Essence Of Maha Bhagavatha Purana

King Parikshit and Brahmana boy�s curse

At the close of the Great Battle of Mahabharatha, ‘Duryodhna’, the last wicked warrior fell on the ground with his thighs broken by ‘Bhima’. ‘Aswathama’, the son of Drona, killed the sons of ‘Arjuna’ in sleep out of vengence.Arjuna hunted for Aswathama who had to utilise the Greatest Weapon ‘Brahma Astra’to counter Arjuna who too used the same weapon back again to control Aswathama. But, as advised by Dharma Raja,the elder brother of Arjuna and close associate of Lord Krishna, let go of Aswathama, by cutting his hair and a Natural  Jewel on his head, which by itself was a punishment.‘Bhisma Pitamaha, the Grand Old Grandfather figure of Kuruvamsa who was felled on the battle field but availed of his boon to die at his own volition, waited till ‘Uttarayana’ or the time for Sun’s course towards northern hemisphere, and joined the Supreme Soul.

Lord Krishna who returned to ‘Dwaraka’ City after the Great Battle had eventually ended His Incarnation and merged with His Own Super Power. That was the Memorable Close of the Greatest Epic of ‘Maha Bharata’.As one Brahmastra released by Aswathama against Arjun was retaliated by another Brahmastra, the former Weapon would have affected the child in the womb of  ‘Uttara’ (the war widow of ‘Abhimanyu’ and the daughter-in-law of Arjun) but for Lord Krishna’s intervention. The Child, named Parikshith was the lone survivor of Pandava Family who eventually became the King. He was extremely pious and ideal as a benevolent King. He came across a Divine Cow once and declared herself as ‘Dharma’ or Virtue. It cautioned the King to watch out the impending danger as the near future would usher in the Era of ‘Kali’, full of vice, degeneration, injustice, and hatred. The Sacred Cow which had the reputation of walking well on its four legs would soon limp by a single leg and hop to barely move!  The King’s reputation as a philonthropher and noble came to be acclaimed far and wide. Once he went on a Royal Hunt in search of animals and having been exhausted, sought rest at the ‘Ashram’ (hermitage) of Samika Rishi who was in deep ‘Tapas’ (meditation). As the Rishi neither welcomed him nor was communicative, the King felt humiliated and placed a dead snake on the shoulders of the Rishi.The Rishi’s son, Shringi, returned to the Ashram and saw the ugly sight.Out of immense anger, he cursed the King that within a week’s time, a flying snake would kill him for his unpardonable indiscretion. On realising the severity of the Brahmana boy’s curse the Rishi felt sorry for the episode but it was too late to withdraw it. He repented the horrible incident but quickly braced up the situation by seating firmly on the bank of River Ganges and beseeched Suka Maha Muni to scoop out what all knowledge that he could muster and enlighten him within a matter of seven days and enable him to face death in full preparation. The word spread out and attracted several Sages, Thinkers, Devotees, Visitors and the Subjects of the Kingdom in growing streams. The King felt that his end would not only help himself but provide a colossal opportunity to the onlookers of being able to listen to the preachings by the  Maha Muni Himself in person! Making a Pilgrim’s journey to the Holy River Banks, illustrious Sages like Atri, Vasishtha, Bhrigu, Parasara, Visvamitra, Angira, Bharadwaja, Guatama, Dwipayana and the Globe trotter Narada himself made their  visits. Besides, there were streams of Kings, Rajarshis, and demi-Gods quite apart from citizens of various other Kingdoms. King Parikshith himself sat composed, eqanimous and ready to face the end, fasting on a mat unto death, having named his son ‘Janamejaya’ as the succsessor. On the other hand, Suka Maha Muni was a boy of sixteen years with spell-binding personality and a thunderous voice as if emerging from the heavens providing spontaneous replies.Incidentally, he had the nose of a parrot as his father, the Sage Vyasa who ignited wooden pieces to start a Sacrifice (‘Yagna’) –this act is known as ‘Arani’-  was momentarily tempted with a passing-by Celestial Damsel named Gritachi and his semen fell in the Arani, while a parrot flew across the Fire-Pit.