XX Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

According to the statement of Maharaja Pariksit, who heard about
Krsna from Sukadeva Gosvami, Krspa-katha is equally applicable to every
human being, in whatever condition of life he is in. Everyone will appre-
ciate it to the highest magnitude. But Maharaja Pariksit also warned that
persons who are simply engaged in killing animals and in killing themselves
may not be very much attracted to Krsna-katha. In other words, ordinary
persons who are following the regulative moral principles of scriptures, no
matter in what condition they are found, will certainly be attracted, but
not persons who are killing themselves. The exact word used in the Srimad-
Bhagavatam is pasughna, which means killing animals or killing oneself.
Persons who are not self-realized and who are not interested in spiritual
realization are killing themselves; they are committing suicide. Because
this human form of life is especially meant for self-realization, by neg-
lecting this important part of his activities, one simply wastes his time
like the animals. So he is pasughna. The other meaning of the word refers
to those who are actually killing animals. This means persons who are
animal eaters (even dog eaters), and they are all engaged in killing animals
in so many ways, such as hunting, opening slaughterhouses, etc. Such
persons cannot be interested in Krsna-katha.

King ‘Pariksit was especially interested in hearing Krsna-katha because
he knew that his forefathers and particularly his grandfather, Arjuna, were
victorious in. the great battle of Kuruksetra only because of Krsna. We
may also take this material world as a battlefield of Kuruksetra. Everyone
is struggling hard for existence in this battlefield, and at every step there is
danger. According to Maharaja Pariksit, the battlefield of Kuruksetra was
just like a vast ocean full of dangerous animals. His grandfather Arjuna had
to fight with such great heroes as Bhisma, Drona, Karna, and many others
who were not ordinary fighters. Such warriors have been compared to the
timingita fish in the ocean. The timingila fish can very easily swallow up
big whales. The great fighters on the battlefield of Kuruksetra could
swallow many, many Arjunas very easily, but simply due to Krsna’s mercy,
Arjuna was able to kill all of them. Just as one can cross with no exertion
over the little pit of water contained in the hoofprint of a calf, so Arjuna,
by the grace of Krsna, was able to very easily jump over the ocean of the
battle of Kuruksetra.

Maharaja Pariksit very much appreciated Krsna’s activities for many
other reasons. Not only was his grandfather saved by Krsna, but he himself
also was saved by Krsna. At the end of the battle of Kuruksetra, all the
members of the Kuru dynasty, both the sons and grandsons on the side
of Dhrtarastra, as well as those on the side of the Pandavas, died in the
