King Kulasekhara

Expressions researched:
"Emperor Kulasekhara" |"King Kulasekhara" |"Kulasekhara" |"Maharaja Kulasekhara"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "Kulasekhara" There are a few references in conv and one in letters

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 8.2, Purport:

At the time of death all the bodily functions are disrupted, and the mind is not in a proper condition. Thus disturbed by the bodily situation, one may not be able to remember the Supreme Lord. Mahārāja Kulaśekhara, a great devotee, prays, "My dear Lord, just now I am quite healthy, and it is better that I die immediately so that the swan of my mind can seek entrance at the stem of Your lotus feet." The metaphor is used because the swan, a bird of the water, takes pleasure in digging into the lotus flowers; its sporting proclivity is to enter the lotus flower. Mahārāja Kulaśekhara says to the Lord, "Now my mind is undisturbed, and I am quite healthy. If I die immediately, thinking of Your lotus feet, then I am sure that my performance of Your devotional service will become perfect. But if I have to wait for my natural death, then I do not know what will happen, because at that time the bodily functions will be disrupted, my throat will be choked up, and I do not know whether I shall be able to chant Your name. Better let me die immediately."

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.21, Purport:

The pure devotee, by the grace of the Lord, absolutely loses all attraction for material enjoyment, and to keep free from contamination he always thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord. King Kulaśekhara, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"My Lord Kṛṣṇa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?"

SB Canto 4

SB 4.9.29, Purport:

A pure devotee has no demand from the Lord. His only concern is to serve the Lord sincerely and seriously, and he is not at all concerned about what will happen in the future. In the Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara, author of the book, states in his prayer: "My dear Lord, I don't want any position of sense gratification within this material world. I simply want to engage in Your service perpetually."

SB 4.23.13, Purport:

Every devotee desires to give up the body while it is sound physically and mentally. This desire was also expressed by King Kulaśekhara in his Mukunda-mālā-stotra:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

King Kulaśekhara wanted to give up his body while in a healthy state, and he thus prayed to Kṛṣṇa to let him die immediately while he was in good health and while his mind was sound.

SB 4.28.15, Purport:

At the last stage of life, the different gates of the body are choked by the effects of disease, which are caused by an imbalance of bile, mucus and air. Thus the living entity cannot clearly express his difficulties, and surrounding relatives hear the sound "ghura ghura" from a dying man. In his Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara states:

kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam

adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ

prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ

kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te

(MM 33)

"My dear Kṛṣṇa, please help me die immediately so that the swan of my mind may be encircled by the stem of Your lotus feet. Otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up, how will it be possible for me to think of You?"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.33, Purport:

Many realized souls, such as Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and King Kulaśekhara, have recommended with great emphasis that one develop this spontaneous love of Godhead, even at the risk of transgressing all the traditional codes of morality and religiosity. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, has written in his prayers called the Manaḥ-śikṣā that one should simply worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with all attention. Na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru: one should not be much interested in performing Vedic rituals or simply following rules and regulations.

King Kulaśekhara has written similarly, in his book Mukunda-mālā-stotra (MM 5):

nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge

yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam

etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu-mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi

tvat-pādāmbho-ruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu

"I have no attraction for performing religious rituals or holding any earthly kingdom. I do not care for sense enjoyments; let them appear and disappear in accordance with my previous deeds. My only desire is to be fixed in devotional service to the lotus feet of the Lord, even though I may continue to take birth here life after life."

CC Adi 6.42, Purport:

King Kulaśekhara, in his very famous book Mukunda-mālā-stotra, prays:

nāhaṁ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ

kumbhī-pākaṁ gurum api hare nārakaṁ nāpanetum

ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā-nandane nābhirantuṁ

bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaṁ bhavantam

"My Lord, I do not worship You to be liberated from this material entanglement, nor do I wish to save myself from the hellish condition of material existence, nor do I ever pray for a beautiful wife to enjoy in a nice garden. I wish only that I may always be in full ecstasy with the pleasure of serving Your Lordship." (MM 4)

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 9.79, Purport:

Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra (Śrī Raṅgam) is a very famous place. It lies in the district of Tiruchchirāpalli, about ten miles west of Kumbhakonam and near the city of Tiruchchirāpalli, on an island in the Kāverī River. The Śrī Raṅgam temple is the largest in India, and there are seven walls surrounding it. There are also seven roads leading to Śrī Raṅgam. The ancient names of these roads are the road of Dharma, the road of Rājamahendra, the road of Kulaśekhara, the road of Ālināḍana, the road of Tiruvikrama, the Tirubiḍi road of Māḍamāḍi-gāisa, and the road of Aḍa-iyāvala-indāna. The temple was founded before the reign of Dharmavarma, who reigned before Rājamahendra. Many celebrated kings like Kulaśekhara and Yāmunācārya (Ālabandāru) resided in the temple of Śrī Raṅgam. Yāmunācārya, Śrī Rāmānuja, Sudarśanācārya and others also supervised this temple.