Bhagavatam study 95 1.17.37-42 Undestanding how restricting area of residence is a form of punishment

Krishnamad Bhagavatam, 1, 1737.
Kali is speaking here to Parikshit Maharaj. And Kali is now saying here, tanme dharmabhrutam shrestha sthanam nirdeshtu marhasi yatraivaniyato vatsya atishthamste anushasanam. So, Kali in the previous verse has said that, you told me I can live but not in your kingdom.
But I say that your kingdom is everywhere, your sarvabhauma. So, where can I stay? So, now he is requesting, give me some place therefore. Tanme dharmabhrutam shrestha.
So, you, please, you know, you are the best among the knowers of dharma. So, Kali is at one level appreciating the Parikshit Maharaj’s knowledge of dharma. At another level, he is also, actually, in a cunning way, he is saying that he is flattering Kali.
He is flattering Parikshit Maharaj. Of course, Parikshit Maharaj is very, we could say, shrewd. He does not get flattered.
We will see what he does. But he is appreciating him. Tanme dharmabhrutam shrestha.
So, you are the best among the dharmabhrutam and sthanam nirdeshtham arasi. Therefore, please, give me some sthana. Please, give me some place where I can live.
And thus, I will be able to yatraiva niyato vatsya. And there I can live constantly. Atishthamste anushasanam.
So, if I defy your order, I know I cannot live anywhere. So, I want to be a law-abiding citizen for you. So, I will stay in some place where you give me some place.
So, it is interesting. If you look at the normal legal system, we see that in today’s world, there are different forms of punishment which are given. So, if somebody is a criminal, they are put in jail.
And being put in a jail means that they are given a place to live, but it is a very restricted place. It is a very, it is a place that is not at all comfortable. It is a place which is crowded, cramped with no facilities and they have a strict regimen.
So, that means, one way punishment is given is by restriction, by depriving one of one’s moment of freedom. Another way in the past punishment was given was by exiling. Nowadays, we do not have this idea of exiling because more or less most of the earth is populated.
So, at the past, it was not that there were kingdoms, but there were also vast forest patches, which did not directly belong to any particular kingdom. So, the idea over there is that actually somebody could be sent to this forest and that is how they would be, they would live over there. So, similarly, here the point is, so we should focus on recognizing that punishments are accorded to type-A circumstances.
Today, of course, there is a punishment of deportation. And deportation means that a person who is not in a particular, who is not actually a citizen of a particular country, say if an Indian citizen in America commits a particular crime or does not follow the rules of America, then that person may be deported from America. So, similarly, some of us, we could say deporting is a rough equivalent of the crime of exiling, of the punishment of exiling.
But it is not exactly the same. Exile means the kingdom where you belong from there you are sent out. So, in today’s world, because a large part of the earth is populated, even if the forests are not populated, even the forests belong to a particular country.
We do not have any part of the world which does not belong to any particular country. So, of course, in the past, that idea of exiling was there, not in the, too distant past also, in India, some freedom fighters whom the government considered dangerous, they were exiled to the Andamar-Dekobar Islands. In Russia, the KGB exiled people to Siberia.
So, it was like a remote place where there is no facility, one is cut off from the rest of the world and that is where people are forced to live. So, like that, that punishment is also roughly there. But broadly speaking, we could say there are two kinds of punishments.
One is being restricted to a particular area as in a prison or if somebody is a respected person who has just committed a crime somehow, then they may even be put in house arrest. So, they are not exactly in a prison, but they are in house arrest. Similarly, sometimes some countries may decide that a particular person is a persona non grata, that you cannot come over here.
So, you are free to go wherever else in the world you want to go to, but you cannot come here. So, basically, you know, a place to stay is a fundamental requirement for us. Kshetra is vital.
So, to not have that is a great deprivation. And Kali is saying that, please tell me where, please allot me some place where I can stay. So, within your kingship, I should be able to stay.
Please give me some place like that. So, text 38, Suta Goswami is now going to tell us what will be the response of Parikshit. So, whenever narration is done, narration is sometimes in direct speech, sometimes in indirect speech.
Whenever a person say a fiction writer is writing a novel, or even a historical narrative is being given. So, depending on how important a particular scene is, then it can be described in dialogue, where often we enter into the whole situation, the setting, and then it is more descriptive over there. But sometimes it is described in indirect speech.
So, where the important point is to convey the point, it is not to necessarily recreate a scene. So, here, till this point, the scene had already been recreated. And because the scene had already been recreated, so Parikshit Maharaj does not, so Suta Goswami does not again start with Parikshitavacha and Kaliruvacha, Rajavacha and Kaliruvacha.
He just says, when he was requested like this, he gave him four places. What are the sthanani, the places? Dyutam, paanam, sthriya, suna. So, the place where dyutam is gambling happens, paanam is drinking, alcoholism happens, sthriya is illicit sex happens, and suna, that is animal slaughter happens.
It is interesting that these yatra, dharma, shatru vidha, these are four places where adharma takes place. So, he is adharma bandhu. So, that means, where adharma is already happening, you can stay over there.
You cannot, in a sense, you know, we cannot eliminate all danger in this world. So, for example, say for India, we could say that Pakistan is a danger, because from Pakistan some insurgents, some terrorists keep coming. For America, they may say that some terrorists from the Middle East, they are dangerous.
So, one value is one’s own security, which is important. But then another value is that other people also have a right to live. So, we could conceivably say that India could just drop a nuclear bomb on Pakistan and that threat would be eliminated.
Or America could just drop some weapon of mass destruction and destroy all its enemies. No, but then, it is not that all Pakistanis are criminals. It is not that all people in the Middle East are terrorists.
And there are also people, even people who are doing wrong, unless they do a grievous wrong specifically, just as we have a right to our life and our security and our prosperity, they also have a right to their life and their security and their prosperity. So, they can be allowed to live over there. So, for example, some countries are very strict, they may decide, you know, we will not allow any drugs over here.
But then that country may not have the authority to remove drugs from all over the world. So, in the Middle East, in some countries, for example, Saudi Arabia has a very strict rule where they don’t allow any illicit activities. But then every weekend from Saudi Arabia, people come to Bahrain or some other country, and where all kinds of illicit activities are allowed.
And people do those activities. Say, if you want to do it, that’s a place where you can do it, but you don’t do it here right now. So, we have to recognize that in this world, evil cannot be eliminated.
In this world, wrongdoers cannot be eliminated. What we can do is, their influence can be regulated. Sometimes some movies depict about how some gangster kills somebody who is a hero’s brother or hero’s family member.
And then the hero starts again committing, the hero goes on a mission to punish people. And for the purpose of punishing people, the hero actually starts killing everyone. And eventually, at the end of the movie, the hero kills the villain.
And that’s how what happens is, the movie ends. But then, there is no point in just saying simply like that, that actually just kill someone and everything is over. Because even if one person is killed, still others will be there.
And others will be there means, other gangsters will come up. So, the point is that gangsters themselves can never be removed entirely. So, you can remove one gangster, but other people will become gangsters again.
So, here the point is, Kali is given some place to stay. So, where Adharma is happening, there Adharma Bandhu can stay. So, where there already drug peddling is happening, let drug peddlers be over there.
So, like that, Kali is given a place by Parashith Maharaj, where these four things are happening. So, once again he begged, once again he requested. He begged, he requested and what happened on his request? He said that wherever gold is accumulated, there falsehood will occur.
There lying will happen, intoxication will happen, lust will happen. And there because of the mode of passion, enmity will also come up. So, he was given a place that wherever gold is accumulated excessively, there also Kali can reside.
Now interestingly, as long as Parashith Maharaj was there, at that time there was nothing which he could, there were no places like this in his kingdom. But eventually those places come and now we see today in Kali Yuga, these places are almost everywhere. Means to find a place where this is not there is difficult to find.
So, it’s almost like people by default grow up in an environment where breaking the regulative principles and doing adharmic activities is the standard. So, that is unfortunate. There are always going to be in this world people who are dharmic and people who are adharmic.
But at least people should have the education by which education, the facility by which they can make, they have a choice at least. Do I want to be dharmic or do I want to be adharmic? But somebody, they grow up with parents who are alcoholics, they grow up in a family and environment where everybody is eating meat. Then they think this is just normal.
They don’t even know there is an alternative way to live. So, which is very unfortunate. So, present age is called the age of Kali.
So, Kali has spread this influence far and wide and practically no one is free from that influence right now. In this way, Nideshakrut, the place that was given to him, Kali took, by who was given to him? Autarayena Dattani. Uttara, Uttara was the wife of Abhimanyu.
So, Autarayena, like Kaunteya refers to son of Kunti. Autarayena refers to the son of Uttara. That is Pariksit Maharaj.
Autarayena Dattani that he had given in these places. Amuni Panchasthanani, these five places. So, the fifth place being the place where gold is accumulated.
Adharma Prabhava Kali. So, Adharma Prabhava. So, one who brings about Adharma, one who fosters Adharma, one who brings about the flourishing of Adharma.
Adharma Prabhava Kali. So, time and time again, the same adjective, same describer is used for Kali. That is Adharma Prabhava.
If you see, the Bhagavatam started by describing, Kalau nashtu dashaamese puranadarko adhnoditaha, that in Kali Yuga, where is Dharma residing? So, it says that Dharma has returned where the Bhagavatam is being spoken. Where the Bhagavatam is not being spoken, there is Adharma. So, the point is, Amuni Panchasthanani, that the Bhagavatam is here giving us the description of how Kali’s influence is spreading and how we desperately need the shelter of the Bhagavatam to protect ourselves from this dangerous, disastrous influence of Kali.
So, Adharma Prabhava Kali, Adharma Prabhava, the word Prabhava is used for flourishing, etam dushtim avashtavya nashtatmano alpabuddhaya prabhavante ugra karmana chayaya jagato hitaha. In 16.9 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna uses the word Prabhava to talk about how the ungodly, the demoniac people, they actually cause terrible, terrible things to happen and they delight in ugra karma. Where they are, ugra karma flourishes.
So, as he was directed, this Adharma personified. So, Parikshit Maharaj was Dharmaraj. He was the person who had got the kingdom.
He was the grandson of Dharmaraj. He was the successor of Dharmaraj and he was also a protector of Dharma. So, we could say this is an incompatible situation that there is the Dharmanishta Raja and there is the Adharma Bandhu.
Both of them are living together. In the previous chapter, in the context of the departure of Krishna, it is said that as long as Krishna was there, Kali’s influence was not there much. But as soon as Krishna departed, Kali’s influence started spreading.
But Krishna, although he had departed, Krishna’s great devotee Parikshit was there and Parikshit had also checked the influence of Kali. So, here it is described that Kali was given some place and Kali and Krishna Bhakti or Krishna Bhakta were co-existing both in their jurisdiction. In today’s world also, if we expect that the vast majority of people will live purely, that is unrealistic expectation which is not going to happen.
Instead, what we should learn to expect is that at least we create a safe zone for ourselves to live in, where we can practice our principles and we can grow in our Bhakti. If we expect that everything will be hunky-dory, that is not going to happen. So, at least there should be, there may be jurisdiction of Kali where people will be doing Adharmic activities, but there should be the jurisdiction of ourselves also.
There should be some safe zone for us where we can practice Bhakti. And that is the purpose of devotional association, that is the purpose of having community of devotees, that is the purpose of having spiritual organization, which gives us a place where we can associate with Krishna and our Krishna Bhakti can flourish. Text 41.
Therefore, these four, these activities one should not do, one should not come in contact. Babhushu Purusha Kvachet, those who desire their well-being, Babhushu Purusha Kvachet, never they should engage in these activities. Visheshato Dharmashilo, specifically those who are Dharmashii, those who have the culture of Dharma, those who want to live Dharmically, such people, Raja Lokapatir Guruhum and especially those who are meant to be in a leading position.
Raja, that is the king, the Lokapati is the public leader and Guru is the spiritual master. Prabhupada here uses the word Guru in a very inclusive way, not in Diksha Guru, but he says the Varamhanas and the Sannyasis, they are meant to act as spiritual teachers. So all of them, he is saying they have to be extremely careful not to stay away from these activities.
So, Visheshato Dharmashilo, Raja Lokapatir Guruhum. So the people who are in any way in a leading position, it’s their responsibility especially that they don’t get carried away, that they don’t get influenced by Kali and they keep a safe distance from these activities by which at least they will be able to give people the facility to come closer to Krishna. If they themselves get influenced by Kali, then there is very little hope for people to come to close to Krishna.
So text 42 now. So now what has he done? The narrative is coming towards its end. Parikshit Maharaj has dealt with Kali by giving him a particular place to study and the Bhagavatam, it switches seamlessly between the narrative and the instructive modes.
Narrative means an incident is being described and instructive means a lesson from that narration is given, an instruction is given. So we could say that this verse, 42nd verse as well as the 40th verse, both of them were in the narrative mode. But 41st verse was in the instructive mode.
Why instructive mode? Because that is not describing what is happening over there, rather that is describing the instruction or the lesson that Parikshit Maharaj, Suta Goswami has drawn from the narration. In general, when the Puranas describe history, their purpose is not just to give a factual record of what happens. It is not so much of factual record keeping.
It is more of guiding towards histories to be studied for getting moral instruction, for learning how to live, for learning how to function in day-to-day life. It is for that purpose primarily that we study. So now here Parikshit Maharaj and Suta Goswami again going back to the narrational mode and he says, so that bull whose three legs had already been destroyed, so the three feet had already been destroyed.
So what are the three feet that have been destroyed? These refer to correlated activities of illicit sex, meat-eating and intoxication. So they had already been destroyed. So he, despite those three feet had been broken and sometimes when we go to a doctor, it is important for everyone of us to find out what is the best way we can move forwards in our spiritual life.
And that means for moving forwards in our spiritual life, we have to protect ourselves. So some things are just so broken that they can’t be fixed. Just like when a person has got a fracture, some people are injured and some injury may be so great that it just can’t be fixed.
They are ruined. So their leg is so badly wounded that they just can’t get their leg back. But then they can focus on what can be fixed.
So three legs had already been broken. So Parishit Maharaj, although he punished Kali, the damage was already done, the three legs can’t be fixed. But what he could do is, he at least ensured that the bull Dharma is not being injured further and is giving an assurance that now you are safe and similarly Mahim, Mother Earth is also safe.
Samavar Dhayat, he said he helped both of them to improve. So it’s interesting, it’s said over here that there are different ways in which this particular verse can be translated. That it would also be said that Parishit Maharaj repaired those four legs.
So he restored the three destroyed legs. What does it mean? We could say that can those legs be restored? Well, it means essentially that Parishit Maharaj during his kingdom, so Dharma is a person and Dharma is also a practice. So in Kali Yuga, there are some people who are practicing Dharma, some people are not practicing Dharma.
And we could say that the personality Dharma is nourished and strong wherever Dharma is being practiced. And wherever Dharma is not being practiced, that the personality is weak. In the Padma Purana, there is a story about how Bhakti Devi and her two children, Gyan and Vairagya, although they are young, but they are very weak initiated because nobody is cultivating Gyan, nobody is having Vairagya.
So we could say that if some people cultivate Gyan and Vairagya, then this Gyan and Vairagya personified becomes strong. So similarly, we could say over here that because Parishit Maharaj established Dharma, so therefore, the three legs were also restored. He restored the rule of Dharma and the three legs also got healthy.
He fixed up the three legs. Another way to understand it is that these three legs were fixed for as long as Parishit Maharaj was ruling. Those legs cannot be fixed for all time because this is the age of Kali and again, those legs will be attacked and they will be broken.
That can’t be avoided. But at least for that time, Parishit Maharaj restored the legs. So if we specifically consider the context, Parishit Maharaj undid all the damage that had been done.
But if you consider the broad context, time has its own pravaha. Krishna says that in the Bhagavad Gita that time is very forceful and because of the influence of time, certain things happen. So the influence of time is such that people get into trouble, that people go adharmic.
But Parishit Maharaj has set what was wrong right now. That is his glory. And in this way, he is helping in the establishment of Dharma.
He is acting as Dharmaraj