Prabhupāda: So superficially, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, king, the emperor of the world, he was cursed to death. A brahmin boy cursed him that, "You will die within seven days." And as a result of this, he left his home, his kingdom, and here, next verse, it is said ātma-jāyā. Jāyā means his one wife. He was young man.
Suta, children; āgāra, āgāra means residence, house. Ātma-jāyā-sutāgāra. Paśu, animals. He was king, so he had many animals: horses, elephants, cows, bulls. These are household animals, domestic animals. And draviṇa. Draviṇa means wealth, riches. And bandhu, bandhuṣu, friendship.
So our . . . these are our material assets: wife, children, nice house, nice bank balance, and some paśus, animals. Here, of course, you keep only one animal, dog, "the best friend." But in India they keep many animals. Those who are rich, they keep elephants, horses, bulls, cows. Dogs are also there, but dogs are not so important there. Asses also. These are domestic . . . and cats also. These are domestic animals. These animals, they like to live with human being. They do not go to the forest.
So superficially, Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . upadhārya matiṁ kṛṣṇe (SB 2.4.1). For becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious . . . mati. Mati means consciousness; kṛṣṇe, in Kṛṣṇa. Practically he was bereft of everything. Just try to understand. He was cursed to death, and because he was preparing for next life, so he had to leave everything.
And so . . . what people will think? "Oh, by Kṛṣṇa consciousness one has to lose all, everything? His kingdom, his everything?" Therefore people are afraid to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. "Oh, we shall be lost of everything. Even up to life." This is the example of Parīkṣit Mahārāja.
Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . (reads purport) "To become a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, two things are very much essential, namely having a chance of being born in the family of a devotee and having the blessings of a bona fide spiritual master." So Parīkṣit Mahārāja had both blessings. He, from the very childhood, from the womb of his mother, he was Kṛṣṇa conscious.
And he had the opportunity of taking birth in a family where every member was Kṛṣṇa conscious, especially his grandfather Arjuna. So that chance was there. From the very beginning of his life, he was given the chance of worshiping Kṛṣṇa Deity.
Not only that; he was king. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sañjāyate (BG 6.41). Yoga-bhraṣṭa means one who falls down from the path of spiritual advancement. For them, the facility is that they are given another chance to take birth in the human society. Not only in human society; śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe, in very rich family and very pure family. Śucīnām means pure, brahmins.
So in India still, if one is born in a very nice, rich and pure family, he is considered to be very pious in his past life. That's a fact. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī (SB 1.8.26). These four things: janma, high grade birth; aiśvarya, riches; janmaiśvarya . . . śruta, education; and śrī, means beauty. These four things are obtained by pious activities in one's past life. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja had all these assets. That means in his previous life he was also a great devotee.
So now, in this life, he's bereft of everything. After executing spiritual life so strenuously, life after life, in this life we see that he's bereft of his kingdom, he's going to die within seven days, and he had to leave his beautiful wife, children, home, kingdom, his animals. Everything we keep, there is affection. It is not that animals are meant for killing. They are also treated like children.
(aside) Don't move your leg like that.
So anything you associate, you get affection. That's a fact. Therefore here it is stated, rājye cāvikale nityaṁ virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau (SB 2.4.2). And his kingdom was very safe kingdom. It was not that there was disturbance in his kingdom, somebody has attacked, so he was bereft . . . no.
Cāvikale, without any disturbance. Very nice kingdom. So what people will think? That, "To become Kṛṣṇa conscious means to lose everything, up to life? Does it mean?" Sometimes, superficially, they take it like that, but actually that is not the fact.
There is another story, in which one saintly person came in an assembly. So he blessed . . . a saintly person, they, everyone expects some blessings. So there was a king's son. So he blessed him, rāja-putra rāja-putra ciraṁ jīva: "My dear king's son, you live forever."
And there was another's son, he was muni's son, saintly person's son, and he blessed him, muni-putra muni-putra mā jīva: "You muni-putra, son of a saintly person, you don't live; you die." Rāja-putra rāja-putra ciraṁ jīva: "The king's son, you live forever," and muni-putra, ma jīva, "You don't live." Muni-putra muni-putra mā jīva.
And there was a hunter also, and there was a saintly person also. The saintly person, he blessed, mā jīva, er, jīva vā māra vā: "Either you die or live, it is all the same." And there was a hunter, he blessed him, mā jīva mā māra: "Don't die, don't live." This is very instructive. "Don't die, don't live." One was blessed that, "You don't die," the rāja-putra, "Don't die." And the muni-putra, he was blessed, "You die." And the saintly person was blessed, "Either you die or you live." And the hunter was blessed, "You don't live, don't die." So this was a puzzle.
So the king, he invited his ministers that, "What is the meaning of this?" The ministers were very intelligent, so he explained that, "Your son has been blessed, ciraṁ jīva." Because your son is so licentious that as soon as he dies he is going to hell, so therefore he has blessed, 'You better live forever; otherwise you are going to hell. (laughter) Your life is so sinful that next life is hellish. So better you live forever.' "
Then, the next, muni-putra. Muni-putra means . . . just like our disciples. They have to undergo austerities, no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, so many no's. But similarly, muni-putra, he is also execute all these functions, and there is no comfortable life. A muni-putra lives in a cottage. There is no good bedstead, and eating simple fruits and flowers.
So from materialistic point of view, this is a miserable condition of life. So he was blessed that, "You have sufficiently undergone austerities. Now your next life is in Vaikuṇṭha. So better you die and go to Vaikuṇṭha. Why you should suffer any more?" So therefore he was blessed that muni-putra muni-putra mā jīva. And the saintly person, he was blessed by the word jīva vā māra vā: "Either you die or live, the same thing." Because a saintly person is engaged in the service of the Lord, so his life is so blissful. So either he lives or when he dies, he goes back to home, back to Godhead, he'll do the same business. So there is no difference.