Kali Enters

One day Emperor Pariksit was traveling through his kingdom, and he met the personality of religious principles, Dharma, in the form of a wounded, wandering bull. He also met the personality of the earth, in the form of a cow who had tears on her face and who appeared to be greatly aggrieved, like a mother who had lost her child. The Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, Seventeenth Chapter, relates that Maharaja Pariksit observed a lower class laborer, dressed like a king but with a large stick in his hand, beating the bull and the cow as if they were without a protector. The bull was as white as a lotus flower and was terrified of being beaten. It was trembling from fear and was standing on one leg urinating. Cows are beneficial because one can draw out religious principles from them, but this poor cow was being beaten by the lower class laborer and appeared very distressed.

Maharaja Pariksit became furious upon seeing this scene. Seated on his golden chariot and equipped with arrows and bows, he came upon the cow's persecutor. "Who are you!" he demanded. "You appear to be strong enough, and still you dare to kill, within my protection, those who are helpless. By dress you pose as a manly king, but by your deeds it is clear that you are against all fighting principles. You rogue, do you dare to beat an innocent cow simply because Krsna and Arjuna are out of sight? Since you are beating the innocent in a secluded place, you stand as a culprit and therefore deserve to be killed." Maharaja Pariksit then turned to the bull and said, "O bull, you are as white as a lotus. Who are you?" The ksatriyas or rulers such as Maharaja Pariksit are meant to protect the innocent, and therefore Pariksit Maharaja was outraged to see this brutality taking place in his kingdom.