After pandavas left their body , Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit became king of hastinapur.  Parikshit was very devout and people friendly.  He always took care of the state according to the advice of Brahmins.  At one time he was informed that Kali Yuga has entered his kingdom.  Then King Parikshit decided to go on a campaign to get kaliyuga out of his kingdom.  Taking his army along, King Parikshit went for the campaign at the same time.

 The king defeated other  kings and brought them under his control.  One day the king saw  near his camp, that a Shudra dressed as king was holding a stick in his hand and beating a pair of cattle and bull as if they had no master.

The white colored bull was shivering with one foot and was suffering from thrashing and was frightened and was urinating.  Even the cow, which used to give things like milk, ghee, etc., was getting extremely afraid by stumbling on the feet of the Shudra again and again.  Firstly, she was very weak and secondly, she did not even have her calf.  she was hungry and tears were flowing from his eyes.

King Parikshit, who was on the golden chariot, took his bow and in  fierce voice spoke to kaliyuga.  Hey!  Who are you, , despite being strong, is killing these weak creatures of my kingdom by force?  You have worn the dress like a king, but you seem to be a Shudra because of your actions.  On leaving of Lord Shri Krishna to his supreme Adobe  with our grandfather Arjun, you are strik ing innocent people in a secluded place, thus you are a criminal so deserves to be killed.

King Parikshit asked Dharmas,  your appearance is like stem of a lotus flower.   you do not have three legs, you walk with only one foot.  I am very sad to see this.  Tell, are you a god in the form of a bull?  Right now, this planet is safe from the power of the Kuruvanshi natives.  I did not see tears of grief flowing from the eyes of any creature other than you.

 Now you be calm.  There is no need to be afraid of this Shudra.  Gomata!  I’m going to punish this wicked, now you stop crying.  Good welfare to you  Devi.  The king in whose kingdom all the people are affected by the mischief of wickedness.  Fame, lifespan, and splendour of such king are destroyed.

The ultimate duty of kings is to remove the sorrow of the afflicted.  This shudra in the costume of a king is tormenting creatures.  So, I will kill him now.  Dear bull, You are a four legged creature.  Who cut off your three legs?  In the kingdom of kings who are followers of Shri Krishna, there should never be anyone grieving like you.

 Taurus!  Good welfare to you  Tell me, who has tried to destroy  the fame of the Pandavas by breaking the part of innocent creatures like you.  Whoever persecutes an innocent animal, no matter where he lives, he will surely be afraid of me.  Suppressing the wicked brings the welfare to the saintly men and innocent people.  The arrogant person who hurts innocent animals, even if he is an actual deity, I will cut off  his arm.  It is the supreme duty of kings to protect those who are committed in their duty and punishing those who violate the dignity of their dharma .

Dharma in the form of a bull said – king  You are the descendant of Maharaj Pandu.  You are thus worthy to give assurance to those suffering;  Because the best qualities of your ancestors made Lord Shri Krishna their charioteer and messenger etc.  King  Because of being fascinated by various scriptures, we do not know the man from whom the causes of tribulations arise.

Those who do not accept any kind of duality, they tell themselves the reason for their grief.  Some describe the destiny as a reason of their sorrow.  Some people consider nature, and some people consider God to be a cause of sorrow.  Somebody is also convinced that the reason for grief can neither be known by reasoning nor by speech.  King  Now, which of these opinions is right, decide this from your own intelligence.

The Emperor Parikshit was very pleased to hear this sermon of Dharma, his regret disappeared.  He calmly said to Dharma.

 Parikshitna said- Taurus, who knows the essence of dharma!  You are preaching dharma.  You are definitely a dharma in the form of Taurus.  You have not given the name of the one who is hurting you, because, the punishment which is received by the wrongdoer, is also received  by the person who tells on others.  God!  In the Satyayuga, you had four legs- austerity, purity, mercy and truth.  At this time, three stages of unrighteousness, pride, attachment and ego have been overtaken .

 Now your fourth leg is only surviving that is ‘truth’.  You are living on the same strength.  This unfortunate Kali Yuga is follower of untruth and wants to defeat that too. This cow is the mother earth.  Lord krishna had taken a heavy burden off of her and she had become very happy by the company of lord. Now  Like the a unfortunate women, she is worrying with the eyes filled with water, thinking ,now the Brahmin rebel Shudra will rule over me in the costume of kings.

 Maharathi Parikshita thus consoled Dharma and Prithvi.  Then he raised a sharp sword to kill Kali Yuga for his unrighteousness.

 Kali Yuga got scared, knowing that parikshit wants to kill me now. So immediately he took off his kings costume and put his head at the  feet of parikshit in awe.

 Parikshit was very righteous, compassionate and protector of those who ask for refuge.  When he saw Kali Yuga lying on his feet, he did not kill him with kindness.  But laughing, said to him, Parikshit said – When you fold your hand and take refuge, then you have no fear from any hero born in the famous lineage of Arjun.  But you are follower of unrighteous , therefore you should not stay in my kingdom at all.

 Greed, lies, thievery, wickedness, apostasy, poorness, treachery, strife, conceit, and other sins are increasing in the bodies of kings affected by you.  Hence, unrighteous fellow!  In this Brahmavartha you should not stay for a single moment;  Because it is the abode of Dharma and Satya.  In this country, the lord Yajnapurusha  is worshiped by Mahatma Yogis who know the method of Yajna .

 In this country, Lord Shri Hari resides in the form of yagyas, he is worshiped by the yagyas and he takes care of those who perform the yajna.  He keeps  their wishes fulfilled by being situated in the same way, inside and outside all the living creatures, like the best God of wind vaayu.

 Kali Yuga got nervous after hearing this command.  He saw parikshit infront of him to kill like Yamraj and said to Parikshit with sword in hand.  Kali yuga said – king Wherever I think of living with your orders, I see that you are standing with arrows on the bow.  Religious king  You tell me the place where I can stay stable while obeying you.

 By accepting the Kali Yuga’s prayer, King Parikshit gave him four places – gambling, drinking, female association and violence.  In these places, greed, untruth,  attachment and cruelty – these four types of unrighteousness reside.  Kali Yuga asked for more places.  Then  Parikshata gave him another place to stay – gold’ (wealth).  In this way, there are five places of Kali Yuga, greed,untruth,attachment, cruelty and lie.

 In these five places given by Parikshit, Kali started living in obedience becoming the root cause of suffering. Therefore, the saintly person should never stay in these five places.  Religious kings, proverbial leaders and gurus should  discard these with great care.

After this, King Parikshit added all the three legs of dharma, penance, defecation and mercy and gave the assurance to the earth.

In this way, King Parikshit suppressed Kali Yuga and limited the Kali Yuga’s influence for his life.

Categories: Bhagwat Puran

Tags: Kaliyuga, king parikashit, suppression of kaliyuga