946 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 22

raja uvaca—the King said; krtah—done; me—unto me; anugrahah—
causeless mercy; purvam—formerly; harina—by the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Lord Visnu; arta-anukampina—compassionate for persons in
distress; tam—that; @pddayitum—to confirm it; brahman—O brahmana;
bhagavan—O powerful one; yiyam—all of you; agatah—have arrived
here.

TRANSLATION

The King said: O brahmana, O powerful one, formerly Lord Visnu
showed me His causeless mercy, indicating that you would come to my
house, and to confirm that blessing, you have all come.

PURPORT

When Lord Visnu appeared on the great arena of sacrifice at the time
when King Prthu was performing a great sacrifice (asvamedha), He pre-
dicted that the Kumaras would very soon come and advise the King.
Therefore Prthu Maharaja remembered the causeless mercy of the Lord
and thus welcomed the arrival of the Kumaras, who were fulfilling the
Lord’s prediction. In other words, when the Lord makes a prediction, He
fulfills that prediction through some of His devotees. Similarly, Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted that both His glorious names and the Hare
Krsna maha-mantra would be broadcast in all the towns and villages of
the world. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvafi
Prabhupada desired to fulfill this great prediction, and we are following in
their footsteps.

Regarding His devotees, Lord Krsna told Arjuna, kaunteya pratijanihi
na me bhaktah pranasyati: “O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My
devotee will never perish.” (Bg. 9.31) The point is that the Lord Himself
could declare such things, but it was His desire to make the declaration
through Arjuna and thus doubly assure that His promise would never be
broken. The Lord Himself promises, and His confidential devotees execute
the promise. The Lord makes so many promises for the benefit of suffering
humanity. Although the Lord is very compassionate upon suffering hu-
manity, human beings are generally not very anxious to serve Him. The re-
lationship is something like that between the father and the son; the
father is always anxious for the welfare of the son, even though the son
forgets or neglects the father. The word anukampind is significant; the
Lord is so compassionate upon the living entities that He comes Himself
into this world in order to benefit fallen souls.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
