Shloka 43
Aghāsura-vadha: The Killing and Deliverance of Aghāsura
वयं धन्यतमा लोके गुरोऽपि क्षत्रबन्धव: । वयं पिबामो मुहुस्त्वत्त: पुण्यं कृष्णकथामृतम् ॥ ४३ ॥
vayaṁ dhanyatamā loke guro ’pi kṣatra-bandhavaḥ vayaṁ pibāmo muhus tvattaḥ puṇyaṁ kṛṣṇa-kathāmṛtam
ข้าแต่พระผู้เป็นเจ้า ข้าแต่ครูผู้ประเสริฐ แม้พวกเราจะเป็นกษัตริย์ชั้นต่ำสุด แต่ก็เป็นผู้มีบุญยิ่ง เพราะได้ฟังจากท่านครั้งแล้วครั้งเล่า น้ำอมฤตแห่งกถาเรื่องลิลาอันศักดิ์สิทธิ์ของพระศรีกฤษณะ
The pious activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are very confidential. It is not ordinarily possible to hear such activities unless one is very, very fortunate. Parīkṣit Mahārāja placed himself as kṣatra-bandhavaḥ, which means “the lowest of the kṣatriyas. ” The qualities of the kṣatriya are described in Bhagavad-gītā, and although the general quality of the kṣatriya is īśvara-bhāva, the tendency to rule, a kṣatriya is not supposed to rule over a brāhmaṇa. Thus Mahārāja Parīkṣit regretted that he had wanted to rule over the brāhmaṇas and had therefore been cursed. He considered himself the lowest of the kṣatriyas. Dānam īśvara-bhāvaś ca kṣātraṁ karma svabhāvajam ( Bg. 18.43 ). There was no doubt that Mahārāja Parīkṣit had the good qualities of a kṣatriya, but as a devotee he presented himself, with submissiveness and humility, as the lowest of the kṣatriyas, remembering his act of wrapping a dead serpent around the neck of a brāhmaṇa. A student and disciple has the right to ask the guru about any confidential service, and it is the duty of the guru to explain these confidential matters to his disciple.
FAQs
This verse calls Kṛṣṇa’s narrations “amṛta” (nectar) and “puṇya” (purifying), teaching that repeatedly hearing Kṛṣṇa-kathā from a realized speaker sanctifies the listener and deepens devotion.
In the flow of Śukadeva’s narration of Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja pastimes, Parīkṣit expresses gratitude and humility, acknowledging that his greatest fortune is repeatedly receiving Kṛṣṇa-kathā from his guru.
Make regular time to hear or read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam from authentic sources, revisit Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes often, and let that repeated “drinking” of kṛṣṇa-kathā shape daily choices toward purity and devotion.