King Parikshit & The beginning of Kali Yuga : (Part -1)

After Parikshit took over from Yudhisthir as the King of Hastinapur, he began his rule under the instructions of the Brahmans. Kripacharya, the Acharya for the Kauravs, was appointed as his counselor. The Emperor married Iravati, the daughter of King Uttara, who was the son of Virata. Although she was Parikshit’s cousin-sister, the marriage was allowed because she was not of the same gotra (family). Iravati gave birth to four sons- Janmajay, Srutasen, Ugrasen and Bhimsen II. Under the direction of his spiritual master, Kripacharya, Maharaj Parikshit performed three horse sacrifices on the banks of the Ganga, (also known as the Ashwamegh Yagya). The objective was to get the world under one reign & control.
Parikshit used to travel into the country & mix with common man (in disguise) to understand their needs & problems. The tell tale signs of Kali Yuga was showing up in his kingdom. He could clearly see that some of his subjects had taken up meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication, which are the root-causes of all kinds of quarrel, thereby leading to misery.

As a true kshatriya, the king decided to fight the miscreants. After mounting upon his chariot, which was marked with the flag of a lion and which was drawn by black horses, Maharaj Parikshit left Hastinapur, surrounded by his army, for the purpose of conquering the world. Of course, his grandfather, Maharaj Yudhisthir, had already formally declared Maharaj Parikshit the emperor of the world. Still, it was necessary for him to practically establish his supremacy and exact taxes. He gradually subjugated all of the kings within the nine varshas of Jambudvipa (the ancient name of the Indian subcontinent according to our scriptures). Wherever he travelled, Maharaja Parikshit was welcomed with speeches that were full of the glories of his illustrious forefathers and Lord Krishna, and with great pleasure he would amply reward the reciters. Indeed, by hearing of how Lord Krishna had obliged his grandfathers by becoming their chariot driver, messenger, friend, spiritual master and servant. Maharaja Parikshit became overwhelmed with feelings of devotion to the lotus feet of the Lord Krishna.

During this travel, King Parikshit, one day, came to the banks of river Saraswati, where he witnessed a strange scene. There was a bull, who was wobbling on only one leg (all the other three legs were severed) & trembling badly. There was also a cow, who looked like having lost her calf & therefore immersed in sorrow. There was also a dark, mean & beastly looking man (dressed, like a king), who was using his mace(a club, called Gada, used those days), to beat the helpless animals. The King was deeply moved by the pitiable condition of the animals. Because he was very learned, Parikshit knew that this was not an ordinary situation & there was more than what met the eyes. He asked all of them to identify themselves.
On interrogations Parikshit came to know that the bull represented Dharma. In Satya Yuga, the four legs were established by the practice of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. In each of the next Yugas (Treta Yuga & Dwapar Yuga), one by one a leg got severed. Three of the legs had been broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, prostitution, and intoxication. Right now, standing upon the last leg of truthfulness Dharma somehow managed to still hobble along. Yet, since Kali is known to be quarrel personified and flourishes by deceit, he would also destroy the last remaining leg, unless the King takes up the charge of protecting.
The cow represented Mother Earth. After Lord Krishna left this mortal world for his heavenly abode in Vaikunth, Kali has spread his dark influence everywhere & that has aggrieved the Mother Earth.
The beastly man, was Kali. He was the embodiment of all evil incarnates. (Will attempt to write on Kali separately later).

Hearing all this King Parikshit became very concerned for the welfare of his kingdom & decided to teach Kali a lesson & kill him to end all this negative influences around. He raised his sword & challenged Kali, who immediately realized that he had no option but to surrender. So he fell at the feet of the mighty King and begged for mercy. Kali said “Oh mighty Emperor, since you rule the entire world, wherever I may go I will see you with sword in hand, ready to punish me for my sinful activities. Even though I am your enemy, because I have surrendered unto you, you should allot me a place of residence where I can live peacefully under your protection.” Parikshit thought for a while & then allowed Kali to live where gambling, intoxication, prostitution and animal slaughter were being indulged in. However, since such places practically did not exist within Maharaj Parikshit’s kingdom, Kali felt cheated and so he begged for something more. He also mentioned to the King that, though he is an embodiment of all evil, he still possessed a very good quality. The quality of bestowing Moksha to people without even performing severe austerities, that they had to do in the previous three Yugas. People in this Yuga, could attain Moksha, by just chanting the name of the Lord. (this is how the chanting of Vishnu Sahashtranaam, Lalita Sahashtranaam etc have become so powerful & popular, today). Pleased by this quality of Kali, King Parikshit allowed him to occupy & reside in one place of respect – that is Gold.
Also Maharaj Parikshit finally agreed that Kali could live where gold was being kept, for in such places there is invariably falsity, intoxication, lust, envy & enmity. (Here one might wonder how Kali can live in Gold, when Lord Krishna has declared in Bhagwat Gita that Gold is the supreme among all the metals. Well, one explanation for this would be that, people wearing Gold, should wear it as a benediction received from the Lord. Those, who wear Gold without such humble thoughts, would be inviting Kali to reside in their minds.) Thereafter, Maharaj Parikshit carefully re-established the lost legs of Dharma within his kingdom. Then, for encouraging activities meant to improve the condition of the earth, he collected all of the illicitly held gold that had been kept for furthering the activities of Kali and put them all in the state treasury. Later he engaged it in the Sankirtana-Yagya. This was to ensure that Kali could not spread his influence over his people.
Kali meanwhile, decided to maintain a low profile & attempt to infiltrate the mind of people quietly. He realized that this was very difficult as the King had a very strong control over his subjects. He also realized that to succeed, he will have to somehow influence the mind of the King, which looked as good as impossible as of now. He therefore decided to keep quiet & wait for the opportune moment to strike.

Parikshit ruled his kingdom ably for more than sixty years. Peace & prosperity was restored.

More on Kali Yuga to continue..... keep reading....