Bhagavada Vahini - Chapter 15

[Guest guest]

Bhagavada Vahini by Sathya Sai Baba

 

Chapter 15

The Reign of Emperor Parîkchit

 

The Pândavas 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. Draupadî 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 Pândavas, 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 Pândava from the throne of Imperial Bhârath,

Parîkchit 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, Parîkchit 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, Parîkchit 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 Parîkchit 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, Utthara of the Virata Royal Family, for the hand of

his daughter. The brahmins who were 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 Parîkchit and Irâvatî,

the daughter of Utthara was celebrated with pomp and splendor.

 

Queen Irâvatî 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. Parîkchit 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, Parîkchit and Irâvatî ruled over their empire like Îs'vara and

Pârvatî 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.

 

Parîkchit 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.

 

Parîkchit 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.

 

Parîkchit 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 Kripâcârya, 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 (Yudhisthhira) set out upon his final journey he had

entrusted the little boy on the throne to Kripâcârya 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.

 

Parîkchit 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 (As'vamedha-yajña) 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.

 

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, Parîkchit 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

Pândavas and Krishna by his side.

 

He knew that Kali had entered his kingdom and was endeavoring to fix

its hold on the minds of men. When he became cognisant of its

activities he investigated into the conditions favorable 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, Parîkchit 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, Parîkchit 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, untruth and violence; his

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

that he campaigned in the Bhadrasva, Kethumala, Uttarakuru and

Kimpurusha regions.