CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Thus ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša, AkrĹŤra visited HastinÄpura, said to be the site of what is now New Delhi. The part of New Delhi still known as Indraprastha is accepted by people in general as the old capital of the PÄášá¸avas. The very name HastinÄpura suggests that there were many hastÄŤs, or elephants; because the PÄášá¸avas kept many elephants in the capital, it was called HastinÄpura. Keeping elephants is very expensive; to keep many elephants, therefore, the kingdom must be very rich, and HastinÄpura, as AkrĹŤra saw when he reached it, was full of elephants, horses, chariots and other opulences. The kings of HastinÄpura were taken to be the ruling kings of the whole world. Their fame was widely spread throughout the entire kingdom, and their administration was conducted under the good counsel of learned brÄhmaášas.
After seeing the very opulent capital city, AkrĹŤra met King DháštarÄᚣášra. He also saw grandfather Bhčᚣma sitting with him. After meeting them, he went to see Vidura and then KuntÄŤ, AkrĹŤraâs cousin. One after another, he saw King BÄhlÄŤka and his son Somadatta, DroášÄcÄrya, KášpÄcÄrya, Karáša and Suyodhana. (Suyodhana is another name of Duryodhana.) Then he saw the son of DroášÄcÄrya, AĹvatthÄmÄ, as well as the five PÄášá¸ava brothers and other friends and relatives living in the city. All those who met AkrĹŤra, known also as the son of GÄndinÄŤ, were very much pleased to receive him and inquire about the welfare of their respective relatives. He was offered a good seat at his receptions, and he in turn inquired all about the welfare and activities of his relatives.
Since he was deputed by Lord KášášŁáša to visit HastinÄpura, it is understood that he was very intelligent in studying a diplomatic situation. DháštarÄᚣášra was unlawfully occupying the throne after the death of King PÄášá¸u, despite the presence of PÄášá¸uâs sons. AkrĹŤra could understand very well that ill-motivated DháštarÄᚣášra was much inclined in favor of his own sons. In fact, DháštarÄᚣášra had already usurped the kingdom and was now intriguing to dispose of the five PÄášá¸ava brothers. AkrĹŤra knew that all the sons of DháštarÄᚣášra, headed by Duryodhana, were very crooked politicians. DháštarÄᚣášra did not act in accordance with the good instructions given by Bhčᚣma and Vidura; instead, he was being conducted by the ill instructions of such persons as Karáša and Ĺakuni. AkrĹŤra decided to stay in HastinÄpura for a few months to study the whole political situation.
Gradually AkrĹŤra learned from KuntÄŤ and Vidura that the sons of DháštarÄᚣášra were intolerant and envious of the five PÄášá¸ava brothers because of their extraordinary learning in military science and their greatly developed bodily strength. The PÄášá¸avas acted as truly chivalrous heroes, exhibited all the good qualities of kᚣatriyas and were very responsible princes, always thinking of the welfare of the citizens. AkrĹŤra also learned that the envious sons of DháštarÄᚣášra had tried to kill the PÄášá¸avas by poisoning them.
AkrĹŤra happened to be one of the cousins of KuntÄŤ; therefore, after meeting him, she began to inquire about her paternal relatives. Thinking of her birthplace and beginning to cry, she asked AkrĹŤra whether her father, mother, brothers, sisters and other friends at home still remembered her. She especially inquired about KášášŁáša and BalarÄma, her glorious nephews. She asked, âDoes KášášŁáša, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is very affectionate to His devotees, remember my sons? Does BalarÄma remember us?â Inside herself, KuntÄŤ felt like a she-deer in the midst of tigers, and actually her position was like that. After the death of her husband, King PÄášá¸u, she was supposed to take care of the five PÄášá¸ava children, but the sons of DháštarÄᚣášra were always planning to kill them. She was certainly living like a poor innocent animal in the midst of several tigers. Being a devotee of Lord KášášŁáša, she always thought of Him and expected that one day KášášŁáša would come and save them from their dangerous position. She inquired from AkrĹŤra whether KášášŁáša proposed to come to advise the fatherless PÄášá¸avas how to get free of the intrigues of DháštarÄᚣášra and his sons. Talking with AkrĹŤra about all these affairs, she felt herself helpless and exclaimed, âMy dear KášášŁáša, my dear KášášŁáša! You are the supreme mystic, the Supersoul of the universe. You are the real well-wisher of the whole universe. My dear Govinda, at this time You are far away from me, yet I pray to surrender unto Your lotus feet. I am now grief-stricken with my five fatherless sons. I can fully understand that but for Your lotus feet there is no shelter or protection. Your lotus feet can deliver all aggrieved souls because You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can be safe from the clutches of repeated birth and death by Your mercy only. My dear KášášŁáša, You are the supreme pure one, the Supersoul and the master of all yogÄŤs. What can I say? I can simply offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Accept me as Your fully surrendered devotee.â
Although KášášŁáša was not present before her, KuntÄŤ offered her prayers to Him as if she were in His presence face to face. This is possible for anyone following in the footsteps of KuntÄŤ. KášášŁáša does not have to be physically present everywhere. He is actually present everywhere by spiritual potency, and one simply has to surrender unto Him sincerely.
When KuntÄŤ was offering her prayers very feelingly to KášášŁáša, she could not check herself and began to cry loudly before AkrĹŤra. Vidura was also present, and both AkrĹŤra and Vidura became very sympathetic to the mother of the PÄášá¸avas and began to solace her by glorifying her five sons, namely Yudhiᚣášhira, Arjuna, BhÄŤma, Nakula and Sahadeva. They pacified her, saying that her sons were extraordinarily powerful; she should not be perturbed about them, since they were born of great demigods like YamarÄja, Indra and VÄyu.
AkrĹŤra decided to return home and report on the strained circumstances in which he found KuntÄŤ and her five sons. He first wanted to give good advice to DháštarÄᚣášra, who was so favorably inclined toward his own sons and unfavorably inclined toward the PÄášá¸avas. When King DháštarÄᚣášra was sitting among friends and relatives, AkrĹŤra began to address him, calling him VaicitravÄŤrya. VaicitravÄŤrya means âthe son of VicitravÄŤrya.â VicitravÄŤrya was the name of DháštarÄᚣášraâs father, but DháštarÄᚣášra was actually the begotten son not of VicitravÄŤrya but of VyÄsadeva. Formerly it was the system that if a man was unable to beget a child, his brother could beget a child in the womb of his wife (devareáša sutotpattiḼ). That system is now forbidden in this Age of Kali. AkrĹŤra called DháštarÄᚣášra VaicitravÄŤrya sarcastically because he was not actually begotten by his father. He was the son of VyÄsadeva. When a child was begotten in the wife by the husbandâs brother, the child was claimed by the husband, but of course the child was not begotten by the husband. This sarcastic remark pointed out that DháštarÄᚣášra was falsely claiming the throne on hereditary grounds. Actually PÄášá¸u had been the rightful king, and in the presence of PÄášá¸uâs sons, the PÄášá¸avas, DháštarÄᚣášra should not have occupied the throne.
AkrĹŤra said, âMy dear son of VicitravÄŤrya, you have unlawfully usurped the throne of the PÄášá¸avas. Anyway, somehow or other you are now on the throne. Therefore I beg to advise you to please rule the kingdom on moral and ethical principles. If you do so and try to please your subjects in that way, your name and fame will be perpetual.â AkrĹŤra hinted that although DháštarÄᚣášra was ill-treating his nephews, the PÄášá¸avas, they happened to be his subjects. âEven if you treat them not as the owners of the throne but as your subjects, you should impartially think of their welfare as though they were your own sons. But if you do not follow this principle and act in just the opposite way, you will be unpopular among your subjects, and in the next life you will have to live in a hellish condition. I therefore hope you will treat your sons and the sons of PÄášá¸u equally.â AkrĹŤra hinted that if DháštarÄᚣášra did not treat the PÄášá¸avas and his sons as equals, surely there would be a fight between the two camps of cousins. Since the PÄášá¸avas' cause was just, they would come out victorious, and the sons of DháštarÄᚣášra would be killed. This was a prophecy told by AkrĹŤra to DháštarÄᚣášra.
AkrĹŤra further advised DháštarÄᚣášra: âIn this material world, no one can remain an eternal companion to another. Only by chance do we assemble together in a family, society, community or nation, but at the end, because every one of us has to give up the body, we must be separated. One should not, therefore, be unnecessarily affectionate toward family members.â DháštarÄᚣášraâs affection was also unlawful and did not show much intelligence. In plain words, AkrĹŤra hinted to DháštarÄᚣášra that his staunch family affection was due to his gross ignorance of fact or his blindness to moral principles. Although we appear combined together in a family, society or nation, each of us has an individual destiny. Everyone takes birth according to individual past work; therefore everyone must individually enjoy or suffer the result of his own karma. There is no possibility of improving oneâs destiny by cooperative living. Sometimes it happens that oneâs father accumulates wealth by illegal ways, and the son takes away the money, although it was earned with great difficulty by the father, just as a small fish in the ocean eats the material body of a large, old fish. One ultimately cannot accumulate wealth illegally for the gratification of his family, society, community or nation. An illustration of this principle is that many great empires which developed in the past are no longer existing because their wealth was squandered away by later descendants. One who does not know this subtle law of fruitive activities and who thus gives up the moral and ethical principles carries with him only the reactions of his sinful activities. His ill-gotten wealth and possessions are taken by someone else, and he goes to the darkest region of hellish life. One should not, therefore, accumulate more wealth than allotted to him by destiny; otherwise he will be factually blind to his own interest. Instead of fulfilling his self-interest, he will act in just the opposite way, for his own downfall.
AkrĹŤra continued: âMy dear DháštarÄᚣášra, I beg to advise you not to be blind to the facts of material existence. Material, conditioned life, either in distress or in happiness, is to be accepted as a dream. One should try to bring his mind and senses under control and live peacefully for spiritual advancement in KášášŁáša consciousness.â In the Caitanya-caritÄmášta it is said that except for persons in KášášŁáša consciousness, everyone is always disturbed in mind and full of anxiety. Even those trying for liberation, or merging into the Brahman effulgence, and the yogÄŤs who try to achieve perfection in mystic power cannot have peace of mind. Pure devotees of KášášŁáša have no demands to make of KášášŁáša. They are simply satisfied with service to Him. Actual peace and mental tranquillity can be attained only in perfect KášášŁáša consciousness.
After hearing these moral instructions from AkrĹŤra, DháštarÄᚣášra replied, âMy dear AkrĹŤra, you are very charitable in giving me good instructions, but unfortunately I cannot accept them. A person destined to die does not utilize the effects of nectar, although it may be administered to him. I can understand that your instructions are valuable. Unfortunately, they do not stay in my flickering mind, just as the glittering lightning in the sky does not stay fixed in a cloud. I can understand only that no one can stop the onward progress of the supreme will. I understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, KášášŁáša, has appeared in the family of the Yadus to decrease the burdensome load on this earth.â
DháštarÄᚣášra hinted to AkrĹŤra that he had complete faith in KášášŁáša, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the same time, he was very partial to his family members. In the very near future, KášášŁáša would vanquish all the members of his family, and in a helpless condition DháštarÄᚣášra would take shelter of KášášŁášaâs lotus feet. To show His special favor to a devotee, KášášŁáša usually takes away all the objects of his material affection, thus forcing the devotee to be materially helpless, with no alternative but to accept the lotus feet of KášášŁáša. This actually happened to DháštarÄᚣášra after the end of the Battle of Kurukᚣetra.
DháštarÄᚣášra could realize two opposing factors acting before him. He could understand that KášášŁáša was there to remove all the unnecessary burdens of the world. His sons were an unnecessary burden, and so he expected that they would be killed. At the same time, he could not rid himself of his unlawful affection for his sons. Understanding these two contradictory factors, he offered his respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. âThe contradictory ways of material existence are very difficult to understand; they can be taken only as the inconceivable execution of the plan of the Supreme, who by His inconceivable energy creates this material world and enters into it and sets into motion the three modes of nature. When everything is created, He enters into each and every living entity and into the smallest atom. No one can understand the incalculable plans of the Supreme Lord.â
After hearing this statement, AkrĹŤra could clearly understand that DháštarÄᚣášra was not going to change his policy of discriminating against the PÄášá¸avas in favor of his sons. He at once took leave of his friends in HastinÄpura and returned to his home in the kingdom of the Yadus. After returning home, he vividly informed Lord KášášŁáša and BalarÄma of the actual situation in HastinÄpura and the intentions of DháštarÄᚣášra. AkrĹŤra was sent to HastinÄpura by KášášŁáša to study these, and by the grace of the Lord he was successful.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Forty-ninth Chapter of KášášŁáša, âIll-motivated DháštarÄᚣášra.â