Text 10] Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions 353

subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so
prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.

Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being
promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all
vanquished simply by disobeying a great soul. One should strictly try to
follow in the footsteps of great souls. Maharaja Vena became a king,
undoubtedly due to his past deeds of righteousness, but because he will-
fully neglected the great souls, he was punished by the loss of all the above-
mentioned acquisitions. In the Vamana Purana, the history of Maharaja
Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Maharaja Prthu heard
about the hellish condition of His father, Vera, who was suffering from
leprosy in the family of a mleccha, he at once brought the former king to
Kuruksetra for his purification and relieved him from all sufferings.

Maharaja Prthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the
brahmanas to restore the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of
crops. But, at the same time, He performed the duty of a son who delivers
the father from hellish conditions. The word putra means one who delivers
from hell, called put. That is a worthy son.

TEXT 10
aaa ATA UAT:
ata Tan eae aeaTaaly |

TAMA: «= IeAMafed
BA: TAURAETT: TTT HAS 2 ol |

nabher asav rsabha asa sudevi-sinur
yo vai cacara sama-drg jada-yoga-caryam
yat padramahamsyam rsayah padam dmananti
svasthah prasanta-karanah parimukta-sangah

nabheh—by Maharaja Nabhi;asau—the Personality of Godhead; rsabhah—
Rsabha; asa—became; sudevi—Sudevi; siinuh—the son of; yah—who; vai—
certainly ;cacdra— performed ; sama-drk—equibalanced ; jada— material ; yoga-
caryam—performance of yoga; yat—which; paramahamsyam—the highest
stage of perfection; rsayah—the learned sages; padam—situation; dmananti—
do accept; svasthah—self-reposed ; prasdnta—suspended ; karanah— the mate-
rial senses; parimukta—perfectly liberated ; sazgah—material contamination.
