Shloka 20
Parīkṣit’s Vow on the Gaṅgā and the Advent of Śukadeva Gosvāmī
न वा इदं राजर्षिवर्य चित्रं भवत्सु कृष्णं समनुव्रतेषु । येऽध्यासनं राजकिरीटजुष्टं सद्यो जहुर्भगवत्पार्श्वकामा: ॥ २० ॥
na vā idaṁ rājarṣi-varya citraṁ bhavatsu kṛṣṇaṁ samanuvrateṣu ye ’dhyāsanaṁ rāja-kirīṭa-juṣṭaṁ sadyo jahur bhagavat-pārśva-kāmāḥ
[เหล่าฤษีกล่าวว่า:] โอ้ราชฤๅษีผู้ประเสริฐ ผู้สืบสายปาณฑุและยึดมั่นในแนวทางของพระศรีกฤษณะ! มิใช่เรื่องน่าอัศจรรย์เลยที่ท่านละทิ้งบัลลังก์ซึ่งประดับด้วยมงกุฎของกษัตริย์มากมายในทันที เพื่อปรารถนาสมาคมนิรันดร์เคียงข้างพระภควาน
Foolish politicians who hold political administrative posts think that the temporary posts they occupy are the highest material gain of life, and therefore they stick to those posts even up to the last moment of life, without knowing that achievement of liberation as one of the associates of the Lord in His eternal abode is the highest gain of life. The human life is meant for achieving this end. The Lord has assured us in the Bhagavad-gītā many times that going back to Godhead, His eternal abode, is the highest achievement. Prahlāda Mahārāja, while praying to Lord Nṛsiṁha, said, “O my Lord, I am very much afraid of the materialistic way of life, and I am not the least afraid of Your present ghastly ferocious feature as Nṛsiṁha-deva. This materialistic way of life is something like a grinding stone, and we are being crushed by it. We have fallen into this horrible whirlpool of the tossing waves of life, and thus, my Lord, I pray at Your lotus feet to call me back to Your eternal abode as one of Your servitors. This is the summit liberation of this materialistic way of life. I have very bitter experience of the materialistic way of life. In whichever species of life I have taken birth, compelled by the force of my own activities, I have very painfully experienced two things, namely separation from my beloved and meeting with what is not wanted. And to counteract them, the remedies which I undertook were more dangerous than the disease itself. So I drift from one point to another, birth after birth, and I pray to You therefore to give me a shelter at Your lotus feet.”
FAQs
This verse says it is natural for sincere followers of Kṛṣṇa to abandon even the highest worldly status—like a throne revered by kings—when they desire the Lord’s personal association.
Parīkṣit had renounced his kingdom to hear the Bhāgavatam and prepare for death; Śukadeva reassures him that such renunciation is not surprising for a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
Practice inner renunciation: reduce attachment to status and prestige, prioritize hearing and remembering Kṛṣṇa, and choose decisions that increase devotion over ego and social recognition.