Srimad Bhagavatham : 6.2.1 & 2.

Skandham-6.


Chapter-2.


Slokam-1 & 2.



(1).

sri-badarayanir uvaca



evam  te  bhagavad-duta  yamadutabhibhasitam,



upadharyatha  tan  rajan   pratyahur naya-kovidah.







sri-badarayanih   uvaca  =  Suka  Maharishi, the son of  Vyasa Maharishi said;

evam  =  thus;

te  =  they;

bhagavat-dutah  =  the servants of Lord Vishnu;

yamaduta  =  by the servants of Yamaraja;

abhibhasitam  =  what was spoken;

upadharya  =  hearing;

atha  =  then;

tan  =  unto them;

rajan  =  O King;

pratyahuh  =  replied properly;

naya-kovidah  =  being conversant in good arguments or good logic.





Sri Suka Maharishi said: O King Parikshit, the servants of Lord Visnu are always very expert in logic and arguments. After hearing the statements of the Yamadutas, they replied as follows.



(2).

sri-vishnuduta ucuh :



aho  kashtam   dharma-drsam  adharmah   sprsate   sabham,



yatradandyesv   apapeshu  dando   yair   dhriyate   vrtha.





sri-vishnudutah   ucuh  =  the Vishnudutas said;

aho  =  alas;

kashtam  =  how painful it is;

dharma-drsam  =  of persons interested in maintaining religion;

adharmah  =  irreligion;

sprsate  =  is affecting;

sabham  =  the assembly;

yatra  =  wherein;

adandyeshu  =  upon persons not to be punished;

apapeshu  =  who are sinless;

dandah  =  punishment;

yaih  =  by whom;

dhriyate  =  is being allotted;

vrtha  =  unnecessarily.




The Vishnudutas said: Alas, how painful it is that irreligion is being introduced into an assembly where religion should be maintained. Indeed, those in charge of maintaining the religious principles are needlessly punishing a sinless, unpunishable person.


The Vishnudutas accused the Yamadutas of violating the religious principles by attempting to drag Ajamila to Yamaraja for punishment. Yamaraja is the officer appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to judge religious and irreligious principles and to punish people who are irreligious. However, if completely sinless people are punished, the entire assembly of Yamaraja is contaminated. This principle applies not only in the assembly of Yamarāja, but throughout human society also.


In human society, properly maintaining religious principles is the duty of the king’s court or the government. Unfortunately, in this yuga, Kali-yuga, the religious principles are tampered with, and the government cannot properly judge who is to be punished and who is not. It is said that in the Kali-yuga if one cannot spend money in court, one cannot get justice. Indeed, in courts of justice it is often found that magistrates are bribed for favorable judgments. Sometimes religious men who preach the Krishna consciousness movement for the benefit of the entire populace are arrested and harassed by the police and courts. The Viṣṇudūtas, who are Vaishnavas, lamented for these very regrettable facts. Because of their spiritual compassion for all the fallen souls, Vaishnavas go out to preach according to the standard method of all religious principles, but unfortunately, because of the influence of Kali-yuga, Vaishnavas who have dedicated their lives to preaching the glories of the Lord are sometimes harassed and punished by courts on false charges of disturbing the peace.

To be continued  ....