Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 2
Parīkṣit’s Full Surrender and Śukadeva’s Maṅgalācaraṇa to Kṛṣṇa
Inquiry into Creation, Maintenance, and Dissolution
आत्मजायासुतागारपशुद्रविणबन्धुषु । राज्ये चाविकले नित्यं विरूढां ममतां जहौ ॥ २ ॥
ātma-jāyā-sutāgāra- paśu-draviṇa-bandhuṣu rājye cāvikale nityaṁ virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau
Par son attachement entier au Seigneur Kṛṣṇa, le Mahārāja Parīkṣit put renoncer à l’affection profondément enracinée pour son corps, son épouse, ses enfants, son palais, ses chevaux et éléphants, son trésor, ses amis et parents, ainsi que son royaume sans rival.
To become liberated means to become free from dehātma-buddhi, the illusory attachment for personal bodily coverings and everything connected with the body, namely wife, children and all other entanglements. One selects a wife for bodily comforts, and the result is children. For wife and children one requires a dwelling place, and, as such, a residential house is also necessary. Animals like horses, elephants, cows and dogs are all household animals, and a householder has to keep them as household paraphernalia. In modern civilization the horses and elephants have been replaced by cars and conveyances with considerable horsepower. To maintain all the household affairs, one has to increase the bank balance and be careful about the treasury house, and in order to display the opulence of material assets, one has to keep good relations with friends and relatives, as well as become very careful about maintaining the status quo. This is called material civilization of material attachment. Devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa means negation of all material attachments as detailed above. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was awarded all material amenities and an undisputed kingdom in which to enjoy the undisturbed position of king, but by the grace of the Lord he was able to give up all connections with material attachment. That is the position of a pure devotee. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, due to his natural affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa as a devotee of the Lord, was always executing his royal duties on behalf of the Lord, and as a responsible king of the world he was always careful to see that the influence of Kali would not enter his kingdom. A devotee of the Lord never thinks of his household paraphernalia as his own, but surrenders everything for the service of the Lord. Thereby living entities under a devotee’s care get the opportunity for God realization by the management of a devotee-master.
FAQs
This verse says that even with an unimpaired kingdom, one can abandon the deeply rooted sense of “mine” toward body, family, property, wealth, and relatives—showing that real renunciation is inner detachment.
Śukadeva highlights Parīkṣit’s readiness for hearing and practicing bhakti after receiving the curse—he did not wait for external loss, but renounced possessiveness immediately and fully.
Keep duties intact, but reduce “mine-ness”: see family and resources as entrusted by God, use them in dharma and bhakti, and cultivate identity as the soul rather than possessions.