50 / Deliverance of Mucukunda
When Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard this incident of Kālayavana's being burned to ashes, he inquired about the sleeping man from Śukadeva Gosvāmī: "Who was he? Why was he sleeping there? How had he achieved so much power that instantly, by his glance, Kālayavana was burned to ashes? How did he happen to be lying down in the cave of the hill?" Many questions were put before Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva also answered, as follows.
"My dear King, this person was born in the very great family of King Ikṣvāku, in which Lord Rāmacandra was also born, and he happened to be the son of a great king known as Māndhātā. He himself was also a great soul and was known popularly as Mucukunda. King Mucukunda was a very strict follower of the Vedic principles of brahminical culture, and he was truthful to his promise. He was so powerful that even demigods like Indra and others used to ask him to please help in fighting with the demons, and as such, he often fought against the demons to protect the demigods."
The commander-in-chief of the demigods, known as Kārttikeya, was satisfied with the fighting of King Mucukunda, but once he asked that the King, having taken too much trouble in fighting with the demons, retire from fighting and take rest. The commander-in-chief, Kārttikeya, addressed King Mucukunda, "My dear King, you have sacrificed everything for the sake of the demigods. You had a very nice kingdom undisturbed by any kind of enemy. You left that kingdom, you neglected your opulence and possessions, and you never cared for fulfillment of your personal ambition. Due to your long absence from your kingdom while fighting with the demons on behalf of the demigods, your family, your children, your relatives and your ministers have all passed away in due course of time. Time and tide wait for no living man. Now even if you retire to your home, you will find that no one is living there. The influence of time is very
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