Text 27]
Birth of Emperor Parīkṣit
647
the line of royal succession in the family of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, all the kings, without exception, were the wisest men of their times, and so also it is foretold about Mahārāja Parīkṣit and his son Mahārāja Janamejaya who was yet to be born. Such wise kings can become chastisers of upstarts and uprooters of Kali, or quarrelsome elements. As it will be clear in the chapters ahead, Mahārāja Parīkṣit wanted to kill the personified Kali who was attempting to kill a cow, the emblem of peace and religion. The symptoms of Kali are 1) wine, 2) women, 3) gambling and 4) slaughterhouses. Wise rulers of all states should take lessons from Mahārāja Parīkṣit in how to maintain peace and morality by subduing the upstarts and quarrelsome people who indulge in wine, illicit connection with women, gambling and meat-eatings supplied by regularly maintained slaughterhouses. In this age of Kali, regular license is issued for maintaining all of these different departments of quarrel. So how can they expect peace and morality in the state? The state fathers, therefore, must follow the principles of becoming wiser by devotion to the Lord, by chastising the breaker of discipline and by uprooting the symptoms of quarrel, as mentioned above. If we want blazing fire, we must use dry fuel. Blazing fire and moist fuel go ill together. Peace and morality can prosper only by the principles of Mahārāja Parīkṣit and his followers.
TEXT 27
तथकादात्मनो मृत्युं द्विजपुत्रोपसर्जितात् । प्रपत्स्यत उपश्रुत्य मुक्तसङ्गः पदं हरेः ॥२७॥
takṣakād ātmano mṛtyum dvija-putropasarjitāt prapatsyata upaśrutya mukta-saṅgaḥ padam hareḥ
takṣakāt—by the snake-bird; ātmanaḥ—of his personal self; mṛtyum—death; dvija-putra—the son of a brāhmaṇa; upasarjitāt—being sent by; prapatsyate—having taken shelter of; upaśrutya—after hearing; mukta-saṅgaḥ—freed from all attachment; padam—position; hareḥ—of the Lord.
TRANSLATION
After hearing about his death, which will be caused by the bite of a snakebird sent by a son of a brāhmaṇa, he will get himself freed from all