Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 21 - Instructions by Maharaja Prthu
Pages in category "Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 04 Chapter 21 - Instructions by Maharaja Prthu"
The following 63 pages are in this category, out of 63 total.
A
- According to your abilities and the occupations in which you are situated, you should engage your service at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full confidence and without reservation
- After achieving such great success and a reputation which spread throughout the universe, he (King Prthu) at last obtained the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- All of you citizens on the surface of the globe who have a relationship with me and are worshiping Him by dint of your occupational duties are bestowing your mercy upon me. Therefore, O my citizens, I thank you
- All the demigods presented him with innumerable gifts, and he also expanded his influence upon personally receiving strength from Lord Visnu. Thus he greatly developed the earth
- All the saintly brahmanas thus addressed Prthu Maharaja: O best of the warriors, O father of this globe, may you be blessed with a long life, for you have great devotion to the infallible SPG, who is the master of all the universe
- Although abominable persons like my father, Vena the grandson of death personified, are bewildered on the path of religion, all the great personalities like those mentioned agree that in this world the only bestower of the benedictions of religion is SPG
- Although He is concentrated spirit soul without material variety, for the benefit of the conditioned soul He nevertheless accepts different types of sacrifice performed with various material elements
- Any king who does not teach his citizens about their respective duties in terms of varna and asrama but who simply exacts tolls and taxes from them is liable to suffer for the impious activities which have been performed by the citizens
- As Maharaja Prthu was being initiated to perform the sacrifice, he had to leave aside his valuable dress, and therefore his natural bodily beauty was visible
- As the King entered the gate of the city, all the citizens received him with many auspicious articles like lamps, flowers and yogurt
- At the street crossings there were bunches of fruits and flowers, as well as pillars of banana trees and betel nut branches. All these combined decorations everywhere looked very attractive
B
- Both the important citizens and the common citizens welcomed the King very heartily, and he also bestowed upon them their desired blessings
- By our past deeds and by the arrangement of superior authority, we are entangled in a network of fruitive activities and have lost sight of the destination of life; thus we have been wandering within the universe
- By regular service to the brahmanas and Vaisnavas, one can clear the dirt from his heart and thus enjoy supreme peace and liberation from material attachment and be satisfied
- By the inclination to serve the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, suffering humanity can immediately cleanse the dirt which has accumulated in their minds during innumerable births
H
- He who can carry such dust on his head is very soon relieved of all the reactions which arise from sinful life, and eventually he develops all good and desirable qualities
- Hiranyakasipu, who by dint of his sinful activities always defied the supremacy of the SPG, entered into the darkest region of hellish life; but by the grace of his great son, Prahlada Maharaja, he also was delivered and went back home, back to Godhead
I
- I (Prthu) think that upon the execution of my duties as king, I shall be able to achieve the desirable objectives described by experts in Vedic knowledge. This destination is certainly achieved by the pleasure of the SPG, who is the seer of all destiny
- I request all the pure-hearted demigods, forefathers and saintly persons to support my proposal, for after death the result of an action is equally shared by its doer, its director and its supporter
- In brahminical culture a brahmana's transcendental position is eternally maintained because the injunctions of the Vedas are accepted with faith, austerity, scriptural conclusions, full sense and mind control, and meditation
- In that great assembly, Maharaja Prthu first of all worshiped all the respectable visitors according to their respective positions. After this, he stood up in the midst of the assembly, and it appeared that the full moon had arisen amongst the stars
- In this world there is no fruitive activity superior to serving the brahmana class, for this can bring pleasure to the demigods, for whom the many sacrifices are recommended
- It was very pleasing to see him put on a black deerskin & wear a ring of kusa grass on his finger, for this increased the natural beauty of his body. It appears that Maharaja Prthu observed all the regulative principles before he performed the sacrifice
K
- King Prthu continued: By the grace of the Supreme Lord I have been appointed the king of this planet, and I carry the scepter to rule the citizens, protect them from all danger and give them employment according to their respective positions
- King Prthu said: O gentle members of the assembly, may all good fortune be upon you! May all of you great souls who have come to attend this meeting kindly hear my prayer attentively
- King Prthu was greater than the greatest soul and was therefore worshipable by everyone. He performed many glorious activities in ruling over the surface of the world and was always magnanimous
- King Prthu's body was tall and sturdy, and his complexion was fair. His arms were full and broad and his eyes as bright as the rising sun. His nose was straight, his face very beautiful and his personality grave
M
- Maharaja Prthu was an unrivaled king and possessed the scepter for ruling all the seven islands on the surface of the globe. No one could disobey his irrevocable orders but the saintly persons
- Maharaja Prthu's speech was very beautiful, full of metaphorical language, clearly understandable and very pleasing to hear. His words were all grave and certain. It appears that when he spoke, he expressed his personal realization of the Absolute Truth
- My dear respectable ladies and gentlemen, according to the authoritative statements of sastra, there must be a supreme authority who is able to award the respective benefits of our present activities
- My dear Vidura, King Prthu lived in the tract of land between the two great rivers Ganges and Yamuna. Because he was very opulent, it appeared that he was enjoying his destined fortune in order to diminish the results of his past pious activities
O
- O respectable personalities present here, I beg the blessings of all of you that I may perpetually carry on my crown the dust of the lotus feet of such brahmanas and Vaisnavas until the end of my life
- Once upon a time King Prthu initiated the performance of a very great sacrifice in which great saintly sages, brahmanas, demigods from higher planetary systems and great saintly kings known as rajarsis all assembled together
- Our dear lord, it is your occupational duty to rule over your citizens. That is not a very wonderful task for a personality like you, who are so affectionate in seeing to the interests of the citizens, because you are full of mercy
P
- Prthu Maharaja advised his citizens: Engaging your minds, your words, your bodies and the results of your occupational duties, and being always open-minded, you should all render devotional service to the Lord
- Prthu Maharaja continued: Therefore, my dear citizens, for the welfare of your king after his death, you should execute your duties properly in terms of your positions of varna and asrama and should always think of the SPG within your hearts
- Prthu Maharaja was so great in his activities and magnanimous in his method of ruling that all the kings and demigods on the various planets still follow in his footsteps. Who is there who will not try to hear about his glorious activities?
T
- The ancient, eternal Godhead, who is foremost amongst all great personalities, obtained the opulence of His staunch reputation, which purifies the entire universe, by worshiping the lotus feet of those brahmanas and Vaisnavas
- The audience continued: Dear King Prthu, your reputation is the purest of all, for you are preaching the glories of the most glorified of all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the brahmanas
- The black, slick hair on his head was very fine and curly, and his neck, like a conchshell, was decorated with auspicious lines. He wore a very valuable dhoti, and there was a nice wrapper on the upper part of his body
- The brahmanas and Vaisnavas are personally glorified by their characteristic powers of tolerance, penance, knowledge and education. By dint of all these spiritual assets, Vaisnavas are more powerful than royalty
- The chest of Maharaja Prthu was very broad, his waist was very thick, and his abdomen, wrinkled by lines of skin, resembled in construction a leaf of a banyan tree. His navel was coiled and deep, his thighs were of a golden hue, and his instep was arched
- The citizens continued: Today you have opened our eyes and revealed how to cross to the other side of the ocean of darkness
- The great sage Maitreya said: After hearing King Prthu speak so nicely, all the demigods, the denizens of Pitrloka, the brahmanas and the saintly persons present at the meeting congratulated him by expressing their good will
- The great sage Maitreya told Vidura: When the King entered his city, it was very beautifully decorated to receive him with pearls, flower garlands, beautiful cloth and golden gates, and the entire city was perfumed with highly fragrant incense
- The King was also received by many beautiful unmarried girls whose bodies were bedecked with various ornaments, especially with earrings which collided with one another
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-pervading, but He is also manifested in different types of bodies which arise from a combination of material nature, time, desires and occupational duties
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master and enjoyer of the results of all sacrifices, and He is the supreme spiritual master as well
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ananta, eats through the fire sacrifices offered in the names of the different demigods, He does not take as much pleasure in eating through fire as He does in accepting offerings through the mouths of learned sages
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is everlastingly independent and who exists in everyone's heart, is very pleased with those who follow in His footsteps and engage without reservation in the service of the descendants of brahmanas and Vaisnavas
- They all declared that the Vedic conclusion that one can conquer the heavenly planets by the action of a son, was fulfilled, for the most sinful Vena, who had been killed by the curse of the brahmanas
- This is confirmed not only by the evidence of the Vedas but also by the personal behavior of great personalities like Manu, Uttanapada, Dhruva, Priyavrata and my grandfather Anga, as well as by many other great personalities and ordinary living entitie
- Thus different types of consciousness develop, just as fire, which is always basically the same, blazes in different ways according to the shape and dimension of firewood
W
- When a devotee takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is completely cleansed of all misunderstanding or mental speculation, and he manifests renunciation
- When the King entered the palace, conchshells and kettledrums were sounded, priests chanted Vedic mantras, and professional reciters offered different prayers. But in spite of all this ceremony to welcome him, the King was not the least bit affected
- Whoever acquires the brahminical qualifications - whose only wealth is good behavior, who is grateful and who takes shelter of experienced persons - gets all the opulence of the world