"Prayers by Queen Kunti and Parikchit Saved"

 

 

Chapter 8

 

 

 

Prayers by Queen Kuntî and Parîkchit Saved

 

 

 

(1) Sûta said: "Thus headed they, along with Draupadî and the woman put in front, to the Ganges, with the wish to perform the waterduties for their relatives. . (2) After each had done his offering of water and sufficiently had mourned, took they a bath in the water of the Ganges that is purified by the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. (3) There sat the king of the Kurus [Yudhishthhira] with his younger brothers, Dhritarâshthra and Ghândârî in deep bereavement together with Kuntî, Draupadî and the Lord Himself. (4) Lord Krishna together with the munis there pacified the shocked and affected family who had lost their friends and family members, by showing how each is subject to the Time that cannot be avoided. (5) Because of cheating Yudhishthhira [the eldest of the Pândavas], who had no enemies, had the unscrupulous [Duryodhana and brothers] been killed, who cleverly seized the kingdom and had shortened their lifespan by insulting the queen [Draupadî], mistreating her by the hair. (6) By the proper performance of three horse-sacrifices his [Yudhishthhira's] fame spread in all directions like the fame of Indra who did that sacrifice a hundredfold.

 

 

 

 

(7) Worshiped by the wise and the learned and responding to them, the Lord invited the sons of Pându along with Uddhava [another relative and friend of Krishna].(8) Seated on His chariot saw He, just as He wanted to leave for Dvârakâ, Uttarâ [the mother expecting Parîkchit] hurrying towards Him in fear. (9) She said: 'Protect me, protect me, o Greatest of the Yogîs, Worshiped of the Worshiped and Lord of the Universe, apart from You I see no one fearless in this world of death and duality. (10) O all powerful Lord, a fiery iron is coming towards me. Let it burn me, o Protector, but save my embryo'."

 

 

 

(11) Sûta said: "Patiently hearing her words the Supreme Lord, who is the caretaker of the devotees, understood that this was the result of a brahmâstra-weapon of the son of Drona who wanted to end the existence of all Pândava descendants. (12) O Chief of the Munis [S'aunaka], seeing the glaring brahmâstra heading towards them, the Pândavas each took up their own five weapons. (13) Seeing that they were in great danger with no other means available, the Almighty took up His Sudars'ana disc for the protection of His devotees.(14) Being within the soul of all living beings, the Supreme Lord of Yoga by His personal energy covered the embryo of Uttarâ for the protection of the progeny of the Kuru dynasty. (15) O S'aunaka, although the brahmâstra weapon went unhindered by counteractions, was it, being confronted with the strength of Vishnu, neutralized. (16) Do not think of all this as something wondrous, since, of all of the all-mysterious and infallible, it is the Lord who, unborn as He is, is considered to be the One transcendental by His own energy in creating, maintaining and destroying.






(17) Being saved from the radiation of the weapon, the chaste Kuntî along with her sons, addressed Lord Krishna who was about to leave. (18) Kuntî said: 'My obeisances to You, the Purusha, the Original Controller of the Cosmos who is invisible and beyond all existing both within and without. (19) Covered by the deluding [material] curtain, being irreproachably transcendent and not discerned by the foolish, You are like an actor dressed up as a player. (20) How is it for us, women, possible to understand You rightly so that we can be of devotional service, like the advanced transcendentalists and philosophers are who can discriminate between spirit and matter? (21) Therefore My respectful obeisances to You, the Protector of the cows and the senses, the Supreme Lord, the son of Vasudeva and Devakî, of Nanda and the cowherd men of Vrindâvana. (22) Unto You my respects, who has a lotuslike depression in His abdomen, who is always decorated with lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as a lotus flower and whose footprints show the mark of lotusflowers. (23) You are the master of the senses and have released the distressed Devakî [mother of Krishna] from a long imprisonment by the envious [uncle] King Kamsa and o Lordship, You have protected me and my children against a constant threat. (24) Saving us in the past from poison, a great fire, man-eaters, a vicious assembly, sufferings from exile in the forest and against the weapons in battles with great generals, You have now fully protected us against the weapon of the son of Drona. (25) If we would only have more of those calamities, o Master of the Universe, so that we can meet You again and again, because meeting You means that we no longer see the repetition of births and death. (26) The ones intoxicated by striving for a good birth, opulences, education, and beauty will never ever deserve to address You, who are easily approached by the ones destitute. (27) All honor to You, as You are the property of the ones living in poverty, transcendental to the affection with the material modes, the selfcontented and most gentle one; all my respect unto You who are the Master of the Monists. (28) I consider You to be the Eternal Time that is without a beginning or an end - the All-pervasive One distributing Your mercy everywhere equally among the beings who live in the dissent of social intercourse. (29) O Lord, no one understands Your pastimes, that appear to be worldly in Your following the common man; people think You are partial, but You favor or dislike no one. (30) Being of the vital energy, o Soul of the Universe, taking birth although You are unborn and acting although You are inactive and manifesting with the animals, the human beings, the wise and beings in the water, You are veritably bewildering. (31) It bewilders me that when the gopî [Yas'odâ, the cowherd foster mother of Krishna] took up a rope to bind You because You were naughty, You were afraid and cried the make-up off Your eyes, although You are feared by fear personified. (32) Some say that You are born from the unborn for the glory of the pious kings or the pleasure of the family of dear King Yadu, like sandalwood appearing in the Malaya Hills. (33) Others say that You descended from the unborn for the good of Vasudeva and Devakî who prayed for You and the killing of the ones envious with the godly. (34) Still others say that You, like a boat on the sea, came to take away the burden of extreme worldly grief and were born from the prayers of Lord Brahmâ. (35) And yet others say that You appeared for the ones suffering from desire and nescience in the materially motivated world so that they may perform hearing, remembering and worshiping You. (36) The people in general who take pleasure in continuously hearing and chanting Your activities, certainly very soon will see Your lotus feet who put the recurrence of rebirths to an end. (37) O Lord, with all that You did for us, You are leaving us - Your intimate friends living by Your mercy alone in dependence on Your lotus feet - today to the kings engaged in enmity. (38) We, without You, will, along with the Yadus and Pândavas, be without the fame and name, like a body is without the senses after the spirit has left. (39) The land of our kingdom will no longer appear as beautiful as it does now being dazzled by the marks of Your footprints. (40) All these cities and towns flourished in their nature increasing by Your looks with a wealth of herbs, vegetables, forests, hills, rivers and seas. (41) Therefore, o Lord of the Universe, Personality of the universal form, cut my tie of deep affection for my kinsmen the Pândavas and the Vrishnis. (42) Make my attraction to You pure and continuously overflowing like the Ganges flowing down to the sea. (43) O Krishna, friend of Arjuna and chief of the Vrishnis, annihilator of the rebellious dynasties on this earth, with Your unrelenting bravery You relieve the distressed cows, brâhmanas and the godly, o Lord of Yoga incarnate, universal preceptor and original proprietor - unto You my respectful obeisances'."
 (44) Sûta said: "Thus being worshiped in His universal glories by the choice of words of queen Kuntî, the Lord mildly gave a smile as captivating as His mystic power. (45) Thus accepting all that and after further paying respects to other ladies in the palace of Hastinâpura, the Lord, upon leaving for His own residence, was stopped by the love of the king [Yudhishthhira]. (46) By the will of the learned, the sages and Lord Krishna Himself, he, distressed as he was, could - from the One of superhuman accomplishment - not be convinced nor find solace by evidence of history. (47) King Yudhishthhira, son of Dharma, thinking to the material conception of the loss of his friends, was, o learned ones, carried away by the delusion of his affection as he spoke: (48)'O, just look at me in my ignorance of heart, being immersed in the sin of having with this body, which is meant to serve others, killed many formations of warriors. (49) Having killed many boys, twice-born, caretakers, friends, parents, brothers and teachers, I for sure will never find liberation from hell, not for a million years. (50) There is no sin for a king who kills in the fight with his enemies for the right cause of protecting his people, but those words set for the satisfaction of the administration do not apply to me. (51) All the enmity that accrued because of the women and friends that I have killed, I cannot expect to be undone by dint of working for material welfare. (52) Just like one cannot filter mud through mud or clean wine stains with wine, it is of no avail to counteract killing with prescribed sacrifices of animals'." 

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