King Parikshit Punishes Kali Purusha!
(From Srimad Bhagavatam Ca-1, Ch-17)
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, before retiring to the forest, had entrusted the kingdom of Hastināpura to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the son of Abhimanyu. He was ruling the world with great success due to his being glorified by the deeds of the kings of the Kuru dynasty.
This Incident in which the King Parikshit Punishes Kali Purusha has been explained in Srimad Bhagavatam Ca-1, Ch-17.
Once, Mahārāja Parīkṣit observed that a lower-caste śūdra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a white coloured bull with a club, as if they had no owner.
The cow’s legs were being beaten by that śūdra. There were tears in her eyes, and she was distressed and weak. She was hankering after some grass in the field.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit spoke to the śūdra with a deep voice sounding like thunder.
“Oh, who are you? You appear to be strong and yet you dare kill, within my protection, those who are helpless! By your dress you pose yourself to be a godly man [king], but by your deeds you are opposing the principles of the twice-born kṣatriyas. You rogue, do you dare beat an innocent cow because Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, the carrier of the Gāṇḍīva bow, are out of sight? Since you are beating the innocent in a secluded place, you are considered a culprit and therefore deserve to be killed.”
Then Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked the bull:
“Oh, who are you? Are you a bull as white as a white lotus, or are you a demigod? You have lost three of your legs and are moving on only one. Are you some demigod causing us grief in the form of a bull? Now for the first time in a kingdom well protected by the arms of the kings of the Kuru dynasty, I see you grieving with tears in your eyes. Up till now no one on earth has ever shed tears because of royal negligence.
“O son of Surabhi, you need lament no longer now. It is certainly the prime duty of the king to subdue first the sufferings of those who suffer. Therefore I must kill this most wretched man because he is violent against other living beings”.
He further asked the bull thus: “O son of Surabhi, who has cut off your three legs? In the state of the kings who are obedient to the laws of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, there is no one as unhappy as you.
The Bull who is the Personality of religion (Dharma devatha) said:
“These words just spoken by you befit a person of the Pāṇḍava dynasty. O greatest among human beings, it is very difficult to ascertain the particular miscreant who has caused our sufferings, because we are bewildered by all the different opinions of theoretical philosophers.”
“Some of the philosophers, who deny all sorts of duality, declare that one’s own self is responsible for his personal happiness and distress. Others say that superhuman powers are responsible, while yet others say that activity is responsible, and the gross materialists maintain that nature is the ultimate cause. There are also some thinkers who believe that no one can ascertain the cause of distress by argumentation, nor know it by imagination, nor express it by words. O sage amongst kings, judge for yourself by thinking over all this with your own intelligence.”
The King said:
“O you, who are in the form of a bull! You know the truth of religion, and you are speaking according to the principle that the destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator. You are no other than the personality of religion.
In the age of Satya [truthfulness], your (Dharma devatha’s) four legs were established by the four principles – austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of Pride, Lust for women, and Intoxication.
You are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you are somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.
The burden of the earth was certainly diminished by the Personality of Godhead and by others as well. When He was present as an incarnation, all good was performed because of His auspicious footprints.
Now she (earth), the chaste one, laments her future with tears in her eyes, for now she is being ruled and enjoyed by lower-class men who pose as rulers.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit, then he took up his sharp sword to kill the personality of Kali, who is the cause of all irreligion.
When the personality of Kali understood that the King was willing to kill him, he at once abandoned the dress of a king and, under pressure of fear, completely surrendered to him, bowing his head.
The King said:
“We have inherited the fame of Arjuna; therefore, since you have surrendered yourself with folded hands you need not fear for your life. But you cannot remain in my kingdom, for you are the friend of irreligion. If the personality of Kali, irreligion, is allowed to act as a man-god or an executive head, certainly irreligious principles like greed, falsehood, robbery, incivility, treachery, misfortune, cheating, quarrel and vanity will abound.
The personality of Kali, thus being ordered by Mahārāja Parīkṣit, began to tremble in fear. Seeing the King before him like Yamarāja, ready to kill him.
Kali spoke to the King as follows:
“O Your Majesty, though I may live anywhere and everywhere under your order, I shall but see you with bow and arrows wherever I look. Therefore, O chief amongst the protectors of religion, please fix some place for me where I can live permanently under the protection of your government.”
Mahārāja Parīkṣit gave the personality of Kali (Kali Purusha) permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed.
The personality of Kali asked for something more.
Because of his begging, the King gave Kali permission to live where there is gold because wherever there is gold there is also falsity, intoxication, lust, envy and enmity.
Thus the personality of Kali, by the directions of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the son of Uttarā, was allowed to live in those five places.
Therefore, whoever desires progressive well-being, especially kings, religionists, public leaders, brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs, should never come in contact with the four above-mentioned irreligious principles.
Thereafter, the King re-established the lost legs of the personality of religion [the bull], and by encouraging activities he sufficiently improved the condition of the earth.
Thus the King Parikshit Punishes Kali Purusha!
(Lord Caitanya takes Sanyasa – Bhagavatam Stories! READ HERE!)