TEXTS 43-44
sa esa etarhy adhyasta
asanam parthivocitam
pitamahenopanyastam
rajnaranyam viviksata
aste 'dhuna sa rajarsih
kauravendra-sriyollasan
gajahvaye maha-bhagas
cakravarti brhac-chravah
SYNONYMS
sahhe; esahthis; etarhiat the present; adhyasteis ruling over; asanamthe throne; parthiva-ucitamjust befitting a king; pitamahenaby the grandfather; upanyastambeing handed over; rajnaby the King; aranyamforest; viviksatadesiring; asteis there; adhunaat present; sahthat; raja-rsihthe sage amongst the kings; kaurava-indrathe chief amongst the Kuru kings; sriyaglories; ullasanspreading; gajahvayein Hastinapura; maha-bhagahthe most fortunate; cakravartithe Emperor; brhat-sravahhighly famous.
TRANSLATION
The most fortunate Emperor Maharaja Pariksit, who was entrusted with the kingdom of Hastinapura by Maharaja Yudhisthira when he desired to retire to the forest, is now ruling the world with great success due to his being glorified by the deeds of the kings of the Kuru dynasty.
PURPORT
The prolonged sacrificial ceremonies undertaken by the sages of Naimisaranya were begun shortly after the demise of Maharaja Pariksit. The sacrifice was to continue for one thousand years, and it is understood that in the beginning some of the contemporaries of Baladeva, the elder brother of Lord Krsna, also visited the sacrificial place. According to some authorities, the present tense is also used to indicate the nearest margin of time from the past. In that sense, the present tense is applied to the reign of Maharaja Pariksit here. For a continuous fact, also, present tense can be used. The principles of Maharaja Pariksit can be still continued, and human society can still be improved if there is determination by the authorities. We can still purge out from the state all the activities of immorality introduced by the personality of Kali if we are determined to take action like Maharaja Pariksit. He allotted some place for Kali, but in fact Kali could not find such places in the world at all because Maharaja Pariksit was strictly vigilant to see that there were no places for gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter. Modern administrators want to banish corruption from the state, but fools as they are, they do not know how to do it. They want to issue licenses for gambling houses, wine and other intoxicating drug houses, brothels, hotel prostitution and cinema houses, and falsity in every dealing, even in their own, and they want at the same time to drive out corruption from the state. They want the kingdom of God without God consciousness. How can it be possible to adjust two contradictory matters? If we want to drive out corruption from the state, we must first of all organize society to accept the principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, and to make the condition favorable we must close all places of gambling, drinking, prostitution and falsity. These are some of the practical lessons from the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

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