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na—not; vayam—we; klesa-bijani—the root cause of sufferings; yatah—wherefrom; syuh—it so happens; purusa-rsabha—O greatest of all human beings; purusam—the person; tam—that; vijanimah—know; vakya-bheda—difference of opinion; vimohitah—bewildered by.

O greatest among human beings, it is very difficult to ascertain the particular miscreant who has caused our sufferings, because we are bewildered by all the different opinions of theoretical philosophers.

There are many theoretical philosophers in the world who put forward their own theories of cause and effect especially about the cause of suffering and its effect on different living beings. Generally there are six great philosophers: Kanada, the author of Vaisesika philosophy; Gautama, the author of logic; Patanjali, the author of mystic yoga; Kapila, the author of Sankhya philosophy; Jaimini, the author of Karma-mimamsa; and Vyasadeva, the author of Vedanta-darsana.

Although the bull, or the personality of religion, and the cow, the personality of the earth, knew perfectly well that the personality of Kali was the direct cause of their sufferings, still, as devotees of the Lord, they knew well also that without the sanction of the Lord no one could inflict trouble upon them. According to the Padma Purana, our present trouble is due to the fructifying of seedling sins, but even those seedling sins also gradually fade away by execution of pure devotional service. Thus even if the devotees see the mischief-mongers, they do not accuse them for the sufferings inflicted. They take it for granted that the mischief-monger is made to act by some indirect cause, and therefore they tolerate the sufferings, thinking them to be God-given in small doses, for otherwise the sufferings should have been greater.

Maharaja Pariksit wanted to get a statement of accusation against the direct mischief-monger, but they declined to give it on the abovementioned grounds. Speculative philosophers, however, do not recognize the sanction of the Lord; they try to find out the cause of sufferings in their own way, as will be described in the following verses. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, such speculators are themselves bewildered, and thus they cannot know that the ultimate cause of all causes is the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead.

daivam anye ’pare karma

svabhavam apare prabhum

kecit—some of them; vikalpa-vasanah—those who deny all kinds of duality; ahuh—declare; atmanam—own self; atmanah—of the self; daivam—superhuman; anye—others; apare—someone else; karma—activity; svabhavam—material nature; apare—many other; prabhum—authorities.

Some of the philosophers, who deny all sorts of duality, declare that one’s own self is responsible for his personal happiness and distress. Others say that superhuman powers are responsible, while yet others say that activity is responsible, and the gross materialists maintain that nature is the ultimate cause.

As referred to above, philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that fruitive activity is the root cause of all distress and happiness, and that even if there is a superior authority, some superhuman powerful God or gods, He or they are also under the influence of fruitive activity because they reward result according to one’s action. They say that action is not independent because action is performed by some performer; therefore, the performer himself is the cause of his own happiness or distress. In the Bhagavad-gita (6.5) also it is confirmed that by one’s mind, freed from material affection, one can deliver himself from the sufferings of material pangs. So one should not entangle oneself in matter by the mind’s material affections. Thus one’s own mind is one’s friend or enemy in one’s material happiness and distress.

Atheistic, materialistic Sankhyaites conclude that material nature is the cause of all causes. According to them, combinations of material elements are the causes of material happiness and distress, and disintegration of matter is the cause of freedom from all material pangs. Gautama and Kanada find that atomic combination is the cause of everything, and impersonalists like Astavakra discover that the spiritual effulgence of Brahman is the cause of all causes. But in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord Himself declares that He is the source of impersonal Brahman, and therefore He, the Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate cause of all causes. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-samhita that Lord Krsna is the ultimate cause of all causes.

SB1.17.20

TEXT 20

apratarkyad anirdesyad

iti kesv api niscayah

atranurupam rajarse

vimrsa sva-manisaya

apratarkyat—beyond the power of reasoning; anirdesyat—beyond the power of thinking; iti—thus; kesu—someone; api—also; niscayah—definitely concluded; atra—herein; anurupam—which of them is right; raja-rse—O sage amongst the kings; vimrsa—judge yourself; sva—by your own; manisaya—power of intelligence.

There are also some thinkers who believe that no one can ascertain the cause of distress by argumentation, nor know it by imagination, nor express it by words. O sage amongst kings, judge for yourself by thinking over all this with your own intelligence.

The Vaisnavites, the devotees of the Lord, do believe, as above explained, that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. He is the supreme director, for He confirms in the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) that He, as all-pervading Paramatma, stays in everyone’s heart and keeps vigilance over all actions and witnesses all activities. The argument of the atheist that one cannot be punished for one’s misdeeds unless proved before a qualified justice is refuted herein, for we accept the perpetual witness and constant companion of the living being. A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramatma are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramatma feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past. He is, therefore, both the all-pervading impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma in everyone’s heart. He is the knower of all past, present and future, and nothing can be concealed from Him. The devotees know this truth, and therefore they discharge their duties sincerely, without being overly anxious for rewards. Besides that, one cannot estimate the Lord’s reactions, either by speculation or by scholarship. Why does He put some into difficulty and not others? He is the supreme knower of the Vedic knowledge, and thus He is the factual Vedantist. At the same time He is the compiler of the Vedanta. No one is independent of Him, and everyone is engaged in His service in different ways. In the conditioned state, such services are rendered by the living being under force of the material nature, whereas in the liberated state the living being is helped by the spiritual nature in the voluntary loving service of the Lord. There is no incongruity or inebriety in His actions. All are on the path of Absolute Truth. Bhismadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord. The conclusion is, therefore, that the sufferings of the representative of religion and the representative of the earth, as present before Maharaja Pariksit, were planned to prove that Maharaja Pariksit was the ideal executive head because he knew well how to give protection to the cows (the earth) and the brahmanas (religious principles), the two pillars of spiritual advancement. Everyone is under the full control of the Lord. He is quite correct in His action when He desires something to be done by someone, irrespective of the consideration of the particular case. Maharaja Pariksit was thus put to test for his greatness. Now let us see how he solves it by his sagacious mind.

SB1.17.21

TEXT 21

suta uvaca

evam dharme pravadati

sa samrad dvija-sattamah

samahitena manasa

vikhedah paryacasta tam

sutah uvaca—Suta Gosvami said; evam—so; dharme—the personality of religion; pravadati—thus having spoken; sah—he; samrat—the Emperor; dvija-sattamah—O best among the brahmanas; samahitena—with proper attention; manasa—by the mind; vikhedah—without any mistake; paryacasta—counterreplied; tam—unto him.

Suta Gosvami said: O best among the brahmanas, the Emperor Pariksit, thus hearing the personality of religion speak, was fully satisfied, and without mistake or regret he gave his reply.

The statement of the bull, the personality of religion, was full of philosophy and knowledge, and the King was satisfied, since he could understand that the suffering bull was not an ordinary one. Unless one is perfectly conversant with the law of the Supreme Lord, one cannot speak such things touching philosophical truths. The Emperor, being also on an equal level of sagacity, replied to the point, without doubts or mistakes.

SB1.17.22

TEXT 22

rajovaca

dharmam bravisi dharma-jna

dharmo ’si vrsa-rupa-dhrk

yad adharma-krtah sthanam

sucakasyapi tad bhavet

raja uvaca—the King said; dharmam—religion; bravisi—as you speak; dharma-jna—O one who knows the codes of religion; dharmah—the personality of religion; asi—you are; vrsa-rupa-dhrk—in the disguise of a bull; yat—whatever; adharma-krtah—one who acts irreligiously; sthanam—place; sucakasya—of the identifier; api—also; tat—that; bhavet—becomes.

The King said: O you, who are in the form of a bull! You know the truth of religion, and you are speaking according to the principle that the destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator. You are no other than the personality of religion.

A devotee’s conclusion is that no one is directly responsible for being a benefactor or mischief-monger without the sanction of the Lord; therefore he does not consider anyone to be directly responsible for such action. But in both the cases he takes it for granted that either benefit or loss is God-sent, and thus it is His grace. In case of benefit, no one will deny that it is God-sent, but in case of loss or reverses one becomes doubtful about how the Lord could be so unkind to His devotee as to put him in great difficulty. Jesus Christ was seemingly put into such great difficulty, being crucified by the ignorant, but he was never angry at the mischief-mongers. That is the way of accepting a thing, either favorable or unfavorable. Thus for a devotee the identifier is equally a sinner, like the mischief-monger. By God’s grace, the devotee tolerates all reverses. Maharaja Pariksit observed this, and therefore he could understand that the bull was no other than the personality of religion himself. In other words, a devotee has no suffering at all because so-called suffering is also God’s grace for a devotee who sees God in everything. The cow and bull never placed any complaint before the King for being tortured by the personality of Kali, although everyone lodges such complaints before the state authorities. The extraordinary behavior of the bull made the King conclude that the bull was certainly the personality of religion, for no one else could understand the finer intricacies of the codes of religion.

bhutanam iti niscayah

athava—alternatively; deva—the Lord; mayayah—energies; nunam—very little; gatih—movement; agocara—inconceivable; cetasah—either by the mind; vacasah—by words; ca—or; api—also; bhutanam—of all living beings; iti—thus; niscayah—concluded.

Thus it is concluded that the Lord’s energies are inconceivable. No one can estimate them by mental speculation or by word jugglery.

A question may be raised as to why a devotee should refrain from identifying an actor, although he knows definitely that the Lord is the ultimate doer of everything. Knowing the ultimate doer, one should not pose himself as ignorant of the actual performer. To answer this doubt, the reply is that the Lord is also not directly responsible, for everything is done by His deputed maya-sakti, or material energy. The material energy is always provoking doubts about the supreme authority of the Lord. The personality of religion knew perfectly well that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, and still he was put into doubts by the deluding energy, and thus he refrained from mentioning the supreme cause. This doubtfulness was due to the contamination of both Kali and the material energy. The whole atmosphere of the age of Kali is magnified by the deluding energy, and the proportion of measurement is inexplicable.

SB1.17.24

TEXT 24

tapah saucam daya satyam

iti padah krte krtah

adharmamsais trayo bhagnah

smaya-sanga-madais tava

tapah—austerity; saucam—cleanliness; daya—mercy; satyam—truthfulness; iti—thus; padah—legs; krte—in the age of Satya; krtah—established; adharma—irreligiosity; amsaih—by the parts; trayah—three combined; bhagnah—broken; smaya—pride; sanga—too much association with women; madaih—intoxication; tava—your.

In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, lust for women, and intoxication.

The deluding energy, or material nature, can act upon the living beings proportionately in terms of the living beings’ falling prey to the deluding attraction of maya. Moths are captivated by the glaring brightness of light, and thus they become prey to the fire. Similarly, the deluding energy is always captivating the conditioned souls to become prey to the fire of delusion, and the Vedic scriptures warn the conditioned souls not to become prey to delusion but to get rid of it. The Vedas warn us to go not to the darkness of ignorance but to the progressive path of light. The Lord Himself also warns that the deluding power of material energy is too powerful to overcome, but one who completely surrenders unto the Lord can easily do so. But to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is also not very easy. Such surrender is possible by persons of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. These four principles of advanced civilization were remarkable features in the age of Satya. In that age, every human being was practically a qualified brahmana of the highest order, and in the social orders of life they were all paramahamsas, or the topmost in the renounced order. By cultural standing, the human beings were not at all subjected to the deluding energy. Such strong men of character were competent enough to get away from the clutches of maya. But gradually, as the basic principles of brahminical culture, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, became curtailed by proportionate development of pride, attachment for women and intoxication, the path of salvation or the path of transcendental bliss retreated far, far away from human society. With the progression of the age of Kali, people are becoming very proud, and attached to women and intoxication. By the influence of the age of Kali, even a pauper is proud of his penny, the women are always dressed in an overly attractive fashion to victimize the minds of men, and the man is addicted to drinking wine, smoking, drinking tea and chewing tobacco, etc. All these habits, or so-called advancement of civilization, are the root causes of all irreligiosities, and therefore it is not possible to check corruption, bribery and nepotism. Man cannot check all these evils simply by statutory acts and police vigilance, but he can cure the disease of the mind by the proper medicine, namely advocating the principles of brahminical culture or the principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. Modern civilization and economic development are creating a new situation of poverty and scarcity with the result of blackmailing the consumer’s commodities. If the leaders and the rich men of the society spend fifty percent of their accumulated wealth mercifully for the misled mass of people and educate them in God consciousness, the knowledge of Bhagavatam, certainly the age of Kali will be defeated in its attempt to entrap the conditioned souls. We must always remember that false pride, or too high an estimation of one’s own values of life, undue attachment to women or association with them, and intoxication will divert human civilization from the path of peace, however much the people clamor for peace in the world. The preaching of the Bhagavatam principles will automatically render all men austere, clean both inside and outside, merciful to the suffering, and truthful in daily behavior. That is the way of correcting the flaws of human society, which are very prominently exhibited at the present moment.

SB1.17.25

TEXT 25

idanim dharma padas te

satyam nirvartayed yatah

tam jighrksaty adharmo ’yam

anrtenaidhitah kalih

idanim—at the present moment; dharma—O personality of religion; padah—leg; te—of you; satyam—truthfulness; nirvartayet—hobbling along somehow or other; yatah—whereby; tam—that; jighrksati—trying to destroy; adharmah—the personality of irreligion; ayam—this; anrtena—by deceit; edhitah—flourishing; kalih—quarrel personified.

You are now standing on one leg only, which is your truthfulness, and you are somehow or other hobbling along. But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by deceit, is also trying to destroy that leg.

srimadbhis tat-pada-nyasaih

The principles of religion do not stand on some dogmas or man-made formulas, but they stand on four primary regulative observances, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. The mass of people must be taught to practice these principles from childhood. Austerity means to accept voluntarily things which may not be very comfortable for the body but are conducive for spiritual realization, for example, fasting. Fasting twice or four times a month is a sort of austerity which may be voluntarily accepted for spiritual realization only, and not for any other purposes, political or otherwise. Fastings which are meant not for self-realization but for some other purposes are condemned in the Bhagavad-gita (17.5–6). Similarly, cleanliness is necessary both for the mind and for the body. Simply bodily cleanliness may help to some extent, but cleanliness of the mind is necessary, and it is effected by glorifying the Supreme Lord. No one can cleanse the accumulated mental dust without glorifying the Supreme Lord. A godless civilization cannot cleanse the mind because it has no idea of God, and for this simple reason people under such a civilization cannot have good qualifications, however they may be materially equipped. We have to see things by their resultant action. The resultant action of human civilization in the age of Kali is dissatisfaction, so everyone is anxious to get peace of mind. This peace of mind was complete in the Satya age because of the existence of the above-mentioned attributes of the human beings. Gradually these attributes have diminished in the Treta-yuga to three fourths, in the Dvapara to half, and in this age of Kali to one fourth, which is also gradually diminishing on account of prevailing untruthfulness. By pride, either artificial or real, the resultant action of austerity is spoiled; by too much affection for female association, cleanliness is spoiled; by too much addiction to intoxication, mercy is spoiled; and by too much lying propaganda, truthfulness is spoiled. The revival of bhagavata-dharma can save human civilization from falling prey to evils of all description.

SB1.17.26

TEXT 26

iyam ca bhumir bhagavata

nyasitoru-bhara sati

sarvatah krta-kautuka

iyam—this; ca—and; bhumih—surface of the earth; bhagavata—by the Personality of Godhead; nyasita—being performed personally as well as by others; uru—great; bhara—burden; sati—being so done; srimadbhih—by the all-auspicious; tat—that; pada-nyasaih—footprints; sarvatah—all around; krta—done; kautuka—good fortune.

The burden of the earth was certainly diminished by the Personality of Godhead and by others as well. When He was present as an incarnation, all good was performed because of His auspicious footprints.

SB1.17.27

TEXT 27

socaty asru-kala sadhvi

durbhagevojjhita sati

abrahmanya nrpa-vyajah

sudra bhoksyanti mam iti

SYNONYMS

socati—lamenting; asru-kala—with tears in the eyes; sadhvi—the chaste; durbhaga—as if the most unfortunate; iva—like; ujjhita—forlorn; sati—being so done; abrahmanyah—devoid of brahminical culture; nrpa-vyajah—posed as the ruler; sudrah—lower class; bhoksyanti—would enjoy; mam—me; iti—thus.

TRANSLATION

Now she, the chaste one, being unfortunately forsaken by the Personality of Godhead, laments her future with tears in her eyes, for now she is being ruled and enjoyed by lower-class men who pose as rulers.

PURPORT

The ksatriya, or the man who is qualified to protect the sufferers, is meant to rule the state. Untrained lower-class men, or men without ambition to protect the sufferers, cannot be placed on the seat of an administrator. Unfortunately, in the age of Kali the lower-class men, without training, occupy the post of a ruler by strength of popular votes, and instead of protecting the sufferers, such men create a situation quite intolerable for everyone. Such rulers illegally gratify themselves at the cost of all comforts of the citizens, and thus the chaste mother earth cries to see the pitiable condition of her sons, both men and animals. That is the future of the world in the age of Kali, when irreligiosity prevails most prominently. And in the absence of a suitable king to curb irreligious tendencies, educating the people systematically in the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam will clear up the hazy atmosphere of corruption, bribery, blackmail, etc.

SB1.17.28

TEXT 28

iti dharmam mahim caiva

santvayitva maha-rathah

nisatam adade khadgam

kalaye ’dharma-hetave