Parīkshit and Kali
Parīkshit and Kali is the episode in which Emperor Parīkshit meets Kali-Purusha, the spirit of Kali Yuga, and decides where Kali may live. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells it in the 1st Skanda, Chapters 16 and 17. Parīkshit finds Kali, dressed as a king, beating a bull and a cow. He raises his sword, spares Kali when he surrenders, and gives him five places to dwell.
The digvijaya
After he was crowned emperor at Hastināpura, Parīkshit set out on a digvijaya, a conquest of the four directions, to establish his rule over all the kings of the earth. He passed through many lands, among them Bhadrāśva, Ketumāla, Bhārata, Uttara-Kuru and Kimpurusha. He received tribute and set up governance by dharma.
On the way he often stopped to hear people speak of his ancestors, the Pāṇḍavas, and of their great friendship with Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Each time he listened with tears of devotion and gave rich gifts to those who told it.
The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapters 16–17, gives this account.
The bull, the cow and Kali
At one point on the digvijaya Parīkshit saw a scene that stopped him. A man dressed like a king was beating a bull with a staff. The bull stood on one leg, trembling in pain. Near the bull stood a cow, weeping openly, her tears flowing in grief.
Parīkshit knew who they were. The bull was Dharma himself. In Satya Yuga Dharma stands on four legs: truth, compassion, tapas and śauca (purity). He loses one leg with each age that follows. In Kali Yuga Dharma stands on one leg, the leg of satya (truth), and even that leg is attacked.
The cow was Bhūmādevī, the earth herself, weeping. Parīkshit questioned her, and Bhūmādevī said:
“The great saubhāgya (sacred fortune) that the lotus feet of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa gave me when he walked on this earth has now gone. He was my lord and protector. He has gone, and with him has gone the grace that kept me alive.”
The bull, Dharma, spoke at length about how hard it is to know who brings suffering. He named Īśvara’s will, karma, svabhāva (one’s own nature) and the jīva‘s own actions as the possible causes.
The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapter 16, gives this account.
Recognition and the raised sword
Parīkshit knew the man dressed as a king to be Kali-Purusha, the embodied spirit of Kali Yuga, the force of adharma and the cause of the bull’s suffering. He drew his sword at once and went toward Kali. He declared that anyone who harms the helpless in a kingdom ruled by a king of dharma has lost the right to live.
Kali faced an emperor whose own birth had been guarded by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and whose grandfather was Arjuna. He was terrified. He dropped his disguise, trembled, and fell at Parīkshit’s feet. He surrendered completely and begged for his life.
The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapter 17, gives this account.
The five abodes
A king of dharma protects those who surrender to him. This is śaraṇāgata-vatsala, being kind to the one who takes refuge. So Parīkshit spared Kali’s life. But he gave Kali fixed places in which he could live. Outside them Kali’s influence would be held in check.
- Gambling (dyūta): where falsehood lives.
- Alcohol and intoxication (madya): where a clouded mind lives.
- Unlawful company with women (strī): where passion and lust live.
- Killing of animals (hiṃsā, paśu-vadha): where cruelty lives.
- Gold (kāñcana): where enmity and greed live.
Kali asked for one more place. Parīkshit gave gold again. In some readings he gave the gathering and hoarding of wealth, a place where all of the five faults tend to come together. For this reason the Bhāgavatam teaches that too much attachment to gold is itself a seat of Kali’s influence.
Parīkshit warned him: “As long as I rule, you may live only in these five places. If I find you anywhere else, I will not spare you.”
The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapter 17, gives this account.
Parīkshit, the tamer of Kali
The Bhāgavatam declares that during Parīkshit’s reign Kali’s influence could not spread in the world, even though Kali Yuga had begun. A king of dharma who knows Kali and holds him within limits keeps the worst effects of the age away.
Because of this episode, some Purāṇic passages call Parīkshit Kalimit, “the tamer of Kali”.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapters 16–17