Text 4]
Appearance of Śukadeva Gosvāmī
989
son;  nirṛtiḥ —death;  takṣaka-ākhyaḥ —in relation with the snake-bird;  saḥ —he (the King);  sādhu —well and good;  mene —accepted;  na —not;  cireṇa —very long time;  takṣaka —snake-bird;  analam —fire;  prasaktasya —for one who is too attached;  virakti —indifference;  kāraṇam —cause.
TRANSLATION
While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death, which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken by the sage's son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the cause of his indifference towards worldly things.
PURPORT
Real happiness is achieved by spiritual existence or by cessation of the repetition of birth and death. The repetition of birth and death can be stopped only by going back to Godhead. In the material world, even by attaining the topmost planet (Brahmaloka), one cannot get rid of the conditions of repeated birth and death, but we do not accept the path of attaining perfection. The path of perfection frees one from all material attachments, and thus one becomes fit to enter into the spiritual kingdom. Therefore, those who are materially poverty-stricken are better candidates than those who are materially prosperous. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a great devotee of the Lord and a bona fide candidate for entering into the kingdom of God, but even though he was so, his material assets as the Emperor of the world were setbacks to perfect attainment of his rightful status as one of the associates of the Lord in the spiritual sky. As a devotee of the Lord, he could understand that the cursing of the  brāhmaṇa  boy, although unwise, was a blessing upon him, being the cause of detachment from worldly affairs, both political and social. Śamīka Muni also, after regretting the incidence, conveyed the news to the King as a matter of duty so that the King would be able to prepare himself to go back to Godhead. Śamīka Muni sent news to the King that foolish Śṛṅgi, his son, although a powerful  brāhmaṇa  boy, unfortunately had misused his spiritual power by cursing the King unwarrantedly. The incidence of the King's garlanding the  muni  was not sufficient cause for being cursed to death, but since there was no way to retract the curse, the King was informed to prepare for death within a week. Both Śamīka Muni and the King were self-realized souls. Śamīka Muni was a mystic, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a devotee. Therefore there was no difference between them in self-realization. Neither of them was afraid of meeting death. Mahārāja