Bhagavatha Vahini, Chapter 15 - The Reign of Emperor Parikshith

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Bhagavatha Vahini

The story of God and his DevoteesWritten by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai BabaDownload this Vahini

 

Chapter 15

The Reign of Emperor Parikshith

The Pandavas were journeying along with their eyes fixed straight ahead,

awaiting the moment when their bodies will collapse out of sheer exhaustion and

death finishes their earthly career. Their hearts were filled with emotions

centering around Krishna, His play and pranks, His Grace and Glory; they had no

room for any other emotion or thought. Droupadi their queen, dragged herself

along for a considerable distance, but, she became too weak to continue; her

lords did not turn back, even when she appealed; she realized, highly

intelligent and devoted that she was, that they were engaged in a terrific

uncompromising vow; she decided that the bond that tagged her to them so long

had loosened and she had to meet her end. She fainted and fell; she breathed

her last, with her mind fixed on Krishna.

The Pandavas, too, walked on in staunch discipline and met their separate ends,

at the times and places in which each had to shed his body. The body became

dust, but, the soul merged in Krishna. They attained immortality, losing

themselves in the immortal essence of Krishna.

The Reign of the Pandava from the throne of Imperial Bharath, Parikshith ruled

his dominion adhering to the principles of justice and morality, lovingly

fostering his subjects and guarding them from harm with parental care and

affection. Whatever may be the task he set his hands upon, Parikshith did not

move one step, without calling to mind Krishna and his grandfathers and praying

to them to crown him with success. He prayed to them morning and evening to

direct him along the correct path of virtue. He felt as if he was the heart of

his people and as if they were his body.

Throughout his empire, the very wind was reluctant to displace any article, for

fear of being implicated in theft. There was not the slightest fear of thieves.

Nor was there any trace of injustice immorality or illwill. The kingdom gained

great fame thereby. At the slightest sign of any such evil, Parikshith overcame

it by means of terrific punishment and instituted preventive steps which

decidedly scotched it. Since Dharma was thus fostered with love and reverence,

even Nature was kind; rains came in time, crops grew high and rich; granaries

were filled; people were contented, happy and unafraid.

When Parikshith was on the throne, ruling over the empire with great care, the

Ministers and the spiritual Masters who were the guides of the dynasty

conferred among themselves and resolved that they must approach the King with a

proposal that he should enter the Grihastha stage, by taking on a partner by

marriage; they submitted their prayer likewise. When they found him agreeable,

they asked his maternal uncle, Uttara of the Virata Royal Family, for the hand

of his daughter. The Brahmins they sent to Virata returned with the happy news

that he was happy over the proposal. The priests fixed an auspicious day and

hour and the marriage of Parikshith and Iravathi, the daughter of Uttara was

celebrated with pomp and splendour.

Queen Iravathi was a great Sadhvimani (Gem among virtuous women). She was

endowed with a tenacious love for truth; she was devoted to her husband.

Whenever she heard that anyone in the empire was in distress, she was pained

much, as if she herself had the calamity. She mixed with the women of the

capital, and acquainted herself with their aspirations and achievements. She

provided them with encouragement and consolation. She fostered the growth of

virtue among them, by teaching and example; she established institutions to

promote and protect good character. She allowed women of all grades to approach

her, for she had no false pride. She treated every one with reverence; she was

an angel of fortitude and charity. Every one praised her as Goddess Annapurna

(the Bestower of Food) Herself in human form.

During the reign of this King and his queen, men and women lived in peace and

happily, untroubled by want. Parikshith too arranged for the performance of

many Vedic sacrifices and rituals, for the prosperity of mankind. He arranged

the worship in temples and homes of God in His manifold Forms, with His

manifold Names. By these and other means, faith in God and love of man were

implanted in the hearts of his subjects. He promoted measures to ensure peace

and harmony among the sages and saints who were living as recluses in forest

hermitages; he guarded them in their silent retreats from man and beast. He

exhorted them to probe into themselves and discover the laws of self-control.

He supervised personally the steps taken to ensure their safety and security.

Thus, Parikshith and Iravathi ruled over their empire like Iswara and Parvathi

who rule over the Universe with parental love and care. Shortly, news that the

queen was in the family way spread among the women and was confirmed. The

subjects prayed to God, at home and in public places of worship, that He should

bless the Queen with a son who will be endowed with all virtues and strength of

character, who will be a staunch and unflinching adherent of Dharma, and who

will live the full span of years. In those ages, subjects loved the king so

intensely that they renounced their own joys to please him; the king too loved

them and guarded them as the apple of his eye.

Parikshith saw and heard the enthusiasm of the subjects at the auspicious

prospect of the advent of a child to continue the dynasty. He shed tears of

joy, when he realized how deeply his people were attached to him. He felt that

the affection was the contribution of his grandfathers and the gift of Lord

Krishna's Grace.

Parikshith did not deviate from his resolve to serve the best interests of his

people; he gave up his own likes and dislikes for this great task. He looked

upon his subjects as his own children. The bond that brought the king and

people together in such close and loving relationship was indeed of a high holy

order. Therefore, his people used to say that they would prefer his kingdom to

heaven itself.

Meanwhile, on an auspicious day, the son was born and the whole land was filled

with inexpressible joy. Sages, scholars and statesmen sent blessings and good

wishes to the King. They declared that new light had dawned on the state.

Astrologers consulted their books and calculating fortunes of the child from

then, they announced that he will enhance the glory of the dynesty bring added

reputation on his father's name, and win the esteem and love of his people.

Parikshith invited the family Preceptor to the palace and consulted also the

Brahmin priests, in order to fix a day for the Naming Ceremony of the child.

Accordingly, during an elaborately arranged festival rite, the child was named

Janamejaya. The Brahmins who were present were given costly gifts, on the

suggestion of Kripacharya, the doyen among the Brahmin advisers of the King.

Cows with golden ornaments on horns and hoofs were given away in large numbers.

All were fed sumptuously for days on end. When Dharmaraja set out upon his final

journey he had entrusted the little boy on the throne to Kripacharya and as a

true trustee Kripa was advising the boy-king and training him in statecraft. As

he grew up, this dependence became more fruitful; the King seldom strayed from

his advice; he sought it always and followed it with reverential faith. Hence,

the sages and recluses of the kingdom prayed for his health and long life and

extolled the people's happiness and

the ruler's solicitude for their welfare.

Parikshith was the overlord of the kings of the earth, for, he had the blessings

of the great, the counsel of the wise and the grace of God. After his long

campaign of conquest, he encamped on the bank of the Ganges and celebrated as a

mark of his victory, three Horse Sacrifices with all the prescribed rituals. His

fame spread not only over the length and breadth of India but even far beyond

its borders. He was acclaimed by every tongue as the Great Jewel of the

Bharatha Royal Family. There was no state that had not bent under his yoke;

there was no ruler who set his command at naught. He had no need to march at

the head of his army to subdue any people or ruler. All were only too willing

to pay him homage. He was master of all lands and all peoples.

(See also Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 16: How Parikchit received the Age of Kali)

The spirit of wickedness and vice known as Kali had already come in, with the

end of the Krishna Era; so, it was raising its poisonous hood, off and on; but,

Parikshith was vigilant. He adopted measures to counterfoil its stratagems and

machinations. He sought to discover the footprints of his grandfathers

throughout his realm, in the reforms they introduced and the institutions they

established; he reminded his people whenever occasion arose, of their nobility

and aspirations; he told them of Krishna, His Grace and Mercy. He shed tears of

joy and gratitude whenever he related to them these stories. He was sincerely

pining for the chance he had lost, to have the Pandavas and Krishna by his

side.

He knew that Kali had entered his kingdom and was endeavouring to fix its hold

on the minds of men. When he became cognisant of its activities he investigated

into the conditions favourable for its spread and with the active cooperation of

his Teachers and the Elders, he enacted special laws to counteract the

tendencies Kali aroused. When the elders advised him that such precautions need

be taken only when wickedness emerges as crimes, Parikshith did not support that

opinion. He was for greater alertness. He wanted to give the lead to his people.

"Yatha raja, thatha praja" (As the ruler, so the ruled) is the proverb, he said.

He declared that Kali or wickedness can have sway only through the incompetence

of the ruler, the loss of self-reliance among the people, the decline in the

earning of Grace. These three are the factors that promote the plans of Kali.

Without them, man cannot fall a prey to his wiles. Aware of this, Parikshith

went round his kingdom and

sought, day and night, to drive Kali out of his haunts. That is to say, he

attempted to give no room to injustice, force, evil character, un-truth and

violence; his preventive plans were effective. He had so much quiet in his

kingdom that he campaigned in the Bhadraswa, Kethumala, Uttarakuru and

Kimpurusha regions.

 

 

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