THE STORIES OF GOD’S AVATARS AND DEVOTEES -II (Srimad Bhagavatam)
CORONATION OF PARIKSHIT

Parikhsit’s birth and the consequent naming ceremony were celebrated with music and dance, feasts and gifts to all the visitors, and thanksgiving worship in temples and homes. The whole atmosphere was full of cheer and from everyone’s lips a smile seemed to be ever-ready to blossom forth. Except in the case of the king, Dharmaja, the grandfather of Parikhsit. He was happy for some days but soon people around him realised that he was worried about something. When attempts were repeatedly made to elicit the cause, he himself called all his brothers and Lord Krishna and opened up his heart to them.

He said: "The joy of getting a heir for the throne withstanding, I am oppressed by a terribly guilty conscience. I have been the cause directly or indirectly of killing my own brothers, my grand father and my guru and also of killing many kings who participated in the great war, leaving their kingdoms to the possibility of anarchy." Though it was pointed out to him that such killings were inevitable in a war, he was so soft-hearted and self-righteous that he could not be convinced that he was not responsible as an individual for what had happened in a political war undertaken as a last resort to establish justice and righteousness.

What a contrast with modern attitudes! Today man tends to use his knowledge and scholarship to rationalise his sins by quoting exceptions from scriptures, but Dharmaja was repenting for mishaps in a war that was like a surgery to remove the cancerous growth of self-centredness of unjust rulers on the earth. Even in modern times such persons have not been in wanting. There was Lal Bahadur Sastri, once Prime Minister of India, who while he was the Minister for Railways, resigned from the ministry taking upon himself the responsibility for a railway accident in Ariyalur of South India.

When those who had assembled near him were wondering how to console him, Dharmaja announced suo moto that he would conduct three Aswamedha sacrifices to expiate himself from his sins. Lord Krishna however objected to his proposal on the following grounds:

(a) Only well-earned money or justly collected tax can be used for such very costly holy rites; else it would bring evil instead of good. (This is a point to be well noted by moderns who sometimes arrange for such holy rites for selfish reasons without bothering about the sources of money).

(b) There was not enough money in the Treasury due to long-drawn exile as well as due to the great war involving millions. Money could not be obtained from the subjects as tax because the purpose of the holy rite was a personal one of expiation of one’s own guilt feelings, unwarranted by good conventions.

(c) Kings of neighbouring kingdoms also were economically affected due to their participation in the war and so should not be forced to pay for the costly Aswamedha Sacrifice.

This was a virtual veto to the resolution announced in the heat of emotion and highly embarassing to the king. (To avoid such a possibility only Muslims always express their proposals and plans and end them with the phrase "Inshallah" which means "if Allah wills"). But he was a devotee of the Lord first and last and had surrendered his ego to His will. He told the Lord: "Lord, Thy will be done! You may give value to my words or dispose my proposals."

The Lord is merciful. He is like steel in delivering justice but melts like butter in the face of repentance and surrender. So taking into account the exemplary virtue of the King, He said: "In ancient days, a King like you performed the Aswamedha sacrifice and being the owner of immense quantities of gold, asked the priests to carry as many gold bricks as they could as gifts. They, in their greed tried to take too much but due to their weight, could not carry them for long and dropped most of it down on earth. They are buried now with no claimants. By law and custom such treasures belong to you and so get them and be free from your guilt feelings after the holy rite". Accordingly the great sacrifice was performed in a grand manner and Parikshit’s grandfather was at peace at last.

[Dear reader, at this juncture a question may arise in your minds as to whether only by such costly rites one’s sins can be atoned for. The venerable saint of Kamokoti peetam, one of the foremost authorities on scriptural injunctions has pointed out that the merit accruing from Aswamedha sacrifice can be also obtained by ordinary individuals by helping the proper burial or cremation of the bodies of dead orphans and poor people. Humble and sincere service to the maximum extent possible to the needy and the indigent can indeed be the antidote for all the sins of commission and omission. Indeed the same saintly person advised the goverment agencies and others who sometimes have to dispose of the dead bodies, not to do so without appropriate religious rites to help the departed souls.]

Soon afterwards Lord Krishna left for His city of Dwaraka and when He asked Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, whether He could do anything for her before He left, she gave the famous answer: "Oh, Lord! Constantly be giving some trouble or other to us, so that we will be forced to remember you constantly". Indeed it is said:

"All woes are not really woes; but forgetting the omnipresence of God is the seed for all woes. All wealth is not real wealth; but the constant remembrance of the omnipresent Lord (and acting in accordance with it) is the true wealth."

Not much later Arjuna, the third among the Pandavas and the direct grandfather of Parikshit, also left for Dwaraka seeking to enjoy the company of his beloved Lord.

Some years passed and to Dharmaja’s consternation, bad omens were observed. Brahmins were found to be selling milk etc. to make money on the sly, instead of being content with what they received from the king and the subjects for their spiritual services; thefts occurred; pleas for divorce were heard and so on. All these indicated the approach of the Kali Yuga – the age of rebellion against rules and regulations. Bhima, the younger brother advised him not to worry about that but to set them right by appropriate administrative measures. But the heart of Dharmaja was basically the heart of a devotee and intuitively the king felt that something was wrong in Dwaraka, the city of Lord Krishna.

Soon he was proved right. Arjuna returned home but his face was dull and dark and his demeanour listless. Anxious enquiries elicited only tears and more tears. At last the bomb burst devastatingly: the Lord had left the earth! The five Pandavas and their mother were shocked to hear the news and deathly silence reigned for sometime. But quickly enough they reacted. The queen-mother Kunti gave up her body, unable to visualise life on this earth bereft of her beloved Lord’s physical presence. The Pandava brothers after completing her funeral rites, did not lose much time in deciding on the next course of action. To them the Lord was their life breath and raison detre of their earthly life and so they took up a vow of Mahaprasthana which meant a continuous remembrance of God and walk towards the Himalayas without ever turning back until one drops dead. Draupadi, their queen also decided to join them in their vow.

Thus it came about that all of a sudden young Parikshit was called to the coronation hall and crowned as the king. The boy could not understand what was happening and why, and so cried pitiably when he learnt of the imminent departure of his beloved grand parents. Lord Sri Sathya Sai once observed that there are two courses of right action: one is the spiritually oriented one and the other is world oriented. The former is always right and so must be held in the right hand, so to say. The latter is right in the worldly context only and is to be held in the left hand, so to say. When a question arises which is more important, what is in the left hand can be left out and what is in the right hand is to be chosen as forever right! The Pandavas knew this in their heart. So, leaving their realm in the care of the omnipresent God, their grandson in the care of their good ministers and ultimately in the hands of their benevolent Lord who had saved him in the womb, they left forthwith towards the Himalayas.

In the Ramayana we read that Lord Rama left for the forest just on the eve of His coronation to exemplify the right course of action for a son. And here we see the Pandavas giving up the kingdom, hard-won after a great war and enormous sacrifices, just in a trice, because of their deep devotion. That is the value system followed by great men. In their order of priorities, love for God or upholding of morals and ethics in personal, social and political lives ranked highest and subordinated all other goals. Hence they were great and remembered to this day and they shine like pole-stars showing the correct direction our lives must take. Material desires definitely have their place but must bow down to spiritual goals. Somewhat like Brutus in Shakespear’s Julius Caesar we must be able to say: "Not that I love the world less; but I love God more." Indeed those who are after the worldly pleasures only, often end up not able to enjoy them while those who seek the kingdom of heaven within first, find that "all else is added unto them unasked."

Parikshit, by the grace of God, the blessings of his elders and the best wishes of his subjects, grew up into a fine young king who treated the elder citizens as he would his parents and the younger ones as he would his offspring or co-born. He took each step in his administration after mentally asking himself whether Lord Krishna and his grandfathers would approve of it. As far as possible he sought to promote self control and self-regulation among the citizens for common good rather than impose rules and laws to achieve all-round welfare. So, with his kindness and competence, the self-reliance and self-regulation promoted among the citizens and the Grace of God, Parikshit’s reign was regarded as one of the golden periods in the history of the country.

However God’s attitudes and goals are different from man’s. A too successful man tends to become a slave to success and in pursuit of success and more success, often loses sight of the ideal of being equanimous about success and failure. That applies to the pursuit of many so-called positive things to the exclusion of the so-called negatives. Man must realise that human life is a mixture of good and bad, pleasure and pain, ups and downs, days and nights etc., and should be willing to allow for both the opposites.

So it came to pass that one day when Parikshit was going through the country on supervisory rounds, he saw a very dark-complexioned man in a royal dress beating a cow. The cow is regarded as a mother because it gives milk to nourish human beings and milk products are necessary to feed the flames in sacrifices to divine powers. To beat it harshly was considered a great sin and called for punishment. When the king tried to kill the dark man (who was no other than KALI, the personification of evil tendencies), he revealed himself and begged for his life and said that as a living being, he also deserved a place on earth, rather than being denied it outright.

Parikshit was an advanced soul and remembered Lord Krishna’s statement that the Lord was friendly to all creatures and beings in the universe. Like the sun which shines on all things be it a limpid lotus pond or dirty and decaying matter, the Lord is kind to all and encourages coexistence until it is untenable.

So, Parikshit considered the request of Kali dispassionately without any prejudice and allotted him residence and business in the following places:

(i) where lies are spoken and gambling is done;

(ii) where intoxicants are used;

(iii) where lust and physical needs are dominantly catered to with disregard to other values;

(iv) where money is the main motive; and

(v) where hatred and enemity are harboured and promoted.

There was one more reason why Parikshit allowed Kali to take up residence and do his business and probably do quite well. It was the realisation that when evil gains ascendancy, good efforts towards the ultimate goal of self-realisation bear fruit easily and fast.

For example for spiritual progress in the Kritha Yuga, meditation and strict austerities were required; in the Thretha Yuga, sacrifices to divinities according to exacting standards were required; in the Dwapara Yuga, Sacrifices and ritual worship were required; but in the Kali Yuga, it was enough to remember the Lord and sing His divine names. A

• Om Premananda