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yudhisthirah—Maharaja Yudhisthira; tat—that; parisarpanam—expansion; budhah—thoroughly experienced; pure—in the capital; ca—as also; rastre—in the state; ca—and; grhe—at home; tatha—as also; atmani—in person; vibhavya—observing; lobha—avarice; anrta—untruth; jihma—diplomacy; himsana-adi—violence, envy; adharma—irreligion; cakram—a vicious circle; gamanaya—for departure; paryadhat—dressed himself accordingly.

Maharaja Yudhisthira was intelligent enough to understand the influence of the age of Kali, characterized by increasing avarice, falsehood, cheating and violence throughout the capital, state, home and among individuals. So he wisely prepared himself to leave home, and he dressed accordingly.

The present age is influenced by the specific qualities of Kali. Since the days of the Battle of Kuruksetra, about five thousand years ago, the influence of the age of Kali began manifesting, and from authentic scriptures it is learned that the age of Kali is still to run on for 427,000 years. The symptoms of the Kali-yuga, as mentioned above, namely avarice, falsehood, diplomacy, cheating, nepotism, violence and all such things, are already in vogue, and no one can imagine what is going to happen gradually with further increase of the influence of Kali till the day of annihilation. We have already come to know that the influence of the age of Kali is meant for godless so-called civilized man; those who are under the protection of the Lord have nothing to fear from this horrible age. Maharaja Yudhisthira was a great devotee of the Lord, and there was no necessity of his being afraid of the age of Kali, but he preferred to retire from active household life and prepare himself to go back home, back to Godhead. The Pandavas are eternal companions of the Lord, and therefore they are more interested in the company of the Lord than anything else. Besides that, being an ideal king, Maharaja Yudhisthira wanted to retire just to set an example for others. As soon as there is some young fellow to look after the household affairs, one should at once retire from family life to uplift oneself to spiritual realization. One should not rot in the dark well of household life till one is dragged out by the will of Yamaraja. Modern politicians should take lessons from Maharaja Yudhisthira about voluntary retirement from active life and should make room for the younger generation. Also retired old gentlemen should take lessons from him and leave home for spiritual realization before forcefully dragged away to meet death.

SB1.15.38

TEXT 38

sva-rat pautram vinayinam

atmanah susamam gunaih

toya-nivyah patim bhumer

abhyasincad gajahvaye

sva-rat—the emperor; pautram—unto the grandson; vinayinam—properly trained; atmanah—his own self; su-samam—equal in all respects; gunaih—by the qualities; toya-nivyah—bordered by the seas; patim—master; bhumeh—of the land; abhyasincat—enthroned; gajahvaye—in the capital of Hastinapura.

Thereafter, in the capital of Hastinapura, he enthroned his grandson, who was trained and equally qualified, as the emperor and master of all land bordered by the seas.

The total land on the earth bordered by the seas was under the subjugation of the King of Hastinapura. Maharaja Yudhisthira trained his grandson, Maharaja Pariksit, who was equally qualified, in state administration in terms of the king’s obligation to the citizens. Thus Pariksit was enthroned on the seat of Maharaja Yudhisthira prior to his departure back to Godhead. Concerning Maharaja Pariksit, the specific word used, vinayinam, is significant. Why was the King of Hastinapura, at least till the time of Maharaja Pariksit, accepted as the Emperor of the world? The only reason is that the people of the world were happy because of the good administration of the emperor. The happiness of the citizens was due to the ample production of natural produce such as grains, fruits, milk, herbs, valuable stones, minerals and everything that the people needed. They were even free from all bodily miseries, anxieties of mind, and disturbances caused by natural phenomena and other living beings. Because everyone was happy in all respects, there was no resentment, although there were sometimes battles between the state kings for political reasons and supremacy. Everyone was trained to attain the highest goal of life, and therefore the people were also enlightened enough not to quarrel over trivialities. The influence of the age of Kali gradually infiltrated the good qualities of both the kings and the citizens, and therefore a tense situation developed between the ruler and the ruled, but still even in this age of disparity between the ruler and the ruled, there can be spiritual emolument and God consciousness. That is a special prerogative.

SB1.15.39

TEXT 39

mathurayam tatha vajram

surasena-patim tatah

prajapatyam nirupyestim

agnin apibad isvarah

mathurayam—at Mathura; tatha—also; vajram—Vajra; surasena-patim—King of the Surasenas; tatah—thereafter; prajapatyam—Prajapatya sacrifice; nirupya—having performed; istim—goal; agnin—fire; apibat—placed in himself; isvarah—capable.

Then he posted Vajra, the son of Aniruddha [grandson of Lord Krsna], at Mathura as the King of Surasena. Afterwards Maharaja Yudhisthira performed a Prajapatya sacrifice and placed in himself the fire for quitting household life.

Maharaja Yudhisthira, after placing Maharaja Pariksit on the imperial throne of Hastinapura, and after posting Vajra, the great-grandson of Lord Krsna, as the King of Mathura, accepted the renounced order of life. The system of four orders of life and four castes in terms of quality and work, known as varnasrama-dharma, is the beginning of real human life, and Maharaja Yudhisthira, as the protector of this system of human activities, timely retired from active life as a sannyasi, handing over the charge of the administration to a trained prince, Maharaja Pariksit. The scientific system of varnasrama-dharma divides the human life into four divisions of occupation and four orders of life. The four orders of life as brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasi are to be followed by all, irrespective of the occupational division. Modern politicians do not wish to retire from active life, even if they are old enough, but Yudhisthira Maharaja, as an ideal king, voluntarily retired from active administrative life to prepare himself for the next life. Everyone’s life must be so arranged that the last stage of life, say at least the last fifteen to twenty years prior to death, can be absolutely devoted to the devotional service of the Lord to attain the highest perfection of life. It is really foolishness to engage oneself all the days of one’s life in material enjoyment and fruitive activities, because as long as the mind remains absorbed in fruitive work for material enjoyment, there is no chance of getting out from conditioned life, or material bondage. No one should follow the suicidal policy of neglecting one’s supreme task of attaining the highest perfection of life, namely going back home, back to Godhead.

SB1.15.40

TEXT 40

visrjya tatra tat sarvam

dukula-valayadikam

nirmamo nirahankarah

sanchinnasesa-bandhanah

visrjya—relinquishing; tatra—all those; tat—that; sarvam—everything; dukula—belt; valaya-adikam—and bangles; nirmamah—uninterested; nirahankarah—unattached; sanchinna—perfectly cut off; asesa-bandhanah—unlimited attachment.

Maharaja Yudhisthira at once relinquished all his garments, belt and ornaments of the royal order and became completely disinterested and unattached to everything.

To become purified of material contamination is the necessary qualification for becoming one of the associates of the Lord. No one can become an associate of the Lord or can go back to Godhead without such purification. Maharaja Yudhisthira, therefore, to become spiritually pure, at once gave up his royal opulence, relinquishing his royal dress and garments. The kasaya, or saffron loincloth of a sannyasi, indicates freedom from all attractive material garments, and thus he changed his dress accordingly. He became disinterested in his kingdom and family and thus became free from all material contamination, or material designation. People are generally attached to various kinds of designations—the designations of family, society, country, occupation, wealth, position and many others. As long as one is attached to such designations, he is considered materially impure. The so-called leaders of men in the modern age are attached by national consciousness, but they do not know that such false consciousness is also another designation of the materially conditioned soul; one has to relinquish such designations before one can become eligible to go back to Godhead. Foolish people adore such men who die in national consciousness, but here is an example of Maharaja Yudhisthira, a royal king who prepared himself to leave this world without such national consciousness. And yet he is remembered even today because he was a great pious king, almost on the same level with the Personality of Godhead Sri Rama. And because people of the world were dominated by such pious kings, they were happy in all respects, and it was quite possible for such great emperors to rule the world.

SB1.15.41

TEXT 41

vacam juhava manasi

tat prana itare ca tam

mrtyav apanam sotsargam

tam pancatve hy ajohavit

vacam—speeches; juhava—relinquished; manasi—into the mind; tat prane—mind into breathing; itare ca—other senses also; tam—into that; mrtyau—into death; apanam—breathing; sa-utsargam—with all dedication; tam—that; pancatve—into the body made of five elements; hi—certainly; ajohavit—amalgamated it.

Then he amalgamated all the sense organs into the mind, then the mind into life, life into breathing, his total existence into the embodiment of the five elements, and his body into death. Then, as pure self, he became free from the material conception of life.

Maharaja Yudhisthira, like his brother Arjuna, began to concentrate and gradually became freed from all material bondage. First he concentrated all the actions of the senses and amalgamated them into the mind, or in other words he turned his mind toward the transcendental service of the Lord. He prayed that since all material activities are performed by the mind in terms of actions and reactions of the material senses, and since he was going back to Godhead, the mind would wind up its material activities and be turned towards the transcendental service to the Lord. There was no longer a need for material activities. Actually the activities of the mind cannot be stopped, for they are the reflection of the eternal soul, but the quality of the activities can be changed from matter to the transcendental service of the Lord. The material color of the mind is changed when one washes it from contaminations of life-breathing and thereby frees it from the contamination of repeated births and deaths and situates it in pure spiritual life. All is manifested by the temporary embodiment of the material body, which is a production of the mind at the time of death, and if the mind is purified by practice of transcendental loving service to the Lord and is constantly engaged in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, there is no more chance of the mind’s producing another material body after death. It will be freed from absorption in material contamination. The pure soul will be able to return home, back to Godhead.

SB1.15.42

TEXT 42

tritve hutva ca pancatvam

tac caikatve ’juhon munih

sarvam atmany ajuhavid

brahmany atmanam avyaye

tritve—into the three qualities; hutva—having offered; ca—also; pancatvam—five elements; tat—that; ca—also; ekatve—in one nescience; ajuhot—amalgamated; munih—the thoughtful; sarvam—the sum total; atmani—in the soul; ajuhavit—fixed; brahmani—unto the spirit; atmanam—the soul; avyaye—unto the inexhaustible.

Thus annihilating the gross body of five elements into the three qualitative modes of material nature, he merged them in one nescience and then absorbed that nescience in the self, Brahman, which is inexhaustible in all circumstances.

All that is manifested in the material world is the product of the mahat-tattva-avyakta, and things that are visible in our material vision are nothing but combinations and permutations of such variegated material products. But the living entity is different from such material products. It is due to the living entity’s forgetfulness of his eternal nature as eternal servitor of the Lord, and his false conception of being a so-called lord of the material nature, that he is obliged to enter into the existence of false sense enjoyment. Thus a concomitant generation of material energies is the principal cause of the mind’s being materially affected. Thus the gross body of five elements is produced. Maharaja Yudhisthira reversed the action and merged the five elements of the body in the three modes of material nature. The qualitative distinction of the body as being good, bad or mediocre is extinguished, and again the qualitative manifestations become merged in the material energy, which is produced from a false sense of the pure living being. When one is thus inclined to become an associate of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, in one of the innumerable planets of the spiritual sky, especially in Goloka Vrndavana, one has to think always that he is different from the material energy; he has nothing to do with it, and he has to realize himself as pure spirit, Brahman, qualitatively equal with the Supreme Brahman (Paramesvara). Maharaja Yudhisthira, after distributing his kingdom to Pariksit and Vajra, did not think himself Emperor of the world or head of the Kuru dynasty. This sense of freedom from material relations, as well as freedom from the material encagement of the gross and subtle encirclement, makes one free to act as the servitor of the Lord, even though one is in the material world. This stage is called the jivan-mukta stage, or the liberated stage, even in the material world. That is the process of ending material existence. One must not only think that he is Brahman, but must act like Brahman. One who only thinks himself Brahman is an impersonalist. And one who acts like Brahman is the pure devotee.

SB1.15.43

TEXT 43

cira-vasa niraharo

baddha-van mukta-murdhajah

darsayann atmano rupam

jadonmatta-pisacavat

anaveksamano niragad

asrnvan badhiro yatha

cira-vasah—accepted torn clothing; niraharah—gave up all solid foodstuff; baddha-vak—stopped talking; mukta-murdhajah—untied his hair; darsayan—began to show; atmanah—of himself; rupam—bodily features; jada—inert; unmatta—mad; pisaca-vat—just like an urchin; anaveksamanah—without waiting for; niragat—was situated; asrnvan—without hearing; badhirah—just like a deaf man; yatha—as if.

After that, Maharaja Yudhisthira dressed himself in torn clothing, gave up eating all solid foods, voluntarily became dumb and let his hair hang loose. All this combined to make him look like an urchin or madman with no occupation. He did not depend on his brothers for anything. And, just like a deaf man, he heard nothing.

Thus being freed from all external affairs, he had nothing to do with imperial life or family prestige, and for all practical purposes he posed himself exactly like an inert mad urchin and did not speak of material affairs. He had no dependence on his brothers, who had all along been helping him. This stage of complete independence from everything is also called the purified stage of fearlessness.

SB1.15.44

TEXT 44

udicim pravivesasam

gata-purvam mahatmabhih

hrdi brahma param dhyayan

navarteta yato gatah

udicim—the northern side; pravivesa-asam—those who wanted to enter there; gata-purvam—the path accepted by his forefathers; maha-atmabhih—by the broad-minded; hrdi—within the heart; brahma—the Supreme; param—Godhead; dhyayan—constantly thinking of; na avarteta—passed his days; yatah—wherever; gatah—went.

He then started towards the north, treading the path accepted by his forefathers and great men, to devote himself completely to the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he lived in that way wherever he went.

drstva sprstah praja bhuvi

It is understood from this verse that Maharaja Yudhisthira followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and the great devotees of the Lord. We have discussed many times before that the system of varnasrama-dharma, as it was strictly followed by the inhabitants of the world, specifically by those who inhabited the Aryavarta province of the world, emphasizes the importance of leaving all household connections at a certain stage of life. The training and education was so imparted, and thus a respectable person like Maharaja Yudhisthira had to leave all family connection for self-realization and going back to Godhead. No king or respectable gentleman would continue family life till the end, because that was considered suicidal and against the interest of the perfection of human life. In order to be free from all family encumbrances and devote oneself cent percent in the devotional service of Lord Krsna, this system is always recommended for everyone because it is the path of authority. The Lord instructs in the Bhagavad-gita (18.62) that one must become a devotee of the Lord at least at the last stage of one’s life. A sincere soul of the Lord like Maharaja Yudhisthira must abide by this instruction of the Lord for his own interest.

The specific words brahma param indicate Lord Sri Krsna. This is corroborated in the Bhagavad-gita (10.13) by Arjuna with reference to great authorities like Asita, Devala, Narada and Vyasa. Thus Maharaja Yudhisthira, while leaving home for the north, constantly remembered Lord Sri Krsna within himself, following in the footsteps of his forefathers as well as the great devotees of all times.

SB1.15.45

TEXT 45

sarve tam anunirjagmur

bhratarah krta-niscayah

kalinadharma-mitrena

sarve—all his younger brothers; tam—him; anunirjagmuh—left home by following the elder; bhratarah—brothers; krta-niscayah—decidedly; kalina—by the age of Kali; adharma—principle of irreligion; mitrena—by the friend; drstva—observing; sprstah—having overtaken; prajah—all citizens; bhuvi—on the earth.

The younger brothers of Maharaja Yudhisthira observed that the age of Kali had already arrived throughout the world and that the citizens of the kingdom were already affected by irreligious practice. Therefore they decided to follow in the footsteps of their elder brother.

The younger brothers of Maharaja Yudhisthira were already obedient followers of the great Emperor, and they had sufficiently been trained to know the ultimate goal of life. They therefore decidedly followed their eldest brother in rendering devotional service to Lord Sri Krsna. According to the principles of sanatana-dharma, one must retire from family life after half the duration of life is finished and must engage himself in self-realization. But the question of engaging oneself is not always decided. Sometimes retired men are bewildered about how to engage themselves for the last days of life. Here is a decision by authorities like the Pandavas. All of them engaged themselves in favorably culturing the devotional service of the Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Svami Sridhara, dharma, artha, kama and moksa, or fruitive activities, philosophical speculations and salvation, as conceived by several persons, are not the ultimate goal of life. They are more or less practiced by persons who have no information of the ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is already indicated by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gita (18.64), and the Pandavas were intelligent enough to follow it without hesitation.

SB1.15.46

TEXT 46

te sadhu-krta-sarvartha

jnatvatyantikam atmanah

manasa dharayam asur

vaikuntha-caranambujam

te—all of them; sadhu-krta—having performed everything worthy of a saint; sarva-arthah—that which includes everything worthy; jnatva—knowing it well; atyantikam—the ultimate; atmanah—of the living being; manasa—within the mind; dharayam asuh—sustained; vaikuntha—the Lord of the spiritual sky; carana-ambujam—the lotus feet.

They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly decided that the lotus feet of the Lord Sri Krsna are the supreme goal of all. Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption.

tad-dhyanodriktaya bhaktya

In the Bhagavad-gita (7.28) the Lord says that only those who have done pious deeds in previous lives and have become freed from the results of all impious acts can concentrate upon the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna. The Pandavas, not only in this life but also in their previous lives, had always performed the supreme pious work, and thus they are ever free from all the reactions of impious work. It is quite reasonable, therefore, that they concentrated their minds upon the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna. According to Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti, dharma, artha, kama and moksa principles are accepted by persons who are not free from the results of impious action. Such persons affected with the contaminations of the above four principles cannot at once accept the lotus feet of the Lord in the spiritual sky. The Vaikuntha world is situated far beyond the material sky. The material sky is under the management of Durga Devi, or the material energy of the Lord, but the Vaikuntha world is managed by the personal energy of the Lord.

SB1.15.47-48

TEXTS 47–48

visuddha-dhisanah pare

tasmin narayana-pade

ekanta-matayo gatim

avapur duravapam te

asadbhir visayatmabhih

vidhuta-kalmasa sthanam

virajenatmanaiva hi