यो वै द्रौण्यस्त्रविप्लुष्टो न मातुरुदरे मृतः ।
अनुग्रहाद्भगवतः कृष्णस्याद्भुतकर्मणः ॥१॥
sÅ«ta uvÄca
yo vai drauṇy-astra-vipluá¹£á¹o
na mÄtur udare má¹›taḥ
anugrahÄd bhagavataḥ
kṛṣṇasyÄdbhuta-karmaṇaḥ
SÅ«ta said: ParÄ«ká¹£it, who, being burned up by the weapon of AÅ›vatthÄmÄ, did not die in his mother’s womb because of the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, performer of astonishing actions; who, because he had taken shelter of the Lord, did not become bewildered with great fear from the life threatening snake called Taká¹£aka called by the curse of the brÄhmaṇa; who became the student of Åšukadeva, and giving up all material association and being situated in realization of the Lord, gave up his body on the bank of the Gaá¹…gÄ.
In the eighteenth chapter, the king repents after placing a snake around the neck of the sage, and hears the curse of his son.
Suta speaks in summary of the astonishing story of Pariksit’s life from birth till attaining the Lord to the sages who were very astonished at hearing his punishment of Kali. Viplustah means burned up. Becoming the pupil of Sukadeva (vaiyasakeh sisyah), he understood the truth (samsthitih) about the Lord (ajita). Or vijnatajita-samsthitih can mean “realizing the Lord at the time of death (samsthitih).â€
