Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Chapter 17 Purports - Punishment and Reward of Kali: Difference between revisions
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Pages in category "Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 01 Chapter 17 Purports - Punishment and Reward of Kali"
The following 331 pages are in this category, out of 331 total.
A
- A devotee has no suffering at all because so-called suffering is also God's grace for a devotee who sees God in everything
- A devotee is always under the protection of the Lord, and therefore the assurance of protection by Maharaja Pariksit could never be without meaning
- A devotee's conclusion is that no one is directly responsible for being a benefactor or mischief-monger without the sanction of the Lord; therefore he does not consider anyone to be directly responsible for such action
- A godless civilization cannot cleanse the mind because it has no idea of God, and for this simple reason people under such a civilization cannot have good qualifications, however they may be materially equipped
- A government must not discriminate in such principles - the protection of the lives of both the human beings and the animals
- A ksatriya is also twice-born like a brahmana, and his duty is to give protection to the helpless
- A learned scholar or devotee, however, knows who is who. Therefore he directly worships the Supreme Lord and is not diverted by the material, qualitative representations
- A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramatma are sitting like two birds
- A man can subsist on varieties of grains, fruits and milk ordained by God, and there is no need of animal food, save and except in particular cases
- A politician was so ignorant of the codes of God that he writes: I do not believe in any such ceremonies, and to submit to them, even as a matter of form, would be hypocrisy and an attempt to delude ourselves and others... I have no religious sentiment
- A question may be raised as to why a devotee should refrain from identifying an actor, although he knows definitely that the Lord is the ultimate doer of everything
- A real ksatriya never surrenders. He accepts the challenge of his rival ksatriya, and he fights either to die or to win. Surrender is unknown to a real ksatriya
- A responsible king like Maharaja Pariksit could not allow the friend of irreligiosity to flourish in his kingdom at the cost of the good fame of the Pandavas
- A secular state may be impartial to any particular type of faith, but the state cannot be indifferent to the principles of religion as above-mentioned
- A surrendered soul should be given all protection, even though he may be an enemy. That is the principle of religion
- According to some authorities, the present tense is also used to indicate the nearest margin of time from the past. In that sense, the present tense is applied to the reign of Maharaja Pariksit here. For a continuous fact, also, present tense can be used
- According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, such speculators are themselves bewildered, and thus they cannot know that the ultimate cause of all causes is the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead
- According to the Padma Purana, our present trouble is due to the fructifying of seedling sins, but even those seedling sins also gradually fade away by execution of pure devotional service
- According to them (atheistic, materialistic Sankhyaites), combinations of material elements are the causes of material happiness and distress, and disintegration of matter is the cause of freedom from all material pangs
- All these habits (drinking wine, smoking, drinking tea, chewing tobacco), or so-called advancement of civilization, are the root causes of all irreligiosities, and therefore it is not possible to check corruption, bribery and nepotism
- Allowing young boys and girls to remain unmarried more than the above-mentioned ages (twenty-four years of age and sixteen years of age respectively) and licensing animal slaughterhouses of all description should be at once prohibited
- Although Maharaja Pariksit gave Kali permission to live in four places, it was very difficult for him to find the places because during the reign of Maharaja Pariksit there were no such places
- An administrative head or king like Maharaja Pariksit, with full majestic authority, well equipped with weapons to chastise miscreants, can challenge the agents of the age of Kali. Then only will it be possible to counteract the degraded age
- Any great man of the material world is, after all, a conditioned soul. He is bound by his hands and feet by the ropes of material nature, and still the foolish conditioned soul thinks of himself as free to act by his whimsical sentiments
- Any living being, if he terrifies other living beings, is a most wretched subject, and the king should at once kill such a disturbing element
- Any place or country where the supremacy of the Lord is accepted and thus sacrifice is performed is called brahmavarta
- Any promise made by a devotee, though it may be ordinarily very difficult to fulfill, is properly executed by the grace of the Lord
- As devotees of the Lord, the bull, or the personality of religion, and the cow, the personality of the earth, knew well that without the sanction of the Lord no one could inflict trouble upon them
- As men are made after the form and features of the Supreme Lord, so also the cows are made after the form and features of the surabhi cows in the spiritual kingdom
- As the wild animal is killed when it creates disturbances, similarly any man who unnecessarily kills or terrifies the jungle animals or other animals must be punished at once
- At least up to the time of Maharaja Pariksit, no one could imagine the wretched conditions of the cow and the bull
- Atheistic, materialistic Sankhyaites conclude that material nature is the cause of all causes
- Austerity means to accept voluntarily things which may not be very comfortable for the body but are conducive for spiritual realization
- Austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, the basic principles of religion, prepare the ground for the reception of advancement in spiritual knowledge, and Maharaja Pariksit made this favorable condition possible
B
- Bad money drives away good money. Instead of paper currency, actual gold coins should be used for exchange, and this will stop prostitution of gold
- Because they (association of women by marriage and flesh-eating by sacrifices) are injunctions of the Vedas for particular types of persons, such activities by the pravrttas are not considered adharma
- Before one can be accepted as a spiritual or material master of society, he must be tested by the above-mentioned criteria of character
- Brahmanas, ksatriyas & vaisyas are called twice-born because for these higher classes of men there is one birth by parental conjugation & there is another of cultural rejuvenation by spiritual initiation from the bona fide acarya, or spiritual master
- By cultural standing, the human beings were not at all subjected to the deluding energy (in the age of Satya). Such strong men of character were competent enough to get away from the clutches of maya
- By designating particular places for the personality of Kali, Maharaja Pariksit practically cheated Kali
- By pride, either artificial or real, the resultant action of austerity is spoiled; by too much affection for female association, cleanliness is spoiled; by too much addiction to intoxication, mercy is spoiled
- By the influence of the age of Kali, even a pauper is proud of his penny, the women are always dressed in an overly attractive fashion to victimize the minds of men, and the man is addicted to drinking wine, smoking, drinking tea and chewing tobacco, etc
- By the law of the Supreme Lord, all living beings, in whatever shape they may be, are the sons of the Lord, and no one has any right to kill another animal, unless it is so ordered by the codes of natural law
- By too much lying propaganda, truthfulness is spoiled. The revival of bhagavata-dharma can save human civilization from falling prey to evils of all description
C
- Caitanya preached this method of yajna, & it is understood that the sacrificial method of sankirtana-yajna may be performed anywhere & everywhere in order to drive away the personality of Kali & save society from falling prey to the influence of the age
- Contrasting these statements of a great politician in the modern age with those of Maharaja Pariksit, we find a vast difference
D
- Despite all endeavors for peace and prosperity, they must try to see the cows and the bulls happy in all respects. Foolish people do not know how one earns happiness by making the cows and bulls happy, but it is a fact by the law of nature
- Dishonest miscreants flourish because of cowardly and impotent executive heads of state. But when the executive heads are strong enough to curb all sorts of dishonest miscreants, in any part of the state, certainly they cannot flourish
- Duties executed by the Lord for His devotee are always very pleasing to the Lord because the Lord wants to render service to His unalloyed devotee, whose life has no other engagement than to serve the Lord with full love and devotion
E
- Even an ordinary ksatriya does not kill a surrendered person and what to speak of Maharaja Pariksit who was by nature compassionate and kind to the poor. He was smiling because the artificially dressed Kali had disclosed his identity as a lower-class man
- Even if the devotees see the mischief-mongers, they do not accuse them for the sufferings inflicted
- Everyone is under the full control of the Lord. He is quite correct in His action when He desires something to be done by someone, irrespective of the consideration of the particular case
F
- Fasting twice or four times a month is a sort of austerity which may be voluntarily accepted for spiritual realization only, and not for any other purposes, political or otherwise
- Fastings which are meant not for self-realization but for some other purposes are condemned in the Bhagavad-gita (BG 17.5-6). Similarly, cleanliness is necessary both for the mind and for the body
- Fifty years ago, no one would deprive a sadhu of a quart or two of milk, and every householder would give milk like water
- Following in the footsteps of Maharaja Pariksit, it is the duty of all executive heads of states to see that the principles of irreligion, namely pride, illicit female association or prostitution, intoxication and falsity, are checked by all means
- Following in the footsteps of Maharaja Pariksit, it is the duty of all executive heads of states to see that the principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, are established in the state
- Foolish creatures, especially in this age of Kali, instead of knowing God scientifically, make propaganda against religious belief & the existence of God, even though they are always bound by God's laws by the symptoms of birth, death, old age & disease
- Foolish, faithless creatures try to avoid the existence of the Lord and proclaim themselves secular at the cost of valuable human life
- For a devotee the identifier is equally a sinner, like the mischief-monger. By God's grace, the devotee tolerates all reverses
- For a human being, who has only a maximum one-hundred-year duration of life, a span of life spreading over millions of years is certainly considered to be deathless
- For a pious king, the culprit who kills an animal in a secluded place is punishable by the death penalty, exactly like a murderer who kills an innocent child in a secluded place
- For a Sanatanist (a follower of Vedic principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and bulls as household paraphernalia, not only for drinking milk, but also for deriving religious principles
- For protecting the cows and brahminical culture, the Lord, who is very kind to the cow and the brahmanas (go-brahmana-hitaya), will be pleased with us and will bestow upon us real peace
- For the general benefit of the people of the world, he (Maharaja Pariksit) saw that the gold stock might be employed for stabilization
- For those who are in the lowest stage of ignorance and who indulge in wine, women and flesh, drinking by performing sautramani-yajna, association of women by marriage and flesh-eating by sacrifices are sometimes recommended
- From the Bhagavad-gita we learn that on the Brahmaloka planet the duration of one day is calculated to be 4,300,000 x 1,000 solar years
G
- Gambling of all description, even speculative business enterprise, is considered to be degrading, and when gambling is encouraged in the state, there is a complete disappearance of truthfulness
- Gautama and Kanada find that atomic combination is the cause of everything, and impersonalists like Astavakra discover that the spiritual effulgence of Brahman is the cause of all causes
- Gold is a generator of falsity, intoxication, prostitution, enmity and violence. Under the guidance of a proper king, public leader, brahmana or sannyasi, the same gold can be utilized to reestablish the lost legs of the bull, the personality of religion
- Gold ornaments for women may be allowed by control, not by quality, but by quantity. This will discourage lust, envy and enmity
- Gold-standard currency is based on falsehood because the currency is not on a par with the reserved gold. The basic principle is falsity because currency notes are issued in value beyond that of the actual reserved gold
- Gradually (in the age of Kali), the basic principles of brahminical culture, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, became curtailed by proportionate development of pride, attachment for women and intoxication
H
- He (God) is the supreme director, for He confirms in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) that He, as all-pervading Paramatma, stays in everyone's heart and keeps vigilance over all actions and witnesses all activities
- He (Krsna) wanted an ideal king like Maharaja Yudhisthira and his descendants like Maharaja Pariksit to rule the world
- He (Maharaj Pariksit) was a kind and compassionate emperor, fully worthy of accepting surrender even from his enemy. Thus the personality of Kali was saved by the will of Providence
- He (Maharaj Pariksit) was not falsely proud, for a devotee of the Lord is equally as powerful as the Lord or sometimes more powerful by His grace
- He (Maharaja Pariksit) allotted some place for Kali but in fact Kali could not find such places in the world at all because Maharaja Pariksit was strictly vigilant to see that there were no places for gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter
- He (Maharaja Pariksit) knew well how to give protection to the cows (the earth) and the brahmanas (religious principles), the two pillars of spiritual advancement
- He (Pariksit) was thinking how ironic it was that although no one was saved from his sharp sword when he desired to kill, the poor lower-class Kali was spared by his timely surrender. Maharaja Pariksit's glory and kindness are therefore sung in history
- He is (the Supreme Soul) both the all-pervading impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma in everyone's heart. He is the knower of all past, present and future, and nothing can be concealed from Him
- Herein lies the difference between the reign of those pious kings (being afraid of losing their reputations) and modern states ruled by irresponsible executive heads (not being afraid of killing offenseless animals) without knowledge of the codes of God
I
- If a brahmana is not truthful, all his claims as a brahmana at once become null and void. If a sannyasi is illicitly connected with women, all his claims as a sannyasi at once become false
- If leaders & rich men spend fifty percent of their accumulated wealth mercifully for the misled people & educate them in KC, the knowledge of Bhagavatam, certainly the age of Kali will be defeated in its attempt to entrap the conditioned souls
- If the common people are not receptive, it is very difficult to impress upon them the necessity of spiritual enlightenment
- If the king and the public leader are unnecessarily proud or habituated to drinking and smoking, certainly they become disqualified to discharge public welfare activities
- In a civilization where God is conspicuously banished, and there is no devotee warrior like Arjuna, the associates of the age of Kali take advantage of this lawless kingdom and arrange to kill innocent animals like the cow in secluded slaughterhouses
- In a state where the codes of Krsna are followed, no one is unhappy. Where such codes are not followed, the first sign is that three legs of the representative of religion are cut off, and thereby all miseries follow
- In all higher planets, since the span of life is far greater than that of the human being, the denizens are called deathless by imagination, although actually no one within the material universe is deathless
- In both the cases he (the devotee) takes it for granted that either benefit or loss is God-sent, and thus it is His grace
- In case of benefit, no one will deny that it is God-sent, but in case of loss or reverses one becomes doubtful about how the Lord could be so unkind to His devotee as to put him in great difficulty
- In cases of emergency, one may be allowed to live on the flesh of animals of all description, but that does not mean that there should be regular slaughterhouses to feed the animal-eaters and that this system should be encouraged by the state
- In other heavenly planets one day is calculated to be six months of this planet, and the inhabitants get a life of ten million of their years
- In that age (Satya-yuga), every human being was practically a qualified brahmana of the highest order, and in the social orders of life they were all paramahamsas, or the topmost in the renounced order
- In the absence of a suitable king to curb irreligious tendencies, educating the people systematically in the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam will clear up the hazy atmosphere of corruption, bribery, blackmail, etc
- In the absence of such strong executive heads (like Maharaj Pariksit), there is always disruption of tranquillity
- In the age of Kali everyone is unhappy due to the maladministration of the state
- In the age of Kali there are so many pretenders dressed and posed like administrators or executive heads, but their real identity is disclosed when they are challenged by a real ksatriya
- In the age of Kali there will be no meaning to propaganda crying to stop corruption in the state
- In the age of Kali, the executive heads of state will be indifferent to religious principles, and therefore under their patronage the opponents of religious principles, such as greed, falsehood, cheating and pilfery, will naturally follow
- In the age of Kali, the poor helpless animals, especially the cows, which are meant to receive all sorts of protection from the administrative heads, are killed without restriction
- In the age of Kali, the sudra class of men are in the posts of administrators, and the cows and bulls, or the mothers and the fathers, unprotected by the vaisyas, are subjected to the slaughterhouses organized by the sudra administrators
- In the Bhagavad-gita (BG 18.48) it is advised that one should not give up his occupational prescribed duties, even if they are not always flawless
- In the Bhagavad-gita (BG 6.5) also it is confirmed that by one's mind, freed from material affection, one can deliver himself from the sufferings of material pangs
- In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord Himself declares that He is the source of impersonal Brahman, and therefore He, the Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate cause of all causes
- In the Bhagavad-gita, in a synopsis, we can understand the codes of Godhead, and in the Srimad-Bhagavatam the same codes are explained further
- In the Bhagavad-gita, it is said that the vaisyas are meant to deal in agriculture, cow protection and trade. In the age of Kali, the degraded vaisyas, the mercantile men, are engaged in supplying cows to slaughterhouses
- In the conditioned state, such services (to God) are rendered by the living being under force of the material nature, whereas in the liberated state the living being is helped by the spiritual nature in the voluntary loving service of the Lord
- In the Kali-yuga, the calves are separated from the cows as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam
- In the material world the human society gives all protection to the human being, but there is no law to protect the descendants of Surabhi, who can give all protection to men by supplying the miracle food, milk
- In the presence of Kali, Dharma (in the shape of a bull), and the earth (in the shape of a cow), he (Pariksit) could actually estimate the general condition of his kingdom, and therefore he at once took proper steps to reestablish the legs of the bull
- In the rainy season certainly there will be profuse rainfalls, but that does not mean that men should not take means to protect themselves from the rain
- In the scriptures there is mention of apad-dharma, or occupational duty at times of extraordinary happenings
- In the Vedas two different types of injunctions are there for the pravrttas, or those who are engaged in material enjoyment, and for the nivrttas, or those who are liberated from material bondage
- In this age of Kali, the greatest common formula of sacrifice is the sankirtana-yajna. That is the opinion of the experts who know how to propagate the process of yajna
- It is also confirmed in the Brahma-samhita that Lord Krsna is the ultimate cause of all causes
- It is simply horrible for a pure-hearted soul to see organized animal-killing by the state in this age of Kali
- It is sometimes seen that demigods like Indra & Candra are worshiped & offered sacrificial awards, yet the rewards of all such sacrifices are awarded to the worshiper by the Supreme Lord, & it is the Lord only who can offer all welfare to the worshiper
- It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ksetra jna, present within this body, but He is also simultaneously present in every other body
- It is the duty of the executive heads of state and others to take all necessary actions against the activities of Kali or the persons influenced by the age of Kali
- It should be the principle of a state executive head that the offender of the codes of God is always punished
L
M
- Maharaja Pariksit and the Pandavas were fully conscious of the importance of the cow and bull, and they were prepared to punish the cow-killer with all chastisement, including death
- Maharaja Pariksit challenges even such denizens of heaven if they torture the offenseless. This means that the state executive head must be as strong as Maharaja Pariksit so that he may be determined to punish the strongest offenders
- Maharaja Pariksit is the ideal executive head of the state, for at once he was ready to kill the personality of Kali with his sharp sword
- Maharaja Pariksit like his grandfather Arjuna, collected all illicit gold kept for the propensities of Kali and employed it in the sankirtana-yajna, as per instruction of the Srimad-Bhagavatam
- Maharaja Pariksit observed this, and therefore he could understand that the bull was no other than the personality of religion himself
- Maharaja Pariksit quotes here that according to the codes of God the irresponsible king or state executive jeopardizes his good name, duration of life, power, strength and ultimately his progressive march towards a better life and salvation after death
- Maharaja Pariksit thus gave him (Kali) permission to live in a place where there is gold, because wherever there is gold there are all the above-mentioned four things (falsity, intoxication, lust, envy) and over and above them there is enmity also
- Maharaja Pariksit wanted to get a statement of accusation against the direct mischief-monger, but they declined to give it on the abovementioned grounds - that the mischief-monger is made to act by some indirect cause
- Maharaja Pariksit was lamenting for the tears in the eyes of the bull, and he was astonished to see such an unprecedented thing in his good kingdom. Men and animals were equally protected as far as life was concerned. That is the way in God's kingdom
- Maharaja Pariksit was pious according to the scriptural codes, whereas the modern politician goes by his personal belief and sentiments
- Maharaja Pariksit was thus put to test for his greatness. Now let us see how he solves it by his sagacious mind
- Maharaja Pariksit, grandson of Arjuna, the celebrated friendly servitor of the Lord, was a pure devotee of the Lord like his grandfather
- Maharaja Pariksit, therefore, was astonished to see such a horrible scene. He inquired whether the bull was not a demigod assuming such a wretched condition to indicate the future of the cow and the bull
- Man cannot check all these evils simply by statutory acts and police vigilance, but he can cure the disease of the mind by the proper medicine, namely advocating the principles of brahminical culture - austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness
- Milking the cow means drawing the principles of religion in a liquid form
- Modern administrators want to banish corruption from the state, but fools as they are, they do not know how to do it
- Modern administrators want to issue licenses for gambling houses, wine & other intoxicating drug houses, brothels, hotel prostitution & cinema houses, & falsity in every dealing, even in their own, at the same time to drive out corruption from the state
- Modern civilization and economic development are creating a new situation of poverty and scarcity with the result of blackmailing the consumer's commodities
- Moths are captivated by the glaring brightness of light, and thus they become prey to the fire. Similarly, the deluding energy is always captivating the conditioned souls to become prey to the fire of delusion
- Murderers of animals stand to be condemned to death by the order of a pious king like Maharaja Pariksit
N
- No one can expect justice or equality of treatment from once-born (spiritually uncultured) lower-class men
- No one is independent of Him (God), and everyone is engaged in His service in different ways
- No one should try to live on flesh in ordinary times simply for the sake of the palate. If anyone does so, the king or the executive head should punish him for gross enjoyment
O
- One man's food may be poison for others; similarly, what is recommended for those in the mode of ignorance may be poison for those in the mode of goodness
- One of them, (the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramatma are sitting like two birds) the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities
- One should not entangle oneself in matter by the mind's material affections. Thus one's own mind is one's friend or enemy in one's material happiness and distress
- One who knows the codes of Lord Krsna can achieve this end (to fulfill the mission of human life) without any difficulty
- One's accumulated wealth may be divided into three parts for distribution, namely fifty percent for the service of the Lord, twenty-five percent for the family members and twenty-five percent for personal necessities
P
- People do not know what they are doing in the name of economic development. The influence of Kali will keep them in the darkness of ignorance
- People of the world are generally in darkness regarding spiritual knowledge, especially in regard to the devotional service of the Lord
- Persons who are religiously endowed will be terrified by such men - descendants of brahmana or ksatriya forefathers that are sudra-like
- Philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that fruitive activity is the root cause of all distress and happiness, and that even if there is a superior authority, some superhuman powerful God or gods
- Philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that He or they (some superhuman powerful God or gods) are also under the influence of fruitive activity because they reward result according to one's action
- Powerful administrators are rulers of the poor citizens by dress or office, but factually they are worthless, lower-class men without the cultural assets of the twice-born
- Practical lessons from the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam
- Praja means one who has taken birth in the state, and this includes both men and animals. Any living being who takes birth in a state has the primary right to live under the protection of the king
- Protection of bulls and cows and all other animals can be possible only when there is a state ruled by an executive head like Maharaja Pariksit. Maharaja Pariksit addresses the cow as mother, for he is a cultured, twice-born, ksatriya king
- Public leaders may be less qualified in academic qualifications, but it is necessary primarily that they be free from the contamination of the four disqualifications, namely gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter
S
- Sacrifice means to accept the supremacy of the Lord and thereby perform acts by which the Lord may be satisfied in all respects. The atheists do not believe in the existence of God, and they do not perform any sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Lord
- Simply bodily cleanliness may help to some extent, but cleanliness of the mind is necessary, and it is effected by glorifying the Supreme Lord. No one can cleanse the accumulated mental dust without glorifying the Supreme Lord
- Sometimes the great sage Visvamitra had to live on the flesh of dogs in some extraordinary dangerous position
- Speculative philosophers, however, do not recognize the sanction of the Lord; they try to find out the cause of sufferings in their own way, as will be described in the following verses
- Spending fifty percent for the service of the Lord or for propagation of spiritual knowledge in society by way of the sankirtana-yajna is the maximum display of human mercy
- Srila Jiva Gosvami directs that drinking against the principles of scriptures, such as the sautramani-yajna, association with women outside marriage, and killing animals against the injunctions of scriptures are irreligious
- Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhu, therefore, affirms that recommendations in the scriptures for a certain class of men are never to be considered adharma, or irreligious. But such activities are factually adharma, and they are never to be encouraged
- Sticking to the dogmas and formulas (of religion) without attaining the real principles is not good
- Such foolish men (irresponsible kings or state executives) do not even believe in the existence of a next life
- Such recommendations (association of women by marriage and flesh-eating by sacrifices) in the Vedic literature are meant for a particular class of men, and not for all
- Surabhi is the name of the cows which exist in the spiritual planets and are especially reared by Lord Sri Krsna Himself
- Sva-dharma (prescribed duties) might be violated in cases of emergency, if one is forced by circumstances, but they cannot be violated in ordinary times
T
- That is the future of the world in the age of Kali (rulers illegally gratify themselves at the cost of all comforts of the citizens), when irreligiosity prevails most prominently
- That is the way of correcting the flaws of human society (the preaching of the Bhagavatam principles), which are very prominently exhibited at the present moment
- That is the way of stopping the activities of Kali (close all shops of intoxicating drugs and wine and force punishment even by death for those who indulge in habits of intoxication), as exhibited herein (SB 1.17.28) by Maharaja Pariksit, the maha-ratha
- That is the way of wiping out corruption in the state (not allow the friend of irreligiosity to flourish), and not otherwise. The friends of irreligiosity should be banished from the state, and that will save the state from corruption
- The administrative heads under whose noses such things (killing cows) happen are representatives of God in name only
- The administrators cannot prevent corrupt activities by allowing wine shops. They must at once close all shops of intoxicating drugs and wine and force punishment even by death for those who indulge in habits of intoxication of all description
- The administrators should not simply pass resolutions for anticorruptional steps, but they must be ready with sharp swords to kill the persons creating corruptions from the angle of vision of the recognized sastras
- The age of Kali began with gold standardization, and therefore falsity, intoxication, animal slaughter and prostitution are rampant all over the world, and the saner section is eager to drive out corruption
- The argument of the atheist that one cannot be punished for one's misdeeds unless proved before a qualified justice is refuted herein (SB 1.17.20), for we accept the perpetual witness and constant companion of the living being
- The assurances and challenges made by Maharaja Pariksit are never exaggerations of his real power. The Maharaja said that even the denizens of heaven could not escape his stringent government if they were violators of religious principles
- The basic principle of religion is truthfulness, and the ultimate goal of all religions is to satisfy the Lord
- The basic principles of irreligiosity, such as pride, prostitution, intoxication and falsehood, counteract the four principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness
- The brahmanas and the sannyasis are expert in the spiritual advancement of society, whereas the ksatriyas or the administrators are expert in the material peace and prosperity of human society. Both of them are the pillars of all happiness
- The brahmanas are the religious preceptors for all other castes, and the sannyasis are the spiritual masters for all the castes and orders of society. So also are the king and the public leaders who are responsible for the material welfare of all people
- The bull and the cow are the symbols of the most offenseless living beings because even the stool and urine of these animals are utilized to benefit human society
- The bull standing on one leg indicates that the principles of religion are gradually diminishing. Even the fragmental existence of religious principles will be embarrassed by so many obstacles as if in the trembling condition of falling down at any time
- The bull, or the personality of religion, and the cow, the personality of the earth, knew perfectly well that the personality of Kali was the direct cause of their sufferings
- The citizens of the state must give in charity up to fifty percent of their income for the purpose of creating a spiritual atmosphere in the state or in human society, both individually and collectively
- The citizens will be free to act as they like, without respect for sadhu, sastra and guru
- The conclusion is that people in the time of Maharaja Pariksit were happy, and the animals were given proper protection because the executive head was not whimsical or ignorant of God's law
- The conclusion is that the sufferings of the representative of religion and the representative of the earth, as present before Maharaja Pariksit, were planned to prove that Maharaja Pariksit was the ideal executive head
- The counteracting process (to the age of Kali) is suggested above (allowing Kali to live in five places), and everyone can take advantage of this suggestion
- The cow and bull never placed any complaint before the King (Maharaj Pariksit) for being tortured by the personality of Kali, although everyone lodges such complaints before the state authorities
- The cow stands with tears in her eyes, the sudra milkman draws milk from the cow artificially, and when there is no milk the cow is sent to be slaughtered. These greatly sinful acts are responsible for all the troubles in present society
- The cow's calf not only is beautiful to look at, but also gives satisfaction to the cow, and so she delivers as much milk as possible
- The deluding energy, or material nature, can act upon the living beings proportionately in terms of the living beings' falling prey to the deluding attraction of maya
- The demigods, although worshiped, cannot do anything without the sanction of the Lord because the Lord is the Supersoul of everyone, both moving and nonmoving
- The denizens of the heavenly kingdom are called amara, or deathless, due to their possessing a long span of life, far greater than that of the human beings
- The descendants of the sons of Prtha, like Maharaja Pariksit, were afraid of losing their reputations, but in the modern days the leaders are not even afraid of killing such offenseless animals - the bull and the cow
- The devotees know this truth (God knows past,present & future) and therefore they discharge their duties sincerely, without being overly anxious for rewards. Besides that, one cannot estimate the Lord's reactions, either by speculation or by scholarship
- The devotees of the Lord are by nature peaceful and offenseless, and therefore it is the prime duty of the state to arrange to convert everyone to become a devotee of the Lord. Thus automatically there will be peaceful, offenseless citizens
- The divorce act is encouraging prostitution, and this should be abolished
- The elected show-bottle executive head, as representative of a degraded public, cannot be equal with a strong king like Maharaja Pariksit. The dress or style of royal order does not count. It is one's actions which are counted
- The executive head must always be alert to the safety of the prajas, both man and animal, and inquire whether a particular living being is harassed at any place by another living being
- The extraordinary behavior of the bull made the King (Maharaj Pariksit) conclude that the bull was certainly the personality of religion, for no one else could understand the finer intricacies of the codes of religion
- The fact is that the Supreme Lord is one without a second
- The flesh-eaters may be allowed to take flesh as mentioned in the scriptures, and not otherwise. Intoxication of all description-even smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco or the drinking of tea-must be prohibited
- The four leaders of the human society, namely the sannyasis, the brahmana, the king and the public leader, must be tested crucially by their character and qualification
- The great rsis and munis would live only on milk. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami would go to a householder while he was milking a cow, and he would simply take a little quantity of it for subsistence
- The harassing living being must at once be caught and put to death, as shown by Maharaja Pariksit
- The human life is especially meant for knowing the science of God
- The human society should recognize the importance of the cow and the bull and thus give all protection to these important animals, following in the footsteps of Maharaja Pariksit
- The illusioned king or executive head, even though sometimes advertised as a great philosopher and learned scholar, will allow slaughterhouses without knowing that torturing poor animals clears the way to hell for such foolish kings or executive heads
- The Isopanisad directs that one should live by the direction of the Lord and not at one's sweet will
- The jungle animals are also subject to the king, and they also have a right to live. So what to speak of domestic animals like the cows and bulls
- The King (Pariksit) was ready to kill the personality of Kali at once, as soon as he disobeyed his order. Otherwise the King had no objection to allowing him to prolong his life
- The King's order must be obeyed, otherwise the culprit's life is in risk. That is the way to rule the personalities of Kali who create disturbance in the normal life of the state citizens
- The king, or the executive head, must be so strong as to stand before the personality of Kali like the personality of death, Yamaraja
- The ksatriya king is considered to be the representative of God to give protection to the helpless and chastise the miscreants
- The ksatriya, or the man who is qualified to protect the sufferers, is meant to rule the state. Untrained lower-class men, or men without ambition to protect the sufferers, cannot be placed on the seat of an administrator
- The ksatriyas are meant to protect the citizens of the state, whereas the vaisyas are meant to protect the cows and bulls and utilize them to produce grains and milk. The cow is meant to deliver milk, and the bull is meant to produce grains
- The Lord Himself warns that the deluding power of material energy is too powerful to overcome, but one who completely surrenders unto the Lord can easily do so
- The Lord protects the surrendered soul from all sins and all resultant reactions of sinful acts
- The Lord was always with him (Maharaj Pariksit), even from the time when he was helplessly lying in the womb of his mother and was attacked by the blazing brahmastra weapon of Asvatthama
- The mass of people must be taught to practice these principles (austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness) from childhood
- The material energy is always provoking doubts about the supreme authority of the Lord
- The modern human society is not twice-born by spiritual culture. Therefore the people's government, by the people who are not twice-born, must be a government of Kali in which everyone is unhappy
- The next symptom of the age of Kali is that principles of religion, which are all spotlessly white, like the white lotus flower, will be attacked by the uncultured sudra population of the age
- The next symptom of the age of Kali is the distressed condition of the cow
- The only duty of the king will be to curb the dishonest miscreants. That will bring about peace and harmony all over human society
- The Pandavas were entrusted representatives of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, who practically brought into being the Battle of Kuruksetra, but not for any personal interest
- The Pandavas, by their unalloyed devotional service and full surrender unto the Lord, made it possible for the Lord to become a chariot driver or sometimes their letter messenger
- The Paramatma feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past
- The path of salvation or the path of transcendental bliss (in the age of Kali), retreated far, far away from human society
- The people's government, or government by the people, should not allow killing of innocent animals by the sweet will of foolish government men. They must know the codes of God, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures
- The personality of Kali addressed Maharaja Pariksit as the chief amongst the protectors of religiosity because the King refrained from killing a person who surrendered unto him
- The personality of Kali also, after attempting to get rid of the punishment in various ways, decided that he must surrender unto him, and thus he began to tremble in fear of his life
- The personality of Kali became gold-standardized. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, gold encourages falsity, intoxication, prostitution, envy and enmity. Even a gold-standard exchange and currency is bad
- The personality of Kali could see that Maharaja Pariksit was the emperor of all lands all over the world, and thus anywhere he might live he would have to meet with the same mood of the King
- The personality of Kali is he who deliberately commits all kinds of sinful acts which are forbidden in the revealed scriptures
- The personality of Kali was given permission to live in four places particularly mentioned by the King (Pariksit), namely the place of gambling, the place of prostitution, the place of drinking and the place of animal slaughter
- The personality of Kali was meant for mischief, and Maharaja Pariksit was meant for subduing all kinds of mischief-mongers, especially the personality of Kali
- The personality of Kali, who is the friend of all kinds of irreligiosities, may be excused if he surrenders, but in all circumstances he cannot be allowed to live as a citizen in any part of a welfare state
- The personality of religion accepted this fact (the assurance of protection by Maharaja Pariksit) and thus thanked the King for his being true to his exalted position
- The personality of religion knew perfectly well that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, and still he was put into doubts by the deluding energy, and thus he refrained from mentioning the supreme cause
- The preaching of the Bhagavatam principles will automatically render all men austere, clean both inside and outside, merciful to the suffering, and truthful in daily behavior
- The principal business of such non-ksatriya rulers will be to kill the innocent animals, especially the cows and the bulls, who shall be unprotected by their masters, the bona fide vaisyas, the mercantile community
- The principal sign of the age of Kali is that lower-caste sudras, i.e., men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation, will be dressed like administrators or kings
- The principles of Maharaja Pariksit can be still continued, and human society can still be improved, if there is determination by the authorities
- The principles of religion are not the dogmas or regulative principles of a certain faith. Such regulative principles may be different in terms of the time and place concerned. One has to see whether the aims of religion have been achieved
- The principles of religion do not stand on some dogmas or man-made formulas, but they stand on four primary regulative observances, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness
- The principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, as we have already discussed, may be followed by the follower of any faith
- The progressive religionists and those who are responsible human beings or those who do not want to spoil their valuable human lives should refrain from all the principles of irreligiosity, especially illicit connection with women
- The prolonged sacrificial ceremonies undertaken by the sages of Naimisaranya were begun shortly after the demise of Maharaja Pariksit
- The protection of the lives of both the human beings and the animals is the first and foremost duty of a government
- The recommendations in the scriptures are not meant for the encouragement of such adharma, but for regulating the necessary adharma gradually toward the path of dharma
- The reputation of the reign of Maharaja Ramacandra and that of the kings who followed in His footsteps like the Pandavas and their descendants, are never to be forgotten because in their kingdom offenseless and honest living beings were never in trouble
- The royal dress is suitable for a king or ksatriya, but when a lower-class man artificially dresses himself as a king, his real identity is disclosed by the challenge of a bona fide ksatriya like Maharaja Pariksit
- The royal dress of the personality of Kali is artificial
- The rsis of Naimisaranya were able to perform the sacrifices for a thousand years. Without state support, no doctrines of philosophy or religious principles can progressively advance
- The sacrifice (undertaken by the sages of Naimisaranya) was to continue for one thousand years, and it is understood that in the beginning some of the contemporaries of Baladeva, the elder brother of Lord Krsna, also visited the sacrificial place
- The same punishment (death) is also due to animal-killers because the animals of the state are also the praja
- The Sanatanist worships cows on religious principles and respects brahmanas. The cow's milk is required for the sacrificial fire, and by performing sacrifices the householder can be happy
- The state executive head is to see that such sva-dharma (prescribed duties) is not changed by the follower, whatever it may be, and he should give all protection to the follower of sva-dharma
- The state should categorically stop all sorts of gambling, drinking, prostitution and falsity. The state which wants to eradicate corruption by majority may introduce the principles of religion in the following manner
- The state will be declared to be secular, or without any particular principle of religion, and as a result there will be total indifference to the principles of religion
- The statement of the bull, the personality of religion, was full of philosophy and knowledge, and the King was satisfied, since he could understand that the suffering bull was not an ordinary one
- The tiger can kill a lower animal for his subsistence, but a man cannot kill an animal for his subsistence. That is the law of God, who has created the law that a living being subsists by eating another living being
- The Vaisnavites, the devotees of the Lord, do believe, as above explained, that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord
- The Vedic injunction for the pravrttas is to gradually regulate their activities towards the path of liberation
- The vegetarians are also living by eating other living beings. Therefore, the law is that one should live only by eating specific living beings, as ordained by the law of God
- The violator (of the sva-dharma or prescribed duties) is subject to punishment in terms of the sastra, and the duty of the king is to see that everyone strictly follows his occupational duty, as prescribed in the scripture
- There are different countries in different parts of the world, and each and every country may have different types of sacrifice to please the Supreme Lord, but the central point in pleasing Him is ascertained in the Bhagavatam, and it is truthfulness
- There are many theoretical philosophers in the world who put forward their own theories of cause and effect especially about the cause of suffering and its effect on different living beings
- There are many who worship the demigods like the sun, the moon and Indra, who are only material representatives of the Supreme Lord. These demigods are indirect, qualitative representations of the Supreme Lord
- There are regular scriptural injunctions for different persons engaged in different occupational duties, and one who follows them is called svadharma-stha, or faithful in one's prescribed duties
- There are six great philosophers: Kanada - author of Vaisesika philosophy; Gautama - author of logic; Patanjali - author of mystic yoga; Kapila - author of Sankhya philosophy; Jaimini - author of Karma-mimamsa; and Vyasadeva - author of Vedanta-darsana
- There has sometimes been agitation for the protection of the cow, but for want of pious executive heads and suitable laws, the cow and the bull are not given protection
- There is no God other than the Lord Himself. Thus the Supreme Lord is eternally transcendental to the material creation
- There is no harm in coeducation in the schools and colleges, provided the boys and girls are duly married, and in case there is any intimate connection between a male and female student, they should be married properly without illicit relation
- There is no incongruity or inebriety in His (God's) actions. All are on the path of Absolute Truth. Bhismadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord
- There is no need to turn from Hindu to Mohammedan to Christian or some other faith and thus become a renegade and not follow the principles of religion. The Bhagavatam religion urges following the principles of religion
- There must be compulsory marriage of young boys and girls attaining twenty-four years of age and sixteen years of age respectively
- There should be complete cooperation between the brahmanas and the ksatriyas for this common good. Even up to Maharaja Asoka, the same spirit was prevailing
- These attributes (austerity, cleanliness, mercy & truthfulness) have diminished in the Treta-yuga to three fourths, in the Dvapara to half, and in this age of Kali to one fourth, which is also gradually diminishing on account of prevailing untruthfulness
- They (brahmanas, sannyasis and ksatriyas) are meant for full cooperation for common welfare. Maharaja Pariksit was experienced enough to drive away Kali from his field of activities and thereby make the state receptive to spiritual enlightenment
- They (modern administrators) want the kingdom of God without God consciousness. How can it be possible to adjust two contradictory matters?
- They (philosophers like Jaimini and his followers) say that action is not independent because action is performed by some performer; therefore, the performer himself is the cause of his own happiness or distress
- They (the citizens of the state) should preach the principles of Bhagavatam by (a) karma-yoga, or doing everything for the satisfaction of the Lord, (b) regular hearing of the Srimad-Bhagavatam from authorized persons or realized souls
- They (the citizens of the state) should preach the principles of Bhagavatam by (c) chanting the glories of the Lord congregationally at home or at places of worship, (d) rendering all kinds of service to bhagavatas engaged in preaching Srimad-Bhagavatam
- They (the citizens) should preach the principles of Bhagavatam by (e) residing in a place where the atmosphere is saturated with God consciousness. If the state is regulated by the above process, naturally there will be God consciousness everywhere
- They (the devotees) take it for granted that the mischief-monger is made to act by some indirect cause, and therefore they tolerate the sufferings, thinking them to be God-given in small doses, for otherwise the sufferings should have been greater
- They (the sudra-like population) will declare themselves as adherents of no religious principles, and many "isms" and cults will spring up in Kali-yuga only to kill the spotless bull of religion
- They may be descendants of brahmana or ksatriya forefathers, but in the age of Kali, for want of sufficient education and culture of Vedic wisdom, such a sudra-like population will defy the principles of religion
- This age of Kali will certainly be full of all activities of Kali, but this does not mean that the leaders of society, executive heads, learned and intelligent men, or above all devotees of God should sit down tightly & become callous to its reactions
- This artificial inflation of currency by the authorities encourages prostitution of the state economy. The price of commodities becomes artificially inflated because of bad money, or artificial currency notes
- This doubtfulness (of the personality of religion) was due to the contamination of both Kali and the material energy. The whole atmosphere of the age of Kali is magnified by the deluding energy, and the proportion of measurement is inexplicable
- This peace of mind was complete in the Satya age because of the existence of the above-mentioned attributes of the human beings - austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness
- Those who are addicted to these irreligious habits (gambling, drinking, prostitution and falsity) may be regulated by the injunctions of the scripture. In no circumstances should they be encouraged by any state
- Those who are not so learned worship such qualitative, material representations, but their worship is unceremonious because it is irregular
- To drive out corruption from the state we must organize society to accept the principles of religion - austerity, cleanliness, mercy & truthfulness - & to make the condition favorable we must close all places of gambling, drinking, prostitution & falsity
- To make the best use of a bad bargain, the personality of Kali may be transferred to places of gambling, drinking, prostitution and slaughterhouses, if there are any places like that
- To propagate the systematic transcendental knowledge of devotional service is the greatest mercy that one can show in this world
- To surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is also not very easy. Such surrender is possible by persons of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. These four principles of advanced civilization were remarkable features in the age of Satya
- Truthfulness is the basic principle for all religions
- Two compulsory fasting days in a month, if not more (austerity). Even from the economic point of view, such two fasting days in a month in the state will save tons of food, and the system will also act very favorably on the general health of the citizens
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- Unfortunately, in the age of Kali the lower-class men, without training, occupy the post of a ruler by strength of popular votes, and instead of protecting the sufferers, such men create a situation quite intolerable for everyone
- Unless one is perfectly conversant with the law of the Supreme Lord, one cannot speak such things touching philosophical truths. The Emperor (Maharaja Pariksit), being also on an equal level of sagacity, replied to the point, without doubts or mistakes
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- We can just imagine what sort of protection is given by the Personality of Godhead to the person who surrenders unto Him, not as an enemy but as a devoted servitor
- We can still purge out from the state all the activities of immorality introduced by the personality of Kali if we are determined to take action like Maharaja Pariksit
- We have to see things by their resultant action. The resultant action of human civilization in the age of Kali is dissatisfaction, so everyone is anxious to get peace of mind
- We must remember that false pride, or too high an estimation of one's own values of life, undue attachment to women or association with them, and intoxication will divert human civilization from the path of peace however much the people clamor for peace
- When everyone is taught to sacrifice fifty percent of his accumulated gold for the Lord's service, certainly austerity, cleanliness and mercy automatically ensue, and thus the lost three legs of the personality of religion are automatically established
- When Krsna was personally present, the codes of Krsna were being followed without question, but in His absence such codes are presented in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam for the guidance of the blind persons who happen to be at the helm of all affairs
- When the artificially dressed personality of Kali saw that to fight Maharaja Pariksit was beyond his ability, he bowed down his head like a subordinate and gave up his royal dress
- When the miscreants are punished in an exemplary manner, automatically all good fortune follows. As said before, it is the prime duty of the king or the executive head to give protection in all respects to the peaceful, offenseless citizens of the state
- When there is actual gold currency in the form of coins, the influence of gold in producing falsity, prostitution, etc., will automatically cease. There will be no need of an anticorruption ministry for another term of prostitution and falsity of purpose
- When there is some disturbance caused by wild animals in a village or town, the police or others take action to kill them. Similarly, it is the duty of the government to kill at once all bad social elements such as thieves, dacoits and murderers
- When there is sufficient austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, naturally mother earth is completely satisfied, and there is very little chance for Kali to infiltrate the structure of human society
- Whenever there are anomalies in this routine work by the administrators, there is an incarnation of the Lord to reestablish the principles of a godly kingdom
- While commenting on this particular verse, we have in our presence the statement of a great modern politician who has recently died and left his will, which discloses his poor fund of knowledge of the codes of God mentioned by Maharaja Pariksit
- Why does He (God) put some into difficulty and not others? He is the supreme knower of the Vedic knowledge, and thus He is the factual Vedantist. At the same time He is the compiler of the Vedanta
- With the progression of the age of Kali, people are becoming very proud, and attached to women and intoxication