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sukha—happily; upavistesu—all sitting down; atha—thereupon; tesu—unto them (the visitors); bhuyah—again; krta-pranamah—having offered obeisances; sva—his own; cikirsitam—decision of fasting; yat—who; vijnapayam asa—submitted; vivikta-cetah—one whose mind is detached from worldly affairs; upasthitah—being present; agre—before them; abhigrhita-panih—humbly with folded hands.

After all the rsis and others had seated themselves comfortably, the King, humbly standing before them with folded hands, told them of his decision to fast until death.

Although the King had already decided to fast until death on the bank of the Ganges, he humbly expressed his decision to elicit the opinions of the great authorities present there. Any decision, however important, should be confirmed by some authority. That makes the matter perfect. This means that the monarchs who ruled the earth in those days were not irresponsible dictators. They scrupulously followed the authoritative decisions of the saints and sages in terms of Vedic injunction. Maharaja Pariksit, as a perfect king, followed the principles by consulting the authorities, even up to the last days of his life.

SB1.19.13

TEXT 13

rajovaca

aho vayam dhanyatama nrpanam

mahattamanugrahaniya-silah

rajnam kulam brahmana-pada-saucad

durad visrstam bata garhya-karma

raja uvaca—the fortunate King said; aho—ah; vayam—we; dhanya-tamah—most thankful; nrpanam—of all the kings; mahat-tama—of the great souls; anugrahaniya-silah—trained to get favors; rajnam—of the royal; kulam—orders; brahmana-pada—feet of the brahmanas; saucat—refuse after cleaning; durat—at a distance; visrstam—always left out; bata—on account of; garhya—condemnable; karma—activities.

The fortunate King said: Indeed, we are the most grateful of all the kings who are trained to get favors from the great souls. Generally you [sages] consider royalty as refuse to be rejected and left in a distant place.

According to religious principles, stool, urine, wash water, etc., must be left at a long distance. Attached bathrooms, urinals, etc. may be very convenient amenities of modern civilization, but they are ordered to be situated at a distance from residential quarters. That very example is cited herein in relation to the kingly order for those who are progressively marching back to Godhead. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that to be in intimate touch with dollars-and-cents men, or the kingly order, is worse than suicide for one who desires to go back to Godhead. In other words, the transcendentalists do not generally associate with men who are too enamored by the external beauty of God’s creation. By advanced knowledge in spiritual realization, the transcendentalist knows that this beautiful material world is nothing but a shadowy reflection of the reality, the kingdom of God. They are not, therefore, very much captivated by royal opulence or anything like that. But in the case of Maharaja Pariksit, the situation was different. Apparently the King was condemned to death by an inexperienced brahmana boy, but factually he was called by the Lord to return to Him. Other transcendentalists, the great sages and mystics who assembled together because of Maharaja Pariksit’s fasting unto death, were quite anxious to see him, for he was going back to Godhead. Maharaja Pariksit also could understand that the great sages who assembled there were all kind to his forefathers, the Pandavas, because of their devotional service to the Lord. He therefore felt grateful to the sages for being present there at the last stage of his life, and he felt that it was all due to the greatness of his late forefathers or grandfathers. He felt proud, therefore, that he happened to be the descendant of such great devotees. Such pride for the devotees of the Lord is certainly not equal to the puffed-up sense of vanity for material prosperity. The first is reality, whereas the other is false and vain.

SB1.19.14

TEXT 14

tasyaiva me ’ghasya paravareso

vyasakta-cittasya grhesv abhiksnam

nirveda-mulo dvija-sapa-rupo

yatra prasakto bhayam asu dhatte

tasya—his; eva—certainly; me—mine; aghasya—of the sinful; para—transcendental; avara—mundane; isah—controller, the Supreme Lord; vyasakta—overly attached; cittasya—of the mind; grhesu—to family affairs; abhiksnam—always; nirveda-mulah—the source of detachment; dvija-sapa—cursing by the brahmana; rupah—form of; yatra—whereupon; prasaktah—one who is affected; bhayam—fearfulness; asu—very soon; dhatte—take place.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of both the transcendental and mundane worlds, has graciously overtaken me in the form of a brahmana’s curse. Due to my being too much attached to family life, the Lord, in order to save me, has appeared before me in such a way that only out of fear I will detach myself from the world.

Maharaja Pariksit, although born in a family of great devotees, the Pandavas, and although securely trained in transcendental attachment for the association of the Lord, still found the allurement of mundane family life so strong that he had to be detached by a plan of the Lord. Such direct action is taken by the Lord in the case of a special devotee. Maharaja Pariksit could understand this by the presence of the topmost transcendentalists in the universe. The Lord resides with His devotees, and therefore the presence of the great saints indicated the presence of the Lord. The King therefore welcomed the presence of the great rsis as a mark of favor of the Supreme Lord.

SB1.19.15

TEXT 15

tam mopayatam pratiyantu vipra

ganga ca devi dhrta-cittam ise

dvijopasrstah kuhakas taksako va

dasatv alam gayata visnu-gathah

tam—for that reason; ma—me; upayatam—taken shelter of; pratiyantu—just accept me; viprah—O brahmanas; ganga—mother Ganges; ca—also; devi—direct representative of the Lord; dhrta—taken into; cittam—heart; ise—unto the Lord; dvija-upasrstah—created by the brahmana; kuhakah—something magical; taksakah—the snakebird; va—either; dasatu—let it bite; alam—without further delay; gayata—please go on singing; visnu-gathah—narration of the deeds of Visnu.

O brahmanas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snake-bird—or whatever magical thing the brahmana created—bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Visnu.

As soon as one is given up completely unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, he is not at all afraid of death. The atmosphere created by the presence of great devotees of the Lord on the bank of the Ganges and Maharaja Pariksit’s complete acceptance of the Lord’s lotus feet were sufficient guarantee to the King for going back to Godhead. He thus became absolutely free from all fear of death.

SB1.19.16

TEXT 16

punas ca bhuyad bhagavaty anante

ratih prasangas ca tad-asrayesu

mahatsu yam yam upayami srstim

maitry astu sarvatra namo dvijebhyah

punah—again; ca—and; bhuyat—let it be; bhagavati—unto Lord Sri Krsna; anante—who has unlimited potency; ratih—attracting; prasangah—association; ca—also; tat—His; asrayesu—with those who are His devotees; mahatsu—within the material creation; yam yam—wherever; upayami—I may take; srstim—my birth; maitri—friendly relation; astu—let it be; sarvatra—everywhere; namah—my obeisances; dvijebhyah—unto the brahmanas.

Again, offering obeisances unto all you brahmanas, I pray that if I should again take my birth in the material world I will have complete attachment to the unlimited Lord Krsna, association with His devotees and friendly relations with all living beings.

That a devotee of the Lord is the only perfect living being is explained herein by Maharaja Pariksit. A devotee of the Lord is no one’s enemy, although there may be many enemies of a devotee. A devotee of the Lord does not like to associate with nondevotees, although he has no enmity with them. He desires association with the devotees of the Lord. This is perfectly natural because birds of the same feather mix together. And the most important function of a devotee is to have complete attachment for Lord Sri Krsna, the father of all living beings. As a good son of the father behaves in a friendly way with all his other brothers, so also the devotee of the Lord, being a good son of the supreme father, Lord Krsna, sees all other living beings in relation with the supreme father. He tries to bring back the upstart sons of the father to a saner stage and to get them to accept the supreme fatherhood of God. Maharaja Pariksit was certainly going back to Godhead, but even if he were not to go back, he prayed for a pattern of life which is the most perfect way in the material world. A pure devotee does not desire the company of a personality as great as Brahma, but he prefers the association of a petty living being, provided he is a devotee of the Lord.

SB1.19.17

TEXT 17

iti sma rajadhyavasaya-yuktah

pracina-mulesu kusesu dhirah

udan-mukho daksina-kula aste

samudra-patnyah sva-suta-nyasta-bharah

iti—thus; sma—as in the past; raja—the King; adhyavasaya—perseverance; yuktah—being engaged; pracina—eastern; mulesu—with the root; kusesu—on a seat made of kusa straw; dhirah—self-controlled; udan-mukhah—facing the northern side; daksina—on the southern; kule—bank; aste—situated; samudra—the sea; patnyah—wife of (the Ganges); sva—own; suta—son; nyasta—given over; bharah—the charge of administration.

In perfect self-control, Maharaja Pariksit sat down on a seat of straw, with straw-roots facing the east, placed on the southern bank of the Ganges, and he himself faced the north. Just previously he had given charge of his kingdom over to his son.

The River Ganges is celebrated as the wife of the sea. The seat of kusa straw is considered to be sanctified if the straw is taken out of the earth complete with root, and if the root is pointed toward the east it is considered to be auspicious. Facing the north is still more favorable for attaining spiritual success. Maharaja Pariksit handed over the charge of administration to his son before leaving home. He was thus fully equipped for all favorable conditions.

SB1.19.18

TEXT 18

evam ca tasmin nara-deva-deve

prayopaviste divi deva-sanghah

prasasya bhumau vyakiran prasunair

muda muhur dundubhayas ca neduh

evam—thus; ca—and; tasmin—in that; nara-deva-deve—upon the King’s; praya-upaviste—being engaged in fasting to death; divi—in the sky; deva—demigods; sanghah—all of them; prasasya—having praised the action; bhumau—on the earth; vyakiran—scattered; prasunaih—with flowers; muda—in pleasure; muhuh—continually; dundubhayah—celestial drums; ca—also; neduh—beaten.

Thus the King, Maharaja Pariksit, sat to fast until death. All the demigods of the higher planets praised the King’s actions and in pleasure continually scattered flowers over the earth and beat celestial drums.

Even up to the time of Maharaja Pariksit there were interplanetary communications, and the news of Maharaja Pariksit’s fasting unto death to attain salvation reached the higher planets in the sky where the intelligent demigods live. The demigods are more luxurious than human beings, but all of them are obedient to the orders of the Supreme Lord. There is no one in the heavenly planets who is an atheist or nonbeliever. Thus any devotee of the Lord on the surface of the earth is always praised by them, and in the case of Maharaja Pariksit they were greatly delighted and thus gave tokens of honor by scattering flowers over the earth and by beating celestial drums. A demigod takes pleasure in seeing someone go back to Godhead. He is always pleased with a devotee of the Lord, so much so that by his adhidaivic powers he may help the devotees in all respects. And by their actions, the Lord is pleased with them. There is an invisible chain of complete cooperation between the Lord, the demigods and the devotee of the Lord on earth.

SB1.19.19

TEXT 19

maharsayo vai samupagata ye

prasasya sadhv ity anumodamanah

ucuh prajanugraha-sila-sara

yad uttama-sloka-gunabhirupam

maharsayah—the great sages; vai—as a matter of course; samupagatah—assembled there; ye—those who; prasasya—by praising; sadhu—quite all right; iti—thus; anumodamanah—all approving; ucuh—said; praja-anugraha—doing good to the living being; sila-sarah—qualitatively powerful; yat—because; uttama-sloka—one who is praised by selected poems; guna-abhirupam—as beautiful as godly qualities.

All the great sages who were assembled there also praised the decision of Maharaja Pariksit and they expressed their approval by saying, “Very good.” Naturally the sages are inclined to do good to common men, for they have all the qualitative powers of the Supreme Lord. Therefore they were very much pleased to see Maharaja Pariksit, a devotee of the Lord, and they spoke as follows.

The natural beauty of a living being is enhanced by rising up to the platform of devotional service. Maharaja Pariksit was absorbed in attachment for Lord Krsna. Seeing this, the great sages assembled were very pleased, and they expressed their approval by saying, “Very good.” Such sages are naturally inclined to do good to the common man, and when they see a personality like Maharaja Pariksit advance in devotional service, their pleasure knows no bounds, and they offer all blessings in their power. The devotional service of the Lord is so auspicious that all demigods and sages, up to the Lord Himself, became pleased with the devotee, and therefore the devotee finds everything auspicious. All inauspicious matters are removed from the path of a progressive devotee. Meeting all the great sages at the time of death was certainly auspicious for Maharaja Pariksit, and thus he was blessed by the so-called curse of a brahmana’s boy.

SB1.19.20

TEXT 20

na va idam rajarsi-varya citram

bhavatsu krsnam samanuvratesu

ye ’dhyasanam raja-kirita-justam

sadyo jahur bhagavat-parsva-kamah

na—neither; va—like this; idam—this; rajarsi—saintly king; varya—the chief; citram—astonishing; bhavatsu—unto all of you; krsnam—Lord Krsna; samanuvratesu—unto those who are strictly in the line of; ye—who; adhyasanam—seated on the throne; raja-kirita—helmets of kings; justam—decorated; sadyah—immediately; jahuh—gave up; bhagavat—the Personality of Godhead; parsva-kamah—desiring to achieve association.

[The sages said:] O chief of all the saintly kings of the Pandu dynasty who are strictly in the line of Lord Sri Krsna! It is not at all astonishing that you give up your throne, which is decorated with the helmets of many kings, to achieve eternal association with the Personality of Godhead.

Foolish politicians who hold political administrative posts think that the temporary posts they occupy are the highest material gain of life, and therefore they stick to those posts even up to the last moment of life, without knowing that achievement of liberation as one of the associates of the Lord in His eternal abode is the highest gain of life. The human life is meant for achieving this end. The Lord has assured us in the Bhagavad-gita many times that going back to Godhead, His eternal abode, is the highest achievement. Prahlada Maharaja, while praying to Lord Nrsimha, said, “O my Lord, I am very much afraid of the materialistic way of life, and I am not the least afraid of Your present ghastly ferocious feature as Nrsimhadeva. This materialistic way of life is something like a grinding stone, and we are being crushed by it. We have fallen into this horrible whirlpool of the tossing waves of life, and thus, my Lord, I pray at Your lotus feet to call me back to Your eternal abode as one of Your servitors. This is the summit liberation of this materialistic way of life. I have very bitter experience of the materialistic way of life. In whichever species of life I have taken birth, compelled by the force of my own activities, I have very painfully experienced two things, namely separation from my beloved and meeting with what is not wanted. And to counteract them, the remedies which I undertook were more dangerous than the disease itself. So I drift from one point to another birth after birth, and I pray to You therefore to give me a shelter at Your lotus feet.”

The Pandava kings, who are more than many saints of the world, knew the bitter results of the materialistic way of life. They were never captivated by the glare of the imperial throne they occupied, and they sought always the opportunity of being called by the Lord to associate with Him eternally. Maharaja Pariksit was the worthy grandson of Maharaja Yudhisthira. Maharaja Yudhisthira gave up the imperial throne to his grandson, and similarly Maharaja Pariksit, the grandson of Maharaja Yudhisthira, gave up the imperial throne to his son Janamejaya. That is the way of all the kings in the dynasty because they are all strictly in the line of Lord Krsna. Thus the devotees of the Lord are never enchanted by the glare of materialistic life, and they live impartially, unattached to the objects of the false, illusory materialistic way of life.

SB1.19.21

TEXT 21

sarve vayam tavad ihasmahe ’tha

kalevaram yavad asau vihaya

lokam param virajaskam visokam

yasyaty ayam bhagavata-pradhanah

sarve—all; vayam—of us; tavat—as long as; iha—at this place; asmahe—shall stay; atha—hereafter; kalevaram—the body; yavat—so long; asau—the King; vihaya—giving up; lokam—the planet; param—the supreme; virajaskam—completely free from mundane contamination; visokam—completely freed from all kinds of lamentation; yasyati—returns; ayam—this; bhagavata—devotee; pradhanah—the foremost.

We shall all wait here until the foremost devotee of the Lord, Maharaja Pariksit, returns to the supreme planet, which is completely free from all mundane contamination and all kinds of lamentation.

Beyond the limitation of the material creation, which is compared to the cloud in the sky, there is the paravyoma, or the spiritual sky, full of planets called Vaikunthas. Such Vaikuntha planets are also differently known as the Purusottamaloka, Acyutaloka, Trivikramaloka, Hrsikesaloka, Kesavaloka, Aniruddhaloka, Madhavaloka, Pradyumnaloka, Sankarsanaloka, Sridharaloka, Vasudevaloka, Ayodhyaloka, Dvarakaloka and many other millions of spiritual lokas wherein the Personality of Godhead predominates; all the living entities there are liberated souls with spiritual bodies as good as that of the Lord. There is no material contamination; everything there is spiritual, and therefore there is nothing objectively lamentable. They are full of transcendental bliss, and are without birth, death, old age and disease. And amongst all the above-mentioned Vaikunthalokas, there is one supreme loka called Goloka Vrndavana, which is the abode of the Lord Sri Krsna and His specific associates. Maharaja Pariksit was destined to achieve this particular loka, and the great rsis assembled there could foresee this. All of them consulted among themselves about the great departure of the great King, and they wanted to see him up to the last moment because they would no more be able to see such a great devotee of the Lord. When a great devotee of the Lord passes away, there is nothing to be lamented because the devotee is destined to enter into the kingdom of God. But the sorry plight is that such great devotees leave our sight, and therefore there is every reason to be sorry. As the Lord is rarely to be seen by our present eyes, so also are the great devotees. The great rsis, therefore, correctly decided to remain on the spot till the last moment.

SB1.19.22

TEXT 22

asrutya tad rsi-gana-vacah pariksit

samam madhu-cyud guru cavyalikam

abhasatainan abhinandya yuktan

susrusamanas caritani visnoh

asrutya—just after hearing; tat—that; rsi-gana—the sages assembled; vacah—speaking; pariksit—Maharaja Pariksit; samam—impartial; madhu-cyut—sweet to hear; guru—grave; ca—also; avyalikam—perfectly true; abhasata—said; enan—all of them; abhinandya—congratulated; yuktan—appropriately presented; susrusamanah—being desirous to hear; caritani—activities of; visnoh—the Personality of Godhead.

All that was spoken by the great sages was very sweet to hear, full of meaning and appropriately presented as perfectly true. So after hearing them, Maharaja Pariksit, desiring to hear of the activities of Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, congratulated the great sages.

SB1.19.23

TEXT 23

samagatah sarvata eva sarve

veda yatha murti-dharas tri-prsthe

nehatha namutra ca kascanartha

rte paranugraham atma-silam

SYNONYMS

samagatah—assembled; sarvatah—from all directions; eva—certainly; sarve—all of you; vedah—supreme knowledge; yatha—as; murti-dharah—personified; tri-prsthe—on the planet of Brahma (which is situated above the three planetary systems, namely the upper, intermediate and lower worlds); na—not; iha—in this world; atha—thereafter; na—nor; amutra—in the other world; ca—also; kascana—any other; arthah—interest; rte—save and except; para—others; anugraham—doing good to; atma-silam—own nature.

TRANSLATION

The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds [Satyaloka]. Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next.

PURPORT

Six kinds of opulences, namely wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, are all originally the different attributes pertaining to the Absolute Personality of Godhead. The living beings, who are part-and-parcel entities of the Supreme Being, have all these attributes partially, up to the full strength of seventy-eight percent. In the material world these attributes (up to seventy-eight percent of the Lord’s attributes) are covered by the material energy, as the sun is covered by a cloud. The covered strength of the sun is very dim, compared to the original glare, and similarly the original color of the living beings with such attributes becomes almost extinct. There are three planetary systems, namely the lower worlds, the intermediate worlds and the upper worlds. The human beings on earth are situated at the beginning of the intermediate worlds, but living beings like Brahma and his contemporaries live in the upper worlds, of which the topmost is Satyaloka. In Satyaloka the inhabitants are fully cognizant of Vedic wisdom, and thus the mystic cloud of material energy is cleared. Therefore they are known as the Vedas personified. Such persons, being fully aware of knowledge both mundane and transcendental, have no interest in either the mundane or transcendental worlds. They are practically desireless devotees. In the mundane world they have nothing to achieve, and in the transcendental world they are full in themselves. Then why do they come to the mundane world? They descend on different planets as messiahs by the order of the Lord to deliver the fallen souls. On the earth they come down and do good to the people of the world in different circumstances under different climatic influences. They have nothing to do in this world save and except reclaim the fallen souls rotting in material existence, deluded by material energy.

SB1.19.24

TEXT 24

tatas ca vah prcchyam imam viprcche

visrabhya vipra iti krtyatayam

sarvatmana mriyamanais ca krtyam

suddham ca tatramrsatabhiyuktah

tatah—as such; ca—and; vah—unto you; prcchyam—that which is to be asked; imam—this; viprcche—beg to ask you; visrabhya—trustworthy; viprah—brahmanas; iti—thus; krtyatayam—out of all different duties; sarva-atmana—by everyone; mriyamanaih—especially those who are just about to die; ca—and; krtyam—dutiful; suddham—perfectly correct; ca—and; tatra—therein; amrsata—by complete deliberation; abhiyuktah—just befitting.

O trustworthy brahmanas, I now ask you about my immediate duty. Please, after proper deliberation, tell me of the unalloyed duty of everyone in all circumstances, and specifically of those who are just about to die.