SB 1.19.4 (1965)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 4
Sa chintayan ittham atha asrinod yatha Muneh sutokto nirritis takshak akhyah Sa sadhu mene na chirena takshaka Analam prasaktasya virakti karanam
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Sa—he the king, Chintayan—thinking, Ittham—like this, Atha—now, Asrinod—heard, Yatha—as as, Muneh—of the sage, Sutokto—uttered by the son, Nirritis—death, Takshkakhya—in relation with the snake bird, Sa—he the king, Sadhu—well and good, Mene—accepted, Na—not, Chirena—very long time, Takshaka—snake-bird, Analam—fire, Prasaktasya—for one who is too much attached, Virakti—indifference, Karanam—cause.
TRANSLATION
While the king was repenting like this at that time he received the news about his imminent death from the bitting of a snake bird, as it was spoken by the son of the sage. He however, accepted the news as well and good for its being the cause of his indifference towards worldly attachments.
PURPORT
Real happiness is achieved by spiritual existence or by cessation of the repetitions of birth and death. Such repetitions of birth and death can be stopped only by going back to home back to Godhead. In the material world even by attaining the living conditions in the topmost planet (Brahmaloka) planet, nobody can get rid of the conditions of repetitions of birth and death. We want to stop the repetitions of birth and death but we do not accept the path of attaining the perfection. The path of perfection is that one must be freed from all material attachments and thus be fit for entering into the spiritual kingdom. Therefore, those who are materially poverty-stricken, are better candidates than those who are materially prosperous. Maharaj Parikshit was a great devotee of the Lord and bonafide candidate for entering into the kingdom of God but even though he was so, his material environments as the great emperor of the world, was a setback in the perfect attainment of his rightful status as one of the associates of the Lord in the spiritual sky. As a devotee of the Lord he could understand that the cursing of the Brahmin boy, although unwisely, was a blessing upon him being the cause of detachment from worldly affairs both political and social. Samik Muni also after regretting the incidence of his son's cursing upon the king, conveyed the news to the king as a matter of duty so that the king would be able to prepare himself for going back to Godhead. The Samik Muni sent news to the king that the foolish Srighee his son, although a powerful Brahmin boy, unfortunately had misused his spiritual power by cursing the king unwarrantedly. The incidence of the King's garlanding the Muni was not sufficient case for being cursed to death by the foolish boy but as there was no remedy to retract the curse, the king was informed for preparation of death within a week. Both Samik Muni and the king were self realised souls. Samik Muni was a mystic and Maharaj Parikshit was a devotee. Therefore there was no difference between them in the matter of self realisation and none of them were afraid of meeting death. Maharaj Parikshit could have gone to the Muni for begging his pardon but the news of his death was conveyed to the king with so much regret by the Muni that the king did not like to put the Muni into further ashamed position by his presence there. He decided to prepare himself for the imminent death and find out the way of going back to Godhead.
The complete span of life of a human being is meant for preparing himself for going back to Godhead or to get rid of the material existence made of the repetition of birth and death. As such in the system of Varnashram Dharma every man and woman is trained up for this purpose of eternal life and in other words the system of Varnasharm Dharma is known also as Sanatan Dharma or eternal occupation. The system of Varnasharam Dharma prepares a man for going back to Godhead and thus a householder is ordered to go to the forest as Vanaprastha to acquire complete knowledge and then to take Sanyas prior to the inevitable death. Parikshit Maharaj was fortunate to get the notice of seven days for meeting the inevitable death, but for the common man there is no such definite notice although death is inevitable for all. Foolishman forgets this sure fact of death and neglects the duty of preparing himself for going back to Godhead and spoils the life in animal propensities to eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. Such irresponsible life is adopted by the people in the age of Kali on account of sinful desires to condemn the Brahminical culture, God consciousness and cow protection for which the state is responsible. The state must employ the revenue in the matter of advancing the above mentioned three items and thus educate the populace to prepare for the death and going back to Godhead. The state which does so is the real welfare state. The state of India may better follow the examples of Maharaj Parikshit the ideal executive head than to imitate other materialistic states who have no idea of the kingdom of Godhead, the ultimate goal of human life. Deterioration of the ideals of Indian civilization has brought about the deterioration of civic life not only in India but also abroad.