Krishna Blesses the Liberated Kings

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Krishna Blesses the Liberated Kings

"The kings continued: "O Lord Krishna, we were simply engaged in the

abominable task of killing citizens and alluring them to be

unnecessarily killed, just to satisfy our political whims. We did

not consider that Your Lordship is always present before us in the

form of cruel death. We were so fooled that we became the cause of

death for others, forgetting our own impending death."

http://bhagavata.org/images/krishna/kingsfreed.jpg

Text 12-13:

"We who before by lusting for wealth, having lost their sight

quarreled with one another for conquering this earth, very

merciless, harassed our own citizens, o Master, and have with death

in front of us arrogantly disregarded You. They, we indeed o

Krishna, have been forced to part from our opulence in our pride

destroyed by the mercy of Your personal form, the irresistible power

of Time moving so mysteriously; may we please live in memory of Your

feet."

 

The kings and the princes released by Lord Krsna after the death of

Jarasandha were rulers of different parts of the world. Jarasandha

was so powerful in military strength that he had conquered all these

princes and kings, numbering 20,800. They were all incarcerated

within a mountain cave especially constructed as a fort, and for a

long time they were kept in that situation. When they were released

by the grace of Lord Krsna, they all looked very unhappy, their

garments were niggardly, and their faces were almost dried up for

want of proper bodily care. They were very weak due to hunger, and

their faces had lost all beauty and luster. Because of the kings'

long imprisonment, every part of their bodies had become slackened

and invalid. Although suffering in that miserable condition of life,

they had the opportunity to think about the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Visnu.

 

Now before them they saw the color of the transcendental body of

Lord Krsna, exactly like the hue of a newly arrived cloud in the

sky. He appeared before them nicely covered by yellow colored silken

garments, with four hands like Visnu, and carrying the different

symbols of the club, the conchshell, the disc and the lotus flower.

There were marks of golden lines on His chest, and the nipples of

His breast appeared to be like the whorl of a lotus flower. His eyes

appeared to be spread like the petals of a lotus flower, and His

smiling face exhibited the symbol of eternal peace and prosperity.

His glittering earrings were set beautifully, and His helmet was

bedecked with valuable jewels. The Lord's necklace of pearls and the

bangles and bracelets nicely situated on His body all shone with a

transcendental beauty. The Kaustubha jewel hanging on His chest

glittered with great luster, and the Lord wore a beautiful flower

garland. After so much distress, when the kings and princes saw Lord

Krsna, with His beautiful transcendental features, they looked upon

Him to their hearts' content, as if they were drinking nectar

through their eyes, licking His body with their tongues, smelling

the aroma of His body with their noses, and embracing Him with their

arms. Just by dint of their being in front of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, all reactions to their sinful activities

were washed away. Therefore, without reservation, they surrendered

themselves at the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated in the

Bhagavad-gita that unless one is freed from all kinds of sinful

reactions, one cannot fully surrender unto the lotus feet of the

Lord. All the princes who saw Lord Krsna forgot all their past

tribulations. With folded hands and with great devotion, they began

to offer prayers to Lord Krsna, as follows.

 

"Dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, master of all

demigods, You can immediately remove all Your devotees' pangs

because Your devotees are fully surrendered unto You. O dear Lord

Krsna, O eternal Deity of transcendental bliss and knowledge, You

are imperishable, and we offer our respectful obeisances unto Your

lotus feet. It is by Your causeless mercy that we have been released

from the imprisonment of Jarasandha, but now we pray unto You to

release us from the imprisonment with the illusory energy of this

material existence. Please, therefore, stop our continuous cycle of

birth and death. We now have sufficient experience of the miserable

material condition of life in which we are fully absorbed, and

having tasted its bitterness, we have come to take shelter under

Your lotus feet. Dear Lord, O killer of the demon Madhu, we can now

clearly see that Jarasandha was not at fault in the least; it is

actually by Your causeless mercy that we were bereft of our kingdoms

because we were very proud of calling ourselves rulers and kings.

Any ruler or king who becomes too puffed up with false prestige and

power does not get the opportunity to understand his real

constitutional position and eternal life. Such foolish so-called

rulers and kings become falsely proud of there position under the

influence of Your illusory energy; they are just like a foolish

person who considers a mirage in the desert to be a reservoir of

water. Foolish persons think that their material possessions will

give them protection, and those who are engaged in sense

gratification falsely accept this material world as a place of

eternal enjoyment. O Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, we must

admit that, before this, we were puffed up with our material

opulences. Because we were all envious of each other and wanted to

conquer one another, we all engaged in fighting for supremacy, even

at the cost of sacrificing the lives of many citizens."

 

This is the disease of political power. As soon as a king or a

nation becomes rich in material opulences, he wants to dominate

other nations by military aggression. Similarly, mercantile men want

to monopolize a certain type of business and control other

mercantile groups. Degraded by false prestige and infatuated by

material opulences, human society, instead of striving for Krsna

consciousness, creates havoc and disrupts peaceful living. Thus men

naturally forget the real purpose of life: to attain the favor of

Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

The kings continued: "O Lord, we were simply engaged in the

abominable task of killing citizens and alluring them to be

unnecessarily killed, just to satisfy our political whims. We did

not consider that Your Lordship is always present before us in the

form of cruel death. We were so fooled that we became the cause of

death for others, forgetting our own impending death. But, dear

Lord, the retaliation of the time element, which is Your

representative, is certainly insurmountable. The time element is so

strong that no one can escape its influence; therefore we have

received the reactions of our atrocious activities, and we are now

bereft of all opulences and stand before You like street beggars. We

consider our position to be Your causeless, unalloyed mercy upon us

because now we can understand that we were falsely proud and that

our material opulences could be withdrawn from us within a second by

Your will. By Your causeless mercy only, we are now able to think of

Your lotus feet. This is our greatest gain. Dear Lord, it is known

to everyone that the body is a breeding ground of diseases. Now we

are sufficiently aged, and instead of being proud of our bodily

strength, we are getting weaker day by day. We are no longer

interested in sense gratification or the false happiness derived

through the material body. By Your grace, we have now come to the

conclusion that hankering after such material happiness is just like

searching for water in a desert mirage. We are no longer interested

in the results of our pious activities, such as performing great

sacrifices in order to be elevated to the heavenly planets. We now

understand that such elevation to a higher material standard of life

in the heavenly planets may sound very relishable, but actually

there cannot be any happiness within this material world. We pray

for Your Lordship to favor us by instructing us how to engage in the

transcendental loving service of Your lotus feet so that we may

never forget our eternal relationship with Your Lordship. We do not

want liberation from the entanglement of material existence. By Your

will we may take birth in any species of life; it does not matter.

We simply pray that we may never forget Your lotus feet under any

circumstances. Dear Lord, we now surrender unto Your lotus feet by

offering our respectful obeisances unto You because You are the

Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, the son of

Vasudeva. You are the Supersoul in everyone's heart, and You are

Lord Hari, who can take away all miserable conditions of material

existence. Dear Lord, Your name is Govinda, the reservoir of all

pleasure. One who is engaged in satisfying Your senses automatically

satisfies his own senses also, and therefore You are known as

Govinda. Dear Lord, You are ever famous, for You can put an end to

all the miseries of Your devotees. Please, therefore, accept us as

Your surrendered servants."

 

After hearing the prayers of the kings released from the prison of

Jarasandha, Lord Krsna, who is always the protector of surrendered

souls and the ocean of mercy for the devotees, replied to them as

follows in His sweetly transcendental voice, which was grave and

full of meaning. "My dear kings," He said, "I bestow upon you My

blessings. From this day forth you will be attached to My devotional

service without fail. I give you this benediction, as you have

desired. You may know from Me that I am always sitting within your

hearts as Supersoul, and because you have now turned your faces

towards Me, I, as master of everyone, shall always give you good

counsel so that you may never forget Me and so that gradually you

will come back home, back to Godhead. My dear kings, your decision

to give up all conceptions of material enjoyment and turn instead

toward My devotional service is factually the symptom of your good

fortune. Henceforward you will always be blessed with blissful life.

I confirm that all you have spoken about Me in your prayers is

factual. It is a fact that the materially opulent position of one

who is not fully Krsna conscious is the cause of his downfall and of

his becoming a victim of the illusory energy. In the past, there

were many rebellious kings, such as Haihaya, Nahusa, Vena, Ravana

and Narakasura. Some of them were demigods, and some of them were

demons, but because of their false perception of their positions,

they fell from their exalted posts, and thus they no longer remained

the kings of their respective kingdoms.

 

"While lost in the violence of conditional life, every one of you

must understand that anything material has its starting point,

growth, expansion, deterioration, and, finally, disappearance. All

material bodies are subjected to these six conditions, and any

relative acquisitions which are accumulated by this body are

definitely subject to final destruction. Therefore, no one should be

attached to perishable things. As long as one is within this

material body, he should be very cautious in worldly dealings. The

most perfect way of life in this material world is simply to be

devoted to My transcendental loving service and to honestly execute

the prescribed duties of one's particular position of life. As far

as you are concerned, you all belong to ksatriya families.

Therefore, you should live honestly, according to the prescribed

duties befitting the royal order, and you should make your citizens

happy in all respects. Keep to the standard of ksatriya life. Do not

beget children out of sense gratification, but simply take charge of

the welfare of the people in general. Everyone takes birth in this

material world because of the contaminated desires of his previous

life, and thus he is subjected to the stringent laws of nature, such

as birth and death, distress and happiness, profit and loss. One

should not be disturbed by duality, but should always be fixed in My

service and thus remain balanced in mind and satisfied in all

circumstances, considering all things to be given by Me, and one

should remain undeviated from engagement in devotional service. Thus

one can live a very happy and peaceful life, even within this

material condition. In other words, one should actually be callous

to this material body and its by-products and should remain

unaffected by them. He should remain fully satisfied in the

interests of the spirit soul and be engaged in the service of the

Supersoul. One should engage his mind only on Me, and one should

simply become My devotee, one should simply Worship Me, and one

should offer his respectful obeisances unto Me alone. In this way,

one can cross over this ocean of nescience very easily and at the

end come back to Me. In conclusion, your lives should constantly be

engaged in My service."

 

After delivering His instructions to the kings and princes, Lord

Krsna immediately arranged for their comfort and asked many servants

and maidservants to take care of them. Lord Krsna requested

Sahadeva, the son of King Jarasandha, to supply all necessities to

the kings and also asked him to show them all respect and honor. In

pursuance of the order of Lord Krsna, Sahadeva offered them all

honor, and presented them with ornaments, garments, garlands, and

other paraphernalia. After taking their baths and dressing very

nicely, the kings appeared happy and gentle. Then they were supplied

nice foodstuffs. Lord Krsna supplied everything for their comfort,

as was befitting their royal positions. Since the kings were so

mercifully treated by Lord Krsna, they felt great happiness, and all

their bright faces appeared just like the stars in the sky after the

end of the rainy season. They were all nicely dressed and

ornamented, and their earrings glittered. Each one was then seated

on a chariot bedecked with gold and jewels and drawn by decorated

horses. After seeing that each was taken care of, Lord Krsna, in a

sweet voice, asked them to return to their respective kingdoms. By

His very liberal behavior, unparalleled in the history of the world,

Lord Krsna released all the kings who had been in the clutches of

Jarasandha, and being fully satisfied, the kings began to engage in

chanting His holy name, thinking of His holy form, and glorifying

His transcendental pastimes as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So engaged, they returned to their respective kingdoms. The citizens

of their kingdoms were very greatly pleased to see them return, and

when they heard of the kind dealings of Lord Krsna, they all became

very happy. The kings began to manage the affairs of their kingdoms

in accordance with the instructions of Lord Krsna, and all those

kings and their subjects passed their days very happily. This is the

vivid example of the Krsna conscious society. If the people of the

world divide the whole society, in terms of their respective

material qualities, into four orders for material and spiritual

progress, centering around Krsna and following the instructions of

Krsna as stated in Bhagavad-gita, the entire human society will

undoubtedly be happy. This is the lesson that we have to take from

this incident.

 

After thus causing the annihilation of Jarasandha by Bhimasena and

after being properly honored by Sahadeva, the son of Jarasandha,

Lord Krsna, accompanied by Bhimasena and Arjuna, returned to the

city of Hastinapura. When they reached the precincts of Hastinapura,

they blew their respective conchshells, and by hearing the sound

vibrations and understanding who was arriving, everyone immediately

became cheerful. But upon hearing the conchshells, the enemies of

Krsna became very sorry. The citizens of Indraprastha felt their

hearts become joyful simply by hearing the vibration of Krsna's

conchshell because they could understand that Jarasandha had been

killed. Now the performance of the Rajasuya sacrifice by King

Yudhisthira was almost certain. Bhimasena, Arjuna, and Krsna, the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, arrived before King Yudhisthira and

offered their respects to the King. King Yudhisthira attentively

heard the narration of the killing of Jarasandha and the setting

free of the kings. He also heard of the tactics which were adopted

by Krsna to kill Jarasandha. The King was naturally affectionate

toward Krsna, but after hearing the story, he became even more bound

in love for Krsna; tears of ecstasy glided from his eyes, and he

became so stunned that he was almost unable to speak.

 

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Seventy-third Chapter of

Krsna, "Lord Krsna Returns to the City of Hastinapura."

 

Lord Krishna Blesses the Liberated Kings

http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter73.html

(1-6) S'rî S'uka said: 'The twenty thousand eight hundred [kings]

who in battle were defeated came out of the fortress of Giridronî

[the capital] dirty and with dirty clothes. Emaciated of hunger,

with dried up faces and of their imprisonment greatly weakened drank

they in with their eyes and were they as if licking with their

tongues, as if smelling Him with their nostrils and embracing Him

with their arms, the One dark gray like a cloud, in yellow clothing,

marked by the s'rîvatsa, by four arms, charming eyes pinkish as the

whorl of a lotus, a pleasant face, the gleaming makara [seamonster

shaped] earrings; with a lotus, a club, a conchshell and a disc in

His hands; a helmet, necklace, golden bracelets, a belt and armlets

decorating Him and with the splendid brilliant jewel and a forest

flower garland around His neck. They, whose sins were destroyed,

bowed, with their heads down at his feet. (7) As the kings with

joined palms with their words praised the Master of the Senses was

by the ecstasy of seeing Krishna the weariness of the imprisonment

eradicated.

 

(8) The kings said: 'Obeisances to You, o God of the Gods, o Lord of

the Surrendered and Remover of Distress, o Inexhaustible One; please

o Krishna save us, surrendered ones despondent from the terrible of

a material existence. (9) O Mâdhava, we do not point our finger, o

master, at the ruler of Magadha since it is by Your furthering of

the good, o Almighty One, that kings [in defiance] fall from their

position. (10) Exhilarated with the sovereignty and opulence

clamoring does a king, deluded by Your mâyâ thinking the temporary

assets to be permanent, not obtain the real benefit. (11) The same

way as a child considers a mirage a reservoir of water, do those

lacking in discrimination see the illusory subject to transformation

as substantial. (12-13) We who before by lusting for the wealth,

having lost their sight quarreled with one another for conquering

this earth, very merciless harassed our own citizens, o Master, and

have with death in front of us arrogantly disregarded You. They, we

indeed o Krishna, have been forced to part from our opulence in our

pride destroyed by the mercy of Your personal form, the irresistible

power of Time moving so mysteriously; may we please live in memory

of Your feet. (14) Henceforward we no longer hanker for a kingdom

that appearing like a mirage must constantly be served by the

material body that subject to demise is a source of disease; nor do

we, o Almighty One, hanker for the fruit of pious work in an

hereafter so attractive to the ears [compare B.G. 1.32-35]. (15)

Please instruct us in the means by which we may remember Your

lotuslike feet, even though we time and again keep returning to this

world [see B.G. 8: 14]. (16) Over and over our obeisances for

Krishna the son of Vasudeva, the Lord and Supersoul of the ones of

salute; to Govinda, the Destroyer of the Distress.'

 

(17) S'rî S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord, the Giver of Shelter,

commendably praised by the kings freed from their bondage, my dear,

mercifully spoke to them with gentle words. (18) The Supreme Lord

said: 'I assure you, as from now, o Kings, as you wish will rise

your very firm devotion to Me, the Self and Controller of All. (19)

Your resolve is fortunate, o rulers, as I see you truthfully speak

of the clamoring infatuation with the opulence and power so

maddening to the human being. (20) Haihaya [or Kârtavîryârjuna 9.15:

25], Nahusha [9.18: 1-3], Vena [see 4.14], Râvana [9.10], Naraka [or

Bhauma 10.59: 2-3] and others came to fall from their positions as

gods, demons and men because of their being intoxicated by the

opulence. (21) You, understanding that this material body and such

is subject to birth and an end, should, connected to Me in worship

with sacrifices, protect your citizens according the dharma. (22)

Encountering happiness and distress, birth and death, you should go

about begetting generations of progeny, with minds fixed in

acceptance of Me. (23) Neutral to the body and all that and firm to

the vows satisfied within, will you, fully concentrating the mind

upon Me, in the end reach Me, the Absolute of the Truth [compare

B.G. 4: 9; 8: 7; 9: 28; 12: 3-4].'

 

(24) S'rî S'uka said: 'Krishna, the Supreme Lord and Controller of

All the Worlds, thus instructing the kings engaged menservants and

women in the work of bathing them. (25) O descendent of Bharata, he

had Sahadeva [Jarâsandha's son] serve them befittingly with

clothing, ornaments, garlands and sandalwood paste. (26) Properly

bathed and well decorated were they fed with excellent food and

bestowed with various pleasures worthy of kings like betelnut etc.

(27) Honored by Mukunda shone the kings freed from their distress

splendidly with their gleaming earrings like they were the planets

at the end of the rainy season. (28) Having them mount chariots with

fine horses adorned with gold and jewels sent He, gratifying them

with pleasing words, off to their own kingdoms. (29) They, the

greatest of personalities, thus by Krishna liberated from all

difficulty went away exclusively meditating on the deeds of Him, the

Lord of the Living Being that is the Universe. (30) To their

ministers and other associates they spoke of the activities of the

Supreme Personality and as the Lord had instructed so they carried

it out without laxity. (31) Having had Jarâsandha killed by

Bhîmasena, departed, being worshiped by Sahadeva, Kes'ava,

accompanied by the two sons of Prithâ. (32) Arriving in Indraprastha

blew they their conchshells bringing discomfiture to the enemies

they defeated and [now] delight to their well-wishers. (33) The

residents of Indraprastha pleased in their heart to hear that,

understood that Jarâsandha was put to rest and that the king

[Yudhishthhira] his objectives were met. (34) To the king then

offering their respects told Arjuna, Bhîma and Janârdana about

everything they had done. (35) The king of the dharma hearing that

couldn't speak a word, shedding tears out of love in ecstasy of

Krishna's mercy.

Source Texts:

 

Lord Krishna Blesses the Liberated Kings

 

 

 

Text 1-6:

 

S'rî S'uka said: 'The twenty thousand eight hundred [kings] who in

battle were defeated came out of the fortress of Giridronî [the

capital] dirty and with dirty clothes. Emaciated of hunger, with

dried up faces and of their imprisonment greatly weakened drank they

in with their eyes and were they as if licking with their tongues,

as if smelling Him with their nostrils and embracing Him with their

arms, the One dark gray like a cloud, in yellow clothing, marked by

the s'rîvatsa, by four arms, charming eyes pinkish as the whorl of a

lotus, a pleasant face, the gleaming makara [seamonster shaped]

earrings; with a lotus, a club, a conchshell and a disc in His

hands; a helmet, necklace, golden bracelets, a belt and armlets

decorating Him and with the splendid brilliant jewel and a forest

flower garland around His neck. They, whose sins were destroyed,

bowed, with their heads down at his feet.

 

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: Jarâsandha had defeated 20,800 kings in

combat and thrown them into prison. As these kings emerged from the

Giridronî fortress, they appeared dirty and shabbily dressed. They

were emaciated by hunger, their faces were dried up, and they were

greatly weakened by their long imprisonment.

The kings then beheld the Lord before them. His complexion was dark

blue like the color of a cloud, and He wore a yellow silk garment.

He was distinguished by the S'rîvatsa mark on His chest, His four

mighty arms, the pinkish hue of His eyes, which resembled the whorl

of a lotus, His lovely, cheerful face, His gleaming makara earrings

and the lotus, club, conchshell and disc in His hands. A helmet, a

jeweled necklace, a golden belt, and golden bracelets and armlets

decorated His form, and on His neck He wore both the brilliant,

precious Kaustubha gem and a garland of forest flowers. The kings

seemed to drink His beauty with their eyes, lick Him with their

tongues, relish His fragrance with their nostrils and embrace Him

with their arms. Their past sins now eradicated, the kings all bowed

down to Lord Hari, placing their heads at His feet.

 

 

 

Text 7:

 

As the kings with joined palms with their words praised the Master

of the Senses was by the ecstasy of seeing Krishna the weariness of

the imprisonment eradicated.

 

The ecstasy of beholding Lord Krishna having dispelled the weariness

of their imprisonment, the kings stood with joined palms and offered

words of praise to that supreme master of the senses.

 

 

Text 8:

 

The kings said: 'Obeisances to You, o God of the Gods, o Lord of the

Surrendered and Remover of Distress, o Inexhaustible One; please o

Krishna save us, surrendered ones despondent from the terrible of a

material existence.

 

The kings said: Obeisances to You, O Lord of the ruling demigods, O

destroyer of Your surrendered devotees' distress. Since we have

surrendered to You, O inexhaustible Krishna, please save us from

this terrible material life, which has made us so despondent.

 

 

Text 9:

 

O Mâdhava, we do not point our finger, o master, at the ruler of

Magadha since it is by Your furthering of the good, o Almighty One,

that kings [in defiance] fall from their position.

 

O master, Madhusûdana, we do not blame this King of Magadha, since

it is actually by Your mercy that kings fall from their royal

position, O almighty Lord.

 

 

Text 10:

 

Exhilarated with the sovereignty and opulence clamoring does a king,

deluded by Your mâyâ thinking the temporary assets to be permanent,

not obtain the real benefit.

 

Infatuated with his opulence and ruling power, a king loses all self-

restraint and cannot obtain his true welfare. Thus bewildered by

Your illusory energy, he imagines his temporary assets to be

permanent.

 

 

Text 11:

 

The same way as a child considers a mirage a reservoir of water, do

those lacking in discrimination see the illusory subject to

transformation as substantial.

 

Just as men of childish intelligence consider a mirage in the desert

to be a pond of water, so those who are irrational look upon the

illusory transformations of Mâyâ as substantial.

 

 

Text 12-13:

 

We who before by lusting for the wealth, having lost their sight

quarreled with one another for conquering this earth, very merciless

harassed our own citizens, o Master, and have with death in front of

us arrogantly disregarded You. They, we indeed o Krishna, have been

forced to part from our opulence in our pride destroyed by the mercy

of Your personal form, the irresistible power of Time moving so

mysteriously; may we please live in memory of Your feet.

 

Previously, blinded by the intoxication of riches, we wanted to

conquer this earth, and thus we fought one another to achieve

victory, mercilessly harassing our own subjects. We arrogantly

disregarded You, O Lord, who stood before us as death. But now, O

Krishna, that powerful form of Yours called time, moving

mysteriously and irresistibly, has deprived us of our opulences. Now

that You have mercifully destroyed our pride, we beg simply to

remember Your lotus feet.

 

 

Text 14:

 

Henceforward we no longer hanker for a kingdom that appearing like a

mirage must constantly be served by the material body that subject

to demise is a source of disease; nor do we, o Almighty One, hanker

for the fruit of pious work in an hereafter so attractive to the

ears [compare B.G. 1.32-35].

 

Never again will we hanker for a miragelike kingdom - a kingdom that

must be slavishly served by this mortal body, which is simply a

source of disease and suffering and which is declining at every

moment. Nor, O almighty Lord, will we hanker to enjoy the heavenly

fruits of pious work in the next life, since the promise of such

rewards is simply an empty enticement for the ears.

 

 

Text 15:

 

Please instruct us in the means by which we may remember Your

lotuslike feet, even though we time and again keep returning to this

world [see B.G. 8: 14].

 

Please tell us how we may constantly remember Your lotus feet,

though we continue in the cycle of birth and death in this world.

 

 

Text 16

 

Over and over our obeisances for Krishna the son of Vasudeva, the

Lord and Supersoul of the ones of salute; to Govinda, the Destroyer

of the Distress.'

 

Again and again we offer our obeisances unto Lord Krishna, Hari, the

son of Vasudeva. That Supreme Soul, Govinda, vanquishes the

suffering of all who surrender to Him.

 

 

Text 17

 

S'rî S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord, the Giver of Shelter,

commendably praised by the kings freed from their bondage, my dear,

mercifully spoke to them with gentle words.

 

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: Thus the kings, now freed from bondage,

glorified the Supreme Lord. Then, my dear Parîkchit, that merciful

bestower of shelter spoke to them in a gentle voice.

 

 

Text 18

 

The Supreme Lord said: 'I assure you, as from now, o Kings, as you

wish will rise your very firm devotion to Me, the Self and

Controller of All.

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: From now on, my dear kings,

you will have firm devotion to Me, the Supreme Self and the Lord of

all that be. I assure you this will come to pass, just as you

desire.

 

 

Text 19

 

Your resolve is fortunate, o rulers, as I see you truthfully speak

of the clamoring infatuation with the opulence and power so

maddening to the human being.

 

Fortunately you have come to the proper conclusion, my dear kings,

and what you have spoken is true. I can see that human beings' lack

of self- restraint, which arises from their intoxication with

opulence and power, simply leads to madness.

 

 

Text 20

 

Haihaya [or Kârtavîryârjuna 9.15: 25], Nahusha [9.18: 1-3], Vena

[see 4.14], Râvana [9.10], Naraka [or Bhauma 10.59: 2-3] and others

came to fall from their positions as gods, demons and men because of

their being intoxicated by the opulence.

 

Haihaya, Nahusha, Vena, Râvana, Naraka and many other rulers of

demigods, men and demons fell from their elevated positions because

of infatuation with material opulence.

 

 

Text 21

 

You, understanding that this material body and such is subject to

birth and an end, should, connected to Me in worship with

sacrifices, protect your citizens according the dharma.

 

Understanding that this material body and everything connected with

it have a beginning and an end, worship Me by Vedic sacrifices, and

with clear intelligence protect your subjects in accordance with the

principles of religion.

 

 

Text 22

 

Encountering happiness and distress, birth and death, you should go

about begetting generations of progeny, with minds fixed in

acceptance of Me.

 

As you live your lives, begetting generations of progeny and

encountering happiness and distress, birth and death, always keep

your minds fixed on Me.

 

 

Text 23

 

Neutral to the body and all that and firm to the vows satisfied

within, will you, fully concentrating the mind upon Me, in the end

reach Me, the Absolute of the Truth [compare B.G. 4: 9; 8: 7; 9: 28;

12: 3-4].'

 

Be detached from the body and everything connected to it. Remaining

self- satisfied, steadfastly keep your vows while concentrating your

minds fully on Me. In this way you will ultimately attain Me, the

Supreme Absolute Truth.

 

 

Text 24

 

S'rî S'uka said: 'Krishna, the Supreme Lord and Controller of All

the Worlds, thus instructing the kings engaged menservants and women

in the work of bathing them.

 

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: Having thus instructed the kings, Lord

Krishna, the supreme master of all the worlds, engaged male and

female servants in bathing and grooming them.

 

 

Text 25

 

O descendent of Bharata, he had Sahadeva [Jarâsandha's son] serve

them befittingly with clothing, ornaments, garlands and sandalwood

paste.

 

O descendant of Bharata, the Lord then had King Sahadeva honor them

with offerings of clothing, jewelry, garlands and sandalwood paste,

all suitable for royalty.

 

 

Text 26

 

Properly bathed and well decorated were they fed with excellent food

and bestowed with various pleasures worthy of kings like betelnut

etc.

 

After they had been properly bathed and adorned, Lord Krishna saw to

it that they dined on excellent food. He also presented them with

various items befitting the pleasure of kings, such as betel nut.

 

 

Text 27

 

Honored by Mukunda shone the kings freed from their distress

splendidly with their gleaming earrings like they were the planets

at the end of the rainy season.

 

Honored by Lord Mukunda and freed from tribulation, the kings shone

splendidly, their earrings gleaming, just as the moon and other

celestial bodies shine brilliantly in the sky at the end of the

rainy season.

 

 

Text 28

 

Having them mount chariots with fine horses adorned with gold and

jewels sent He, gratifying them with pleasing words, off to their

own kingdoms.

 

Then the Lord arranged for the kings to be seated on chariots drawn

by fine horses and adorned with jewels and gold, and pleasing them

with gracious words, He sent them off to their own kingdoms.

 

 

Text 29

 

They, the greatest of personalities, thus by Krishna liberated from

all difficulty went away exclusively meditating on the deeds of Him,

the Lord of the Living Being that is the Universe.

 

Thus liberated from all difficulty by Krishna, the greatest of

personalities, the kings departed, and as they went they thought

only of Him, the Lord of the universe, and of His wonderful deeds.

 

 

Text 30

 

To their ministers and other associates they spoke of the activities

of the Supreme Personality and as the Lord had instructed so they

carried it out without laxity.

 

The kings told their ministers and other associates what the

Personality of Godhead had done, and then they diligently carried

out the orders He had imparted to them.

 

 

Text 31

 

Having had Jarâsandha killed by Bhîmasena, departed, being worshiped

by Sahadeva, Kes'ava, accompanied by the two sons of Prithâ.

 

Having arranged for Bhîmasena to kill Jarâsandha, Lord Kes'ava

accepted worship from King Sahadeva and then departed with the two

sons of Prithâ.

 

 

Text 32

 

Arriving in Indraprastha blew they their conchshells bringing

discomfiture to the enemies they defeated and [now] delight to their

well-wishers.

 

When they arrived at Indraprastha, the victorious heroes blew their

conchshells, bringing joy to their well-wishing friends and sorrow

to their enemies.

 

 

Text 33

 

The residents of Indraprastha pleased in their heart to hear that,

understood that Jarâsandha was put to rest and that the king

[Yudhishthhira] his objectives were met.

 

The residents of Indraprastha were very pleased to hear that sound,

for they understood that now the King of Magadha had been put to

rest. King Yudhishthhira felt that his desires were now fulfilled.

 

 

Text 34

 

To the king then offering their respects told Arjuna, Bhîma and

Janârdana about everything they had done.

 

Bhîma, Arjuna and Janârdana offered their respects to the King and

informed him fully about what they had done.

 

 

Text 35

 

The king of the dharma hearing that couldn't speak a word, shedding

tears out of love in ecstasy of Krishna's mercy.

 

Upon hearing their account of the great favor Lord Kes'ava had

mercifully shown him, King Dharmarâja shed tears of ecstasy. He felt

such love that he could not say anything.