Parīkṣit Subdues Kali and the Conversation between Dharma and the Earth Goddess

This chapter contains thirty-six verses, out of which the first four are spoken by Sūta, verses 5–9 by Śaunaka, and verses 10–18 by Sūta. The latter then reports a conversation between Dharma in the form of a bull and the Earth goddess in the form of a cow. In this connection, verses 19–24 are spoken by Dharma, and verses 25–35 by the Earth goddess. The final verse of the chapter is again spoken by Sūta.

Previously, in Chapter 12 (SB 1.12.2–3), Śaunaka had requested Sūta to relate the birth (janma), deeds (karmāṇi), and death or final liberation (nidhanam), of King Parīkṣit. By way of introduction, Sūta first described the ideal reign of Yudhiṣṭhira, Parīkṣit’s grandfather. He then went on in the same chapter to describe Parīkṣit’s extraordinary birth (janma) and the astrologers’ predictions about the remarkable qualities he would embody and the uncommon acts he would perform.

Then in Chapter 13, to fill in the context leading to the description of Parīkṣit’s deeds (karmāṇi), Sūta related the details of Vidura’s return to Hastināpura, his instructing Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and the latter’s departure for the Himālayas along with his wife Gāndhārī. This led in Chapter 14 to the account of Yudhiṣṭhira’s anxiety over Arjuna’s delayed return from Dvārakā, the inauspicious omens that he witnessed, and the concerned inquiries he made about Arjuna’s forlorn condition upon the latter’s return. Accordingly, in Chapter 15, Sūta reported Arjuna’s grief upon Kṛṣṇa’s disappearance from the earth and, finally, the retirement of the Pāṇḍavas to the Himālayas. Since all this occurred while Parīkṣit was growing up, it provides the backdrop for the discussion of his deeds as the newly enthroned emperor (karmāṇi). This topic is now taken up by Sūta in the present chapter.

In the opening verses, Sūta mentions only briefly a few highlights from Parīkṣit’s life. He married Irāvatī, the daughter of his maternal uncle, Uttara, he begot four sons through her, the eldest being Janamejaya, and he performed three Aśvamedha-yajñas under the guidance of Kṛpācārya. Then, in the course of a world tour, he seized the vile Kali, who was kicking a cow and a bull with his foot (verses 1–4). At this report, Śaunaka inquires as to why Parīkṣit only seized Kali and did not kill him. Śaunaka was curious to hear about this on the condition that it should pertain to the narrations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa or His devotees (verses 5–9).

Sūta then elaborates the story of Kali’s subjugation. On receiving the news that Kali had entered his kingdom, King Parīkṣit set out by chariot on a world tour, accompanied by his army, with the intent to subdue Kali. Wherever he went, he was accorded a royal welcome and was pleased to hear sung the glories of Kṛṣṇa, the tales of his illustrious forefathers, the Pāṇḍavas, their intimate friendship with the Vṛṣṇis, and their devotion to Kṛṣṇa. In particular, he was overcome with devotion to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa on hearing how He, to whom the entire world offers obeisances, acted in the capacity of their charioteer, messenger, servant, counselor, and friend out of great affection for them (verses 10–16).

Sūta next narrates a conversation between Dharma and the Earth goddess that occurred while King Parīkṣit toured the world. Dharma, in the form of a bull, was standing on the one remaining leg of truth, his other three legs of austerity, purity, and compassion having been stolen away by time through the degradation of the yugas. When Dharma encountered the Earth goddess in the form of a cow, he noticed that she was bereft of luster and was weeping like a mother who had lost her child (verses 17–18).

Dharma thus inquired at length as to the cause of the Earth goddess’ anguish. In the course of his inquiry, he elaborated many of the atrocities that would come to pass on earth for all its people. These could surely have been the cause of her grief. Above and beyond all this, however, the true cause of the Earth’s grief is hinted at by Dharma’s inquiry in verse 23, regarding her feeling of separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with whom she was now no longer in constant contact (verses 19–24).

The Earth goddess replied that she was aggrieved for all people who, being now bereft of Śrī Kṛṣṇa—the abode of the Goddess Śrī and the repository of all divine qualities—had fallen under the gaze of the sinful Kali. In this connection, she enumerated thirty-nine qualities, of which Kṛṣṇa is the original source and the direct embodiment. Her intent in doing so was to highlight her own feelings of separation, as if to question, “Who indeed would not feel devastated by the absence of such a divinely qualified being?” This theme is continued for a few more verses, with the Earth goddess revealing still more intimately the extraordinary nature of the Person from whom she feels separation (verses 25–35).

In the final verse of the chapter, Sūta reports that while Dharma and the Earth goddess were conversing in this manner, Parīkṣit arrived on the scene. The next chapter describes the meeting between them.