Text 18]
Punishment and Reward of Kali
897
na vayam kleśa-bījāni yataḥ syuḥ puruṣarṣabha puruṣam tam vijānīmo vākya-bheda-vimohitāḥ
na—not; vayam—we; kleśa-bījāni—the root cause of sufferings; yataḥ—wherefrom; syuḥ—it so happens; puruṣa-rṣabha—O greatest of all human beings; puruṣam—the person; tam—that; vijānīmaḥ—know; vākya-bheda—difference of opinion; vimohitāḥ—bewildered by.
TRANSLATION
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.
PURPORT
There are many theoretical philosophers in the world who put forward their own theory of cause and effect especially about the cause of suffering and its effect on different living beings. Generally there are six great philosophers: Kaṇāda, the author of Vaiśeṣika philosophy; Gautama, the author of logic; Patañjali, the author of mystic  yoga ; Kapila, the author of Śāṅkhya philosophy; Jaimini, the author of Karma-mīmāmṣa; and Vyāsadeva, the author of Vedānta Darśana.
Although the bull, or the personality of religion, and the cow, the personality of the earth, knew perfectly well that the personality of Kali was the direct cause of their sufferings, still, as devotees of the Lord, they knew well also that without the sanction of the Lord no one could inflict trouble upon them. According to the  Padma Purāṇa , our present trouble is due to the fructifying of seedling sins, but even those seedling sins also gradually fade away by execution of pure devotional service. Thus even if the devotees see the mischiefmongers, they do not accuse them for the sufferings inflicted. They take it for granted that the mischiefmonger is made to act by some indirect cause, and therefore they tolerate the sufferings, thinking them to be God-given in small doses only, otherwise the sufferings should have been greater.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit wanted to get a statement of accusation against the direct mischiefmonger, but they declined to give it on the above-mentioned