Chapter One
The Supreme Lord Is Equal to Everyone
TEXT 13
atraivodāhṛtaḥ pūrvam
itihāsaḥ surarṣiṇā
prītyā mahā-kratau rājan
pṛcchate ’jāta-śatrave
SYNONYMS
atra—in this connection; eva—certainly; udāhṛtaḥ—was recited; pūrvam—previously; itihāsaḥ—an old story; sura-ṛṣiṇā—by the great sage Nārada; prītyā—with joy; mahā-kratau—at the great Rājasūya sacrifice; rājan—O King; pṛcchate—to the inquiring; ajāta-śatrave—Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, who had no enemy.
TRANSLATION
Formerly, O King, when Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was performing the Rājasūya sacrifice, the great sage Nārada, responding to his inquiry, recited historical facts showing how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always impartial, even when killing demons. In this regard he gave a vivid example.
PURPORT
This relates to how the Lord exhibited His impartiality even when killing Śiśupāla in the arena of the Rājasūya yajña performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
TEXTS 14–15
dṛṣṭvā mahādbhutaṁ rājā
rājasūye mahā-kratau
vāsudeve bhagavati
sāyujyaṁ cedibhū-bhujaḥ
tatrāsīnaṁ sura-ṛṣiṁ
rājā pāṇḍu-sutaḥ kratau
papraccha vismita-manā
munīnāṁ śṛṇvatām idam
SYNONYMS
dṛṣṭvā—after seeing; mahā-adbhutam—greatly wonderful; rājā—the King; rājasūye—called Rājasūya; mahā-kratau—at the great sacrifice; vāsudeve—into Vāsudeva; bhagavati—the Personality of Godhead; sāyujyam—merging; cedibhū-bhujaḥ—of Śiśupāla, the King of Cedi; tatra—there; āsīnam—seated; sura-ṛṣim—Nārada Muni; rājā—the King; pāṇḍu-sutaḥ—Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Pāṇḍu; kratau—at the sacrifice; papraccha—asked; vismita-manāḥ—being struck with wonder; munīnām—in the presence of the sages; śṛṇvatām—listening; idam—this.
TRANSLATION
O King, at the Rājasūya sacrifice, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, personally saw Śiśupāla merge into the body of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, struck with wonder, he inquired about the reason for this from the great sage Nārada, who was seated there. While he inquired, all the sages present also heard him ask his question.
TEXT 16
śrī-yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
aho aty-adbhutaṁ hy etad
durlabhaikāntinām api
vāsudeve pare tattve
prāptiś caidyasya vidviṣaḥ
SYNONYMS
śrī-yudhiṣṭhiraḥ uvāca—Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira said; aho—oh; ati-adbhutam—very wonderful; hi—certainly; etat—this; durlabha—difficult to attain; ekāntinām—for the transcendentalists; api—even; vāsudeve—in Vāsudeva; pare—the supreme; tattve—Absolute Truth; prāptiḥ—the attainment; caidyasya—of Śiśupāla; vidviṣaḥ—envious.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired: It is very wonderful that the demon Śiśupāla merged into the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead even though extremely envious. This sāyujya-mukti is impossible to attain even for great transcendentalists. How then did the enemy of the Lord attain it?
PURPORT
There are two classes of transcendentalists—the jñānīs and the bhaktas. The bhaktas do not aspire to merge into the existence of the Lord, but the jñānīs do. Śiśupāla, however, was neither a jñānī nor a bhakta, yet simply by envy of the Lord he attained an exalted position by merging into the Lord’s body. Certainly this was astonishing, and therefore Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired about the cause for the Lord’s mysterious mercy to Śiśupāla.
TEXT 17
etad veditum icchāmaḥ
sarva eva vayaṁ mune
bhagavan-nindayā veno
dvijais tamasi pātitaḥ
SYNONYMS
etat—this; veditum—to know; icchāmaḥ—desire; sarve—all; eva—certainly; vayam—we; mune—O great sage; bhagavat-nindayā—because of blaspheming the Lord; venaḥ—Vena, the father of Pṛthu Mahārāja; dvijaiḥ—by the brāhmaṇas; tamasi—into hell; pātitaḥ—was thrown.
TRANSLATION
O great sage, we are all eager to know the cause for this mercy of the Lord. I have heard that formerly a king named Vena blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that all the brāhmaṇas consequently obliged him to go to hell. Śiśupāla should also have been sent to hell. How then did he merge into the Lord’s existence?
TEXT 18
damaghoṣa-sutaḥ pāpa
ārabhya kala-bhāṣaṇāt
sampraty amarṣī govinde
dantavakraś ca durmatiḥ
SYNONYMS
damaghoṣa-sutaḥ—Śiśupāla, the son of Damaghoṣa; pāpaḥ—sinful; ārabhya—beginning; kala-bhāṣaṇāt—from the unclear speech of a child; samprati—even until now; amarṣī—envious; govinde—toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa; dantavakraḥ—Dantavakra; ca—also; durmatiḥ—evil-minded.
TRANSLATION
From the very beginning of his childhood, when he could not even speak properly, Śiśupāla, the most sinful son of Damaghoṣa, began blaspheming the Lord, and he continued to be envious of Śrī Kṛṣṇa until death. Similarly, his brother Dantavakra continued the same habits.
TEXT 19
śapator asakṛd viṣṇuṁ
yad brahma param avyayam
śvitro na jāto jihvāyāṁ
nāndhaṁ viviśatus tamaḥ
SYNONYMS
śapatoḥ—of both Śiśupāla and Dantavakra, who were blaspheming; asakṛt—repeatedly; viṣṇum—Lord Kṛṣṇa; yat—which; brahma param—the Supreme Brahman; avyayam—without diminution; śvitraḥ—white leprosy; na—not; jātaḥ—appeared; jihvāyām—on the tongue; na—not; andham—dark; viviśatuḥ—they did enter; tamaḥ—hell.
TRANSLATION
Although these two men—Śiśupāla and Dantavakra—repeatedly blasphemed the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu [Kṛṣṇa], the Supreme Brahman, they were quite healthy. Indeed, their tongues were not attacked by white leprosy, nor did they enter the darkest region of hellish life. We are certainly most surprised by this.
PURPORT
Kṛṣṇa is described by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (10.12) as follows: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān. “You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode and purifier.” Herein this is confirmed. Viṣṇuṁ yad brahma param avyayam. The Supreme Viṣṇu is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the cause of Viṣṇu, not vice versa. Similarly, Brahman is not the cause of Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa is the cause of Brahman. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the Parabrahman (yad brahma param avyayam).
TEXT 20
kathaṁ tasmin bhagavati
duravagrāhya-dhāmani
paśyatāṁ sarva-lokānāṁ
layam īyatur añjasā
SYNONYMS
katham—how; tasmin—that; bhagavati—in the Supreme Personality of Godhead; duravagrāhya—difficult to attain; dhāmani—whose nature; paśyatām—looked on; sarva-lokānām—while all the people; layam īyatuḥ—became absorbed; añjasā—easily.
TRANSLATION
How was it possible for Śiśupāla and Dantavakra in the presence of many exalted persons, to enter very easily into the body of Kṛṣṇa, whose nature is difficult to attain?.
PURPORT
Śiśupāla and Dantavakra were formerly Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. Merging into the body of Kṛṣṇa was not their final destination. For some time they remained merged, and later they received the liberations of sārūpya and sālokya, living on the same planet as the Lord in the same bodily form. The śāstras give evidence that if one blasphemes the Supreme Lord, his punishment is to remain in hellish life for many millions of years more than one suffers by killing many brāhmaṇas. Śiśupāla, however, instead of entering hellish life, immediately and very easily received sāyujya-mukti. That such a privilege had been offered to Śiśupāla was not merely a story. Everyone saw it happen; there was no scarcity of evidence. How did it happen? Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was very much surprised.
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