Ĺaunaka uvÄca
kasya hetor nijagrÄha
kaliáš digvijaye nášpaḼ
nášdeva-cihna-dhášk ĹĹŤdra-
ko 'sau gÄáš yaḼ padÄhanat
tat kathyatÄáš mahÄ-bhÄga
yadi kášášŁáša-kathÄĹrayam
ĹaunakaḼ uvÄca - Ĺaunaka ášášŁi said; kasya - for what; hetoḼ - reason; nijagrÄha - sufficiently punished; kalim - the master of the age of Kali; digvijaye - during the time of his world tour; nášpaḼ - the King; náš-deva - royal person; cihna-dhášk - decorated like; ĹĹŤdrakaḼ - lowest of the ĹĹŤdras; asau - he; gÄm - cow; yaḼ - one who; padÄ ahanat - struck on the leg; tat - all that; kathyatÄm - please describe; mahÄ-bhÄga - O greatly fortunate one; yadi - if, however; kášášŁáša - about KášášŁáša; kathÄ-ÄĹrayam - related with His topics.
Ĺaunaka and the ášášŁis were astonished to hear that the pious MahÄrÄja ParÄŤkᚣit simply punished the culprit and did not kill him. This suggests that a pious king like MahÄrÄja ParÄŤkᚣit should have at once killed an offender who wanted to cheat the public by dressing like a king and at the same time daring to insult the purest of the animals, a cow. The ášášŁis in those days, however, could not even imagine that in the advanced days of the Age of Kali the lowest of the ĹĹŤdras will be elected as administrators and will open organized slaughterhouses for killing cows. Anyway, although hearing about a ĹĹŤdraka who was a cheat and insulter of a cow was not very interesting to the great ášášŁis, they nevertheless wanted to hear about it to see if the event had any connection with Lord KášášŁáša. They were simply interested in the topics of Lord KášášŁáša, for anything that is dovetailed with the narration of KášášŁáša is worth hearing. There are many topics in the BhÄgavatam about sociology, politics, economics, cultural affairs, etc., but all of them are in relation with KášášŁáša, and therefore all of them are worth hearing. KášášŁáša is the purifying ingredient in all matters, regardless of what they are. In the mundane world, everything is impure due to its being a product of the three mundane qualities. The purifying agent, however, is KášášŁáša.