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.
