Text 29] Maharaja Pariksit Cursed by a Brahmana Boy 961
respects. He should not be given a chance to understand that he has come
into the house of an enemy. When Lord Krsna, accompanied by Arjuna
and Bhima, approached Jarasandha in Magadha, the respectable enemies
were given a royal reception by King Jarasandha. The guest enemy,
namely Bhima, was to fight with Jarasandha, and yet they were given a
grand reception. At night they used to sit down together as friends and
guests, and in the day they used to fight, risking life and death. That was
the law of reception. The reception law enjoins that a poor man, who has
nothing to offer his guest, should be good enough to offer a straw mat for
sitting, a glass of water for drinking and some sweet words. Therefore, to
receive a guest, either friend or foe, there is no expense. It is only a ques-
tion of good manners.

When Maharaja Pariksit entered the door of Samika Rsi, he did not
expect a royal reception by the Rsi because he knew that saints and rsis
are not materially rich men. But he never expected that a seat of straw, a
glass of water and some sweet words would be denied to him. He was not
an ordinary guest, nor was he an enemy of the Rsi, and therefore the cold
reception by the Rsi astonished the King greatly. As a matter of fact, the
King was right to get angry with the Rsi when he needed a glass of water
very badly. To become angry in such a grave situation was not unnatural
for the King, but because the King himseif was not less than a great saint,
his becoming angry and taking action were astonishing. So it must be
accepted that it was so ordained by the supreme will of the Lord. The
King was a great devotee of the Lord, and the saint was also as good as the
King. But by the will of the Lord, the circumstances were so created that
they became ways to the King’s becoming unattached to family connec-
tion and governmental activities and thus becoming a completely surren-
dered soul unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. The merciful Lord sometimes
creates such awkward positions for his pure devotees in order to drag them
towards Himself from the mire of material existence. But outwardly the
situations appear to be frustrating to the devotees. The devotees of the
Lord are always under the protection of the Lord, and in any condition,
frustration or success, the Lord is the supreme guide for the devotees. The
pure devotees, therefore, accept all conditions of frustration as blessings
from the Lord.

TEXT 29
TET: TR BrEraafsaa: |
ATA TTA HA ATW FUR
