Text 18] Punishment and Reward of Kali 897

na vayam klesa-bijani
yatah syuh purusarsabha
purusam tam vijanimo
vak ya-bheda-vimohitah

na—not; vayam—we; klesa-bijani—the root cause of sufferings; yatah—
wherefrom; syuh—it so happens; purusa-rsabha—O greatest of all human
beings; purusam—the person; tam—that; vijanimah—know; vakya-bheda—
difference of opinion; vimohitah—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 bewil-
dered 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: Kanada, the author of Vaisgesika philosophy; Gautama, the
author of logic; Patarijali, the author of mystic yoga; Kapila, the author
of Sankhya philosophy; Jaimini, the author of Karma-mimamsa; and
Vyasadeva, the author of Vedanta Dargana.

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 Purana, 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.

Maharaja Pariksit wanted to get a statement of accusation against the
direct mischief monger, but they declined to give it on the above-mentioned
