170 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 2, Ch. 4
atomic bomb released by Agvatthama, but by the grace of the Lord he was
saved from being burnt by the fiery weapon, and since then the King
continually concentrated his mind upon Lord Krsna, which made him
perfectly chaste in devotional service. So by natural sequence he was a
chaste devotee of the Lord, and when he further heard from Srila Sukadeva
Gosvami that one should worship the Lord only and no one else, even
though full of all desires or desireless, his natural affection for Krsna was
strengthened. We have already discussed these topics in this connection.

To become a pure devotee of Lord Krsna, two things are very much
essential, namely having a chance of being born in the family of a devotee
and having the blessings of a bona fide spiritual master. By the grace
of Lord Krsna, Pariksit Maharaja had both opportunities. He was born
in a family of devotees like the Pandavas, and just to continue the
dynasty of the Pandavas, Maharaja Pariksit was specifically saved by the
Lord just to show special favor to the Pandavas, and later on, by the
arrangement of the Lord, Maharaja Pariksit was cursed by the boy of a
brahmana and was able to get the association of a spiritual master like
Sukadeva Gosvami. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that a fortunate
person, by the mercy of the spiritual master and Lord Krsna, achieves the
path of devotional service. This was perfectly applicable in the case of
Maharaja Pariksit. By way of being born in the family of devotees, he
automatically came in touch with Krsna, and after being so contacted he
constantly remembered Him. Consequently Lord Krsna gave the King a
further chance of development in devotional service by introducing him
to Sukadeva Gosvami, a stalwart devotee of the Lord with perfect know-
ledge in self-realization. And by hearing from a bona fide spiritual master,
he was perfectly able to concentrate his chaste mind further upon Lord
Krsna, as a matter of course.

TEXT 2
MAAATGAUTMTTRATTCTS |
TSA THe fret Est AAT FET I
atma-jdyd-sutagara-
pasu-dravina-bandhusu
rajye cavikale nityam
viridhar mamatam jahau

atma—body; jaya—wife; suta—son; agara—palace; pasu—horses and ele-

phants; dravina—treasury house; bandhusu—unto friends and relatives;
