punish him only? Why did he not just finish him? Punish and finish. Finish means to give a death sentence. So, finishing is something much greater.
Punish is something a little lesser. Why did he not only punish him? Why did he not finish him? That king who was Tigvijaya, he certainly had the power to kill, to finish him off. So, that person who had assumed Ná¹›pa-liá¹…ga dharma it was, the same point is made.
Similar point made but different words. So, he was striking the legs of a cow. It is described cow and a bull.
But here the focus is given on the cow because the cow is considered female. And the people, men may have a fight and men may attack each other. But Chivalrous culture meant that a woman would not be attacked.
So, a cow is not just a female, she is a sacred female. And to attack her is ghastly. So, when he was doing something so ghastly, why was he given such a light punishment? And then when he asks a question also, he keeps a qualification over there.
Parikshit speaks that but only if it is related with the topic of Krishna, if it is involved in the narrative of Krishna. Now, this is again very important. There are so many terrible things happening in the world that if you start hearing about the bad news, it’s almost endless.
Some explosion happens here, some disease comes there, some this happens over there. And what do we gain by knowing about all this? The world is a place of distress. Nobody can change that.
And hearing about it simply distracts us, distresses us and there’s no guarantee that it will persuade us to become more devoted to the Lord. It may just be that it may just drive us crazy. So, it just make us depressed, pessimistic.
So, even if terrible things are happening, so for example, right now in the world, we may hear that there are so many cows being slaughtered. There are so many, sometimes we may hear also about say, convergence happening and temples being desecrated in some parts of the world, Hindus being persecuted. These are definitely very distressing issues.
But at the same time, if we are in a position to do something about it, and if it is within our scope of service, then we focus and do something. Otherwise, hearing about it leaves us simply agitated. And that agitation does not increase our absorption in Krishna, rather it makes us simply go into the mode of passion, where we feel that we have to do something violent to deal with the issue or it makes us go into the ignorance, where we just feel helpless and frustrated.
So, here this distressing discussion should also be, distressing topics can be discussed only when yadi krishna kathashrayam, if they are related with Lord Krishna. Then text 6, Athavasya padambhoja makaranda lihaam sataam kim anyair asadhaalapair aayushoya asadvayaha. Athavasya padambhoja, otherwise, padambhoja makaranda lihaam sataam, otherwise, what is the point of discussing such things? You know that padambhoja, that the lotus of Lord Makaranda, of those who, makaranda lihaam, those who lick the honey of the lotus feet of Lord Hari, kim anyair asadhaalapair, what is the use of discussing of anything else, asadhaalapair, aayushoya asadvayaha, it will simply cause our life to be wasted.
Even when we discuss, we have to focus on discussing the topics which are connected with Krishna. There is so much distraction in today’s world, aayushoya asadvayaha, our aayushya, our life can get wasted, asadvayaha. Asad means, which is in useless, asatoma sadgama, the Vedarani Upanishads say, go from the temporary to the eternal, go from the unreal to the real.
But when we keep talking about the unreal, unreal means the sense that it’s temporary, then we stay in the temporary. So, kim anyair asadhaalapair, aayushoya asadvayaha, what is the use of discussing about other topics? So, we also have to become purposeful like this. We have to recognize the importance of focusing on Krishna, of connecting with Krishna, of getting absorbed in Krishna.
To the extent we get absorbed in Krishna, to that extent we’ll grow and go towards Krishna. So, the Bhagavatam is, through its narrative, not only telling us about Krishna Leela, it’s also telling us about the importance of Krishna Leela. The Upanishads say, tam eva vidvānati má¹›tyu mÄ“ti nānyah panthā vidyate yaya nāya tam eva vidvānati má¹›tyu mÄ“ti Only by knowing Him can one go beyond death.
If one doesn’t know Him, one cannot go beyond death. So, the Bhagavatam shows us how to focus on that Supreme Lord, who alone can take us beyond the distresses of this world, who alone can help us attain eternal life, who alone can take us from immortality to immortality. So, how this discussion will continue, we’ll discuss in our next session, which we’ll have after a few minutes break.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.