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Kunti devi continued to praise Srikrishna, “O Krishna! To those who have had your darshan, the question of re-birth does not arise. You bless even a poor unfortunate person with your darshan.  The person, who becomes conceited due to his opulence, education, power, position or due to his birth in a good lineage, loses even the eligibility to call out Your name.

To the poor, You are their wealth, O Lord! This illusory world does not touch You. Untouched by these feelings of likes-dislikes, You remain eternally in the Parabrahma state enjoying supreme bliss. I offer obeisance to You, who bestows liberation! I consider You to be the eternal time and the all-pervading Lord who is without beginning and end. You are the Supreme Paramātma!

Even though the living beings fight amongst themselves, O Lord, You forever remain equally within everyone. O Supreme Lord, like an ordinary human being, You engage in action (karma) and in your pastimes. How can anyone understand your divine transcendental pastimes? How can anyone understand your intentions?

There is none who is extremely dear to you. At the same time, there is none whom You despise. But human beings imagine that You are partial towards some and that you maintain differences.

You are the one whom everyone seeks. You reside in every heart. There is nothing that touches You. ‘These people I should favour, those people I despise’ such feelings do not touch You. It is due to the individual devotion or arrogance that either they could attract you or distance from You.

O Vishwatma (universal being)! You are beyond birth and action! We, the living beings, have birth and action! You have descended to incarnate amongst animals, humans, saints and taking on the forms of Varaha, Srirama, Vāmana and Matsya (fish), have sportily completed all your actions therein.

In the waters, You incarnated as a fish. There too You enacted your play. Thereafter You took the form of a boar (Varaha). Then You incarnated as a tortoise. Incarnating in those forms, you enacted all the actions associated with them. All this is nothing but your play. None of these actions touch You.

In Your childhood You broke the pot of milk. In order to punish You, Mother Devaki, who was angered with this deed of yours, went to fetch a rope to tie you with. You shed such profuse tears that the kohl (kajal) from your eyes was washed away. Either to test your mother’s feelings or to soften her heart you enacted this play. How can anyone tie You, O Lord? Is it possible? You are the rope, how then can you be tied with a rope? When those profuse tears flowing down your cheeks washed away the kohl (kajal) from your eyes, You bent your head in fear. What more can be said about your plays, O Lord!

I am deeply drawn towards these childhood activities of Yours. The truth is that fear is afraid of you. You are fear to fear itself! It runs away from you as it is terrified of you. How then can You shed tears as if you are scared? How can You bend your head and stand as if you are petrified? What divine plays You enact, O Lord!

You inherently are birthless! But people say that in order to enhance the glory of the King Yadu, who is very dear to You, just as the sandalwood tree emerges in the Malaya Mountain, you took birth in his family. It is said that nothing, not even a thorny bush, grows in the Malaya Mountain. In such a mountain like a sweet smelling sandalwood tree you emerged. How could you have birth?

Devaki  and Vasudeva, in their previous birth, had prayed that You should be born as their son. Although You are birthless, for the well being of the world and for the destruction of the demons, you have taken birth as their son. This is what people say.

Some others say that when Lord Brahma prayed to reduce the load of Mother Earth, You decided to take birth.  By taking this divine birth, you caused different feelings in different people.

Some others are of the opinion that, to give a chance to people, who having been born on this earth are trapped in the vicious cycle of frutitive actions (karma) and are suffering due to it, You decided to take birth. This birth thus is to enact divine plays so that these suffering people get a chance to listen to your divine stories and recollect them.

All those innocent devotees who ought to be helped, all those people whose sins should be cleansed, all those who have obtained your grace have all been uplifted. Through this incarnation, You have demonstrated innumerable divine sports. Through this birth, ignorance (ajnana) has been washed away in many. So many persons have transformed into divine beings, during this birth of yours. They have attained oneness with you.

O Lord, only those devotees who, daily, without fail, read, listen, study, recollect and praise Your divine glories and derive the resultant bliss, are able to obtain the vision of your lotus feet! Unknowingly many study your glories. Many unknowingly think about you. There are many who help others considering them to be You. This is such a strange play, O Lord.  How many of your divine plays can I narrate, O Lord? They are endless”.

Deciding to return back to Dwaraka, Srikrishna took leave of the Pandavas. He worshipped Vyasa and other Maharishis. In turn, they too reverentially worshipped Srikrishna. Along with Satyaki and Uddhama, He sat in the chariot and was just about to leave when he noticed Uttara, daughter of King Virata and wife of Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu, rushing towards him in great fright. She prayed to him in the following manner:

Pāhi pāhi mahā-yogin deva-deva jagat-pate

Nānyaṁ tvad abhayaṁ paśye yatra mṛtyuḥ parasparam

O Maha yogi! O Deva deva! O Lord of this universe! Kindly protect me! In this world where people kill each other, there is none apart from You who can offer me protection! O Prabhu! O Ishwara! A burning iron arrow is heading towards me. I do not mind if it were to kill me, but O Lord, it should not harm the baby in my womb.”

Listening to this prayer of Uttara, Srikrishna, the Supreme Lord who considers devotees as his children, instantaneously realized that this arrow had been launched by Ashwatthama, the son of Drona. He further understood that in order to eliminate the entire lineage of Pandavas from earth, Ashwatthama had directed the weapon towards them.

Exactly at that moment, 5 fiercely burning arrows were rapidly coming towards the Pandavas. For self protection, the 5 Pandavas immediately took up their bows and arrows. Noticing this plight of the Pandavas, who had utmost devotion towards Him, Srikrishna at once used his weapon the Sudarshana chakra (discus) and protected them.

In order to protect this last descendent of the Kuru lineage Srikrishna, who is the Self (atma) within every being and who is the Lord of all Yogis, entered into Uttara’s womb and enveloping the fetus with his power of illusion (maya shakti), protected it.

Brahmāstra is an undefeatable weapon. Even then, this supremely powerful weapon was neutralized and pacified in front of Vishnu’s power and radiance. It retracted from Uttara’s womb and went away.

Shounaka, please do not consider this to be an extremely astonishing event as this Lord is the storehouse of all miracles! To that Supreme Lord who is devoid of birth and who, with His power of illusion (maya shakti) creates, sustains and absorbs this entire material creation, this is not at all an extraordinary deed!

Kunti Devi observed her sons, the Pandavas as well as their wife Draupadi, being saved from this Brahmastra. She now addressed the Lord, who had accomplished such a supreme deed and who was about to begin his journey, in the following manner:

Namasye puruṣaṁ tvādyam īśvaraṁ prakṛteḥ param

Alakṣyaṁ sarva-bhūtānām antar bahir avasthitam

O Krishna! You are the original being (ādi Puruśa). You are the energy that monitors all the planes of existence. You are beyond illusion (māya shakti). You are beyond the understanding of the senses. You reside not only within the hearts of all beings but also outside of it. I offer obeisance to You, O Lord!

Due to the spiritual ignorance (ajnana) of people, You appear as if you are covered by the veil of illusion. However in reality You are beyond the grasp of direct visible proofs (pratyakṣa pramāṇa i.e. firm knowledge that emerges when a subject is grasped directly through the senses)”.

Here the Lord has not covered Himself with a veil. The illusion of the people has put a veil upon Him. People are covered with a veil of illusion. When they remove this veil of illusion, He will shine.

“O Lord, how then am I to realize or understand You, who are indestructible? A foolish man cannot recognize an actor who is in his costume. Likewise the human being who has an egoistic attachment towards the body and who is infatuated towards it cannot recognize You as the Supreme Paramātma.

Even the best yogis who are at the highest state of enlightenment, who have an inner mind that is totally pure and who possess supreme discriminatory capacities, worship You through the path of devotion (bhakti yoga). This incarnation of Yours is solely for this purpose. How can we, the ordinary women, realize and understand Your original true form, which even supreme Yogis fail to understand in totality?

You have saved us from the terrible weapon that had been thrown by Ashwatthama. Only due to this protection given by You, O Lord, we are still alive. O Lord, who has preached the Bhagavad Geeta! O Lord of this Universe! We pray that at all times difficulties should land upon us. This is because during difficulties, we will be having your darshan”.

Swamiji explains: Do you understand this? Real devotees never pray that difficulties should be taken away from them. Praying that all hardships be taken away, means true devotion is lacking in the person. It means he is attaching a value to his devotion. It is trading. It ends with that transaction. True devotees pray that troubles should come to them. Even in Purandaradasa keertana, this is seen, “O Lord, it is enough if I have your compassion. Nothing else matters”, he says.

Om Sriman Narayana!

O Arjuna, you know the principles of (righteousness) dharma. One should always worship and revere those belonging to the Guru’s lineage; one should never bring about grief to Guru’s family. We should not cause sorrow to any member of the Guru’s family. Unable to bear the death of my sons, I have been wailing uncontrollably. Do not make Kripi, the great lady, to bemoan the death of her son and wail like me. What is the use of this weeping and wailing? By causing her grief, my children will not be restored to life, isn’t it? If Kshatriya kings who unable to restrain their minds, destroy or harm the Brahmins they themselves will get totally destroyed”- screamed Draupadi.

Queen Draupadi, under no circumstances, overstepped the rules of righteousness! Her heart was filled with supreme levels of compassion and mercy! She was devoid of feelings of deceit and dishonesty. She always had feelings of equanimity towards everyone.

Hearing these words spoken by Draupadi, Yudhisthira who was born of an aspect of Yama (God of death) was immensely pleased. He, along with Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna, Lord Krishna and all others members present there unanimously agreed. All of them applauded her.

However Bhima in great anger roared, “This heinous sinner Ashwatthama has murdered children who were sleeping. By this heinous deed neither he, nor his master, Duryodhana, obtained any benefit. Elders always state that it is advisable to kill such a person”.

Lord Srikrishna who was present there and who had heard everyone speak now looked at Arjuna’s face and smilingly said, “A Brahmin should not be killed even if he has fallen to lowly degradable levels. I myself had earlier said that he should be killed for having murdered innocent children. I am the one who have made both these statements. Therefore now do as I say. Arjuna, you had earlier made a promise in order to pacify your dearest wife Draupadi. Now fulfill that promise, but yet at the same time through your action, bring happiness to Bhima, Draupadi and me”.

Arjuna understood the Lord’s feelings. He was always with Krishna. He knew that he had the responsibility of fulfilling his promise. Everyone present there was aware of the reason behind Ashwatthama’s arrogance and power. He wore on his head a jewel which was of limitless power. Therefore Arjuna chopped it off together with the hair on his head.

By killing children, Ashwathama had already lost all his luster, splendour and sanctity. Now with the jewel removed from him, even the remaining radiance was gone. Arjuna now unbound Ashwatthama and threw him away from the camp.

Dharma Shastras dictate that a Brahmin, even if he falls to the lowest levels, must not be hanged or killed under any circumstances. Punishments such as chopping off hair from his head, extracting all his wealth, throwing him out of his position, ostracizing him, banishing him or asking citizens not to offer him food and water are equal to death sentence for such degraded Brahmin.

In this way after throwing Ashwatthama out of the camp, the Pandavas together with Draupadi, bemoaned the death of their sons and completed their final rites.

With this the seventh chapter of the first canto comes to an end.

First Canto Eighth Chapter

In this chapter, saving Parikshit who was in Uttara’s womb from the Ashwatthama’s arrow, Kunti Devi’s prayerfully extolling Srikrishna and Yudhisthira’s grief are covered.

Maharishi Suta continues, “After completing the death rites, the Pandavas together with Srikrishna went to Ganga in order to give water oblations to the departed sons. The ladies walked in front. After grieving for them and completing the rituals, they once again bathed in Ganga which had been purified by the dust of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet. Yudhisthira together with his brothers, Gandhāri, Dhritarashtra, Kunti and Draupadi sat there profusely grieving for all their dead kith and kin. Krishna was observing them all.

Together with the other Maharishis He approached and consoled them stating that all living beings had to inevitably face death.

Krishna had returned back to Yudhisthira, the kingdom that had been deceitfully snatched away from him by Duryodhana and his other cunning relatives. He had ensured that the wicked kings who had unrightfully caught hold of Draupadi’s hair, and whose span of life was reduced due to this act, were killed. He got Emperor Yudhisthira to perform 3 Ashwamedha Yāgās. Like the fame attained by Indra, Krishna ensured that Yudhisthira’s virtuous fame spread in all the directions of the world.

Sriman Narayana.

Arjuna continued his prayer, “This incarnation of Yours O Lord is also to help those devotees, who exclusively meditate upon You with total concentration. O Devadeva! What could be this huge illumination that is advancing in this direction? From where is it coming? This terrible illumination is encircling me from all directions. I am unable to understand anything. Please rescue me”.

Srikrishna replied, “Arjuna, do you realize that this is the dangerous Brahmāstra? Panic stricken Ashwatthama, the son of Drona, has used this weapon. He does not know the art of recalling or neutralizing it. There is no weapon in this world which can counter a Brahmāstra. Only a Brahmāstra can neutralize another Brahmāstra . Arjuna, you are an expert in the knowledge of archery. Therefore release a Brahmāstra and neutralize this weapon”.

How to counteract fire? Suppose there is a forest fire. To subdue the flames water is poured upon it but it continues to spread everywhere. It is said that the direction in which the flames are spreading must be estimated. Thereafter in that path another fire should be lit. Fire neutralizes fire.

Arjuna then performed acamana (a purificatory ritual), circumambulated around Lord Srikrishna and released a Brahmāstra. The two weapons merged and created an unimaginably mammoth illumination which resembled the Sun or a huge ball of fire. This brilliance enveloped all the three planes of existence. Due to the combined intensity of these two weapons, all the three planes were scorched. People feared that the fire of destruction had descended upon them.

Sensing that the world was about to be destroyed, Srikrishna was unhappy. Arjuna who understood the feelings of Srikrishna instantaneously recalled both weapons. Since both the weapons had merged, there was only one weapon. Arjuna recalled it. Arjuna, who had the blessings of his Guru, also had the knowledge of recalling weapons that were released by others.

Arjuna was deeply incensed and now rushing at great speeds caught hold of Ashwatthama. He bound him with ropes as if he was an animal and planned to drag him like an animal to Draupadi’s camp. Seeing this, Krishna angrily said, “O Arjuna, do not spare him. He is a lowly degraded Brahmin. Kill him. He has gone and murdered innocent children who were sleeping. He is a terrible sinner.

Anyone who knows the tenets of dharma will not kill his enemy when he is intoxicated, is careless, is insane or is sleeping. He will not kill a person who has sought refuge under him, who cannot help himself, one who does not have a chariot or one who is terrified. He will not kill children or women. He will not kill helpless persons and will simply let them go. Such a person is a true warrior.

A wretched person, who devoid of compassion saves his life at the cost of others, should be killed for in it lies his well-being. This is because if such a person is left free, his wickedness only increases and he falls to the lowest states. Therefore killing him is for his own benefit. Hence Arjuna kill Ashwatthama right away. With that his sins will be destroyed. Moreover did you not in my presence, promise Draupadi that you will gift her Ashwatthama’s head? Therefore kill this Ashwatthama, the murderer of children, right now!

His cruel deed was not to the liking of his master Duryodhana. ‘Is it so easy to kill the sons of the Pandavas? He must be fooling me’ Duryodhana thought in this manner and did not even believe him. Duryodhana also thought that if he really had killed the sons of the Pandavas, then he, Ashwatthama, who had been invincible so far, had brought about his own downfall”.

In this manner, Krishna, seeking to test Arjuna’s wisdom and his adherence to the rules of dharma, instigated him in various ways to kill Ashwatthama.  But Arjuna, the supreme being, did not have the heart to kill Ashwatthama, the son of his Guru, although he was the murderer of his sons. He considered killing his Guru’s son as equivalent of killing his own son. How could he inflict pain upon another merely because his sons were killed? After all Ashwatthama was the son of their revered Guru. How could he kill him? Arjuna did not want to kill Ashwatthama.

Arjuna then dragged Ashwatthama and entrusted him to the grieving Draupadi. Draupadi, the virtuous woman, seeing Ashwatthama, the son of their Guru, who was being dragged like an animal and who had bent his head in shame, was totally filled with feelings of compassion towards him. With such feelings of compassion she respectfully saluted him. She was totally pacified. Such a divine being she was! After all, she was also a mother. A mother always remains a mother. Draupadi, who was a pious devoted chaste woman, could not bear to see Ashwatthama being dragged about like an animal.

She screamed loudly, “Release him! Release him right now! After all he is a revered Brahmin, he is the son of our Guru. Just free him right now. O Arjuna! That revered Guru from whom you learnt the secrets of archery; that revered Guru from whom you learnt how to release and recall weapons, that great spiritual teacher Guru Drona is now standing in front of us in the form of Ashwatthama. Kripi, the wife of Guru Drona and the mother of this warrior, still remains alive. She did not give up her life along with her husband Drona. Hence release him right away.”

Narayana, Narayana, Sriman Narayana!

Sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam

Śukam adhyāpayām āsa nivṛtti-nirataṁ muniḥ

The great sage Maharishi Vyasa composed Śrimad Bhāgawata Samhita, thereafter scrutinized his work thoroughly and then taught it to his son Maharishi Śuka, who was an exponent in Supreme Knowledge and who had attained ultimate dispassion.  He got him to read the text,” said Maharishi Suta.

Śounaka and other saints asked, “O Maharishi Suta! What was the necessity for Maharishi Śuka, who had attained total dispassion and who was an exponent in Self-knowledge to study Bhāgawatam when he was already all-knowing and had reached the pinnacle? He was experiencing supreme bliss and was Self-realized, isn’t it?”

Maharishi Suta replied, “It is true that for yogis and saints who dwell in the Self, the necessity of reading any scripture does not exist. Nevertheless, they possess selfless devotion towards the omnipresent Lord. Lord Srihari’s glories and His supreme traits are infinite. At the same time they are melodious and pleasant. As a result, they attract even the hearts of such saints who dwell in the Self.

This saint had deep love towards the dear devotees of the Lord. The venerable Maharishi Śuka, the son of Maharishi Vyasa, being attracted towards the qualities of the Supreme Lord every single day studied this great text Bhāgawatam. He recollected the glories every single day.

O Maharishis! Now along with the story of Lord Krishna, I shall narrate the birth of the saintly king Parikshit, his noble deeds, the manner in which he attained liberation as well as the story of the Pandavas’ ascent to Heaven. Please listen.

During the war, Dristadyumna, the commander in chief of Pandava army, together with many other warriors from Pandava and Kaurava camps attained heaven. Bhima attacked Duryodhana with his mace and broke his thighs. At that time Ashwatthama wanted to bring happiness to his King Duryodhana. He chopped the heads of Draupadi’s sons, who were sleeping, and gave them as a gift to Duryodhana. However Duryodhana disapproved this action.

Draupadi greatly bemoaned the ghastly death of her sons. To console her Arjuna said, “O Draupadi, using the arrows from my bow Gandiva, I will behead that lowly Brahmin Ashwatthama, the murderer of children and gift it to you. With this I shall wipe away your tears. After cremating your sons, you can kick the head of Ashwattama and then have your bath”.

Pacifying Draupadi in this manner, Arjuna, who had Krishna as his friend, wore his armour. Holding the bow in his hand he mounted the chariot and chased Ashwatthama. From a great distance Ashwatthama saw Arjuna who was approaching him at unimaginably high speeds. He was petrified. In great panic he boarded his chariot and sped hastily as far as he could.  Arjuna continued to chase him. Ashwatthama could not find anyone who could save him and his horses were tired. He thought the mighty weapon Brahmāstra alone could save him. Although he did not have the knowledge of recalling this weapon, Ashwatthama who was panicking for his life, quickly performed acamana (a purification procedure) and going into meditation released the Brahmāstra upon Arjuna.

That weapon, which could take away life, travelled in all directions and neared Arjuna. Brahmāstra is a very powerful weapon and should not be used per one’s whims and fancies. One should have total knowledge about it i.e. the procedure to release it, pacify it and recall it back. Seeing the Brahmāstra approaching him, Arjuna addressed Krishna and said,

Kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa mahā-bāho bhaktānām abhayaṅkara

Tvam eko dahya-mānānām apavargo ‘si saṁsṛteḥ

O Krishna! O Paramātma! You the one who showers ‘abhaya’ (assurance of fear-not) upon the devotee! To people who have fallen into this samsara (cycle of repeated re-births) and are burning in its flames, You are the embodiment of liberation. You destroy samsara”.

Swamiji explains: There are many who talk about getting rid of samsara while in reality they increase their bondages. They do not chant the Divine names. In case they chant divine names, samsāra will disappear. Instead of thinking about the Supreme Lord, they make their own plans. Only when there is total faith in the Lord and the person believes that God is everything, the plans he makes will turn out to be successful.

“O Krishna, you are the cause for this universe. Due to your transcendental nature you have rejected māya (illusion) and stay eternally in the Parabrahma state. You have taken on the duty of bringing auspiciousness to people who are drowned in illusion. This incarnation of yours is solely to reduce the load of earth”.

Sriman Narayana.