Śrī Bādarāyani said: O King, one day Sāmba, Pradyumna, Cāru, Bhānu, Gada and other young boys of the Yadu dynasty went to a small forest to play.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī states that the story of King Nriga, narrated in this chapter, is meant to give sober instructions to all proud kings. Through this incident Lord Krishna also gave serious lessons to the members of His own family who had become proud of their opulences.
After playing for a long time, they became thirsty. As they searched for water, they looked inside a dry well and saw a peculiar creature.
The boys were astonished to behold this creature, a lizard who looked like a hill. They felt sorry for it and tried to lift it out of the well.
They caught on to the trapped lizard with leather thongs and then with woven ropes, but still they could not lift it out. So they went to Lord Krishna and excitedly told Him about the creature.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that because in this chapter the Yadu boys, even Śrī Pradyumna, are described as quite young, this must be an early pastime.
The lotus-eyed Supreme Lord, maintainer of the universe, went to the well and saw the lizard. Then with His left hand He easily lifted it out.
Touched by the hand of the glorious Supreme Lord, the being at once gave up its lizard form and assumed that of a resident of heaven. His complexion was beautifully colored like molten gold, and he was adorned with wonderful ornaments, clothes and garlands.
Lord Krishna understood the situation, but to inform people in general He inquired as follows: “Who are you, O greatly fortunate one? Seeing your excellent form, I think you must surely be an exalted demigod.”
“By what past activity were you brought to this condition? It seems you did not deserve such a fate, O good soul. We are eager to know about you, so please inform us about yourself — if, that is, you think this the proper time and place to tell us.”
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus questioned by Krishna, whose forms are unlimited, the King, his helmet as dazzling as the sun, bowed down to Lord Mādhava and replied as follows.
King Nriga said: I am a king known as Nriga, the son of Ikshvāku. Perhaps, Lord, You have heard of me when lists of charitable men were recited.
The ācāryas point out here that although a tentative expression is used — “perhaps You have heard of me” — the implication is that there is no doubt.
What could possibly be unknown to You, O master? With vision undisturbed by time, You witness the minds of all living beings. Nevertheless, on Your order I will speak.
Since the Lord knows everything, there is no need to inform Him about anything. Still, to fulfill the Lord’s purpose King Nriga will speak.
I gave in charity as many cows as there are grains of sand on the earth, stars in the heavens, or drops in a rain shower.
The idea here is that the King gave innumerable cows in charity.
Young, brown, milk-laden cows, who were well-behaved, beautiful and endowed with good qualities, who were all acquired honestly, and who had gilded horns, silver-plated hooves and decorations of fine ornamental cloths and garlands — such were the cows, along with their calves, that I gave in charity.
I first honored the brāhmanas who were recipients of my charity by decorating them with fine ornaments. Those most exalted brāhmanas, whose families were in need, were young and possessed of excellent character and qualities. They were dedicated to truth, famous for their austerity, vastly learned in the Vedic scriptures and saintly in their behavior. I gave them cows, land, gold and houses, along with horses, elephants and marriageable girls with maidservants, as well as sesame, silver, fine beds, clothing, jewels, furniture and chariots. In addition, I performed Vedic sacrifices and executed various pious welfare activities.
Once a cow belonging to a certain first-class brāhmana wandered away and entered my herd. Unaware of this, I gave that cow in charity to a different brāhmana.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the term dvija-mukhya, “first-class brāhmana,” here indicates a brāhmana who has stopped accepting charity and would thus refuse to accept even one hundred thousand cows in exchange for the cow that had been improperly given away.
When the cow’s first owner saw her being led away, he said, “She is mine!” The second brāhmana, who had accepted her as a gift, replied, “No, she’s mine! Nriga gave her to me.”
As the two brāhmanas argued, each trying to fulfill his own purpose, they came to me. One of them said, “You gave me this cow,” and the other said, “But you stole her from me.” Hearing this, I was bewildered.
Finding myself in a terrible dilemma concerning my duty in the situation, I humbly entreated both the brāhmanas: “I will give one hundred thousand of the best cows in exchange for this one. Please give her back to me. Your good selves should be merciful to me, your servant. I did not know what I was doing. Please save me from this difficult situation, or I’ll surely fall into a filthy hell.”
The present owner of the cow said, “I don’t want anything in exchange for this cow, O King,” and went away. The other brāhmana declared, “I don’t want even ten thousand more cows [than you are offering],” and he too went away.
In Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Thus disagreeing with the King’s proposal, both brāhmanas left the palace in anger, thinking that their lawful possession had been usurped.”
O Lord of lords, O master of the universe, the agents of Yamarāja, taking advantage of the opportunity thus created, later carried me to his abode. There Yamarāja himself questioned me.
According to the ācāryas, the King’s performance of fruitive activities had previously been flawless. But now an inadvertent discrepancy had arisen, and so when the King died the Yamadūtas took him to the abode of Yamarāja, called Samyamanī.
[Yamarāja said:] My dear King, do you wish to experience the results of your sins first, or those of your piety? Indeed, I see no end to the dutiful charity you have performed, or to your consequent enjoyment in the radiant heavenly planets.
I replied, “First, my lord, let me suffer my sinful reactions,” and Yamarāja said, “Then fall!” At once I fell, and while falling I saw myself becoming a lizard, O master.
O Keśava, as Your servant I was devoted to the brāhmanas and generous to them, and I always hankered for Your audience. Therefore even till now I have never forgotten [my past life].
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī comments on this verse as follows: “Since King Nriga openly declared that he had two outstanding qualities — namely devotion to the brāhmanas, and generosity — it is clear that he possessed these qualities only partially, since someone who is truly pure would not boast about them. It is also clear that King Nriga considered such piety to be a separate goal, desirable for its own sake. Thus he did not fully appreciate pure devotional service to Lord Krishna. Krishna had not been the only goal of Nriga’s life, as He was for Ambarīsha Mahārāja, even in the stage of regulative practice. Nor do we find that King Nriga overcame obstacles like those Ambarīsha did when Durvāsā Muni became angry at him. Still, we can conclude that since Nriga was able to see the Lord for some reason or another, he must have had the good quality of sincerely desiring the Lord’s association.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms the above analysis in Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “On the whole, [Nriga] had not developed Krishna consciousness. The Krishna conscious person develops love of God, Krishna, not love for pious or impious activities; therefore he is not subjected to the results of such action. As stated in the Brahma-samhitā, a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, does not become subjected to the resultant reactions of fruitive activities.”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī offers the following commentary: “When Nriga mentioned ‘one who hankered to have Your audience,’ he was referring to an incident concerning a certain great devotee King Nriga had once met. This devotee was very eager to acquire a temple for a most beautiful Deity of the Supreme Lord, and he also wanted copies of such scriptures as the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Being very generous, Nriga arranged for these things, and the devotee was so satisfied that he blessed the King: ‘My dear King, may you have the audience of the Supreme Lord.’ From that time on, Nriga desired to see the Lord.”
O almighty one, how is it that my eyes see You here before me? You are the Supreme Soul, whom the greatest masters of mystic yoga can meditate upon within their pure hearts only by employing the spiritual eye of the Vedas. Then how, O transcendental Lord, are You directly visible to me, since my intelligence has been blinded by the severe tribulations of material life? Only one who has finished his material entanglement in this world should be able to see You.
Even in the body of a lizard, King Nriga could remember his previous life. And now that he had the opportunity to see the Lord, he could understand that he had received special mercy from the Personality of Godhead.
O Devadeva, Jagannātha, Govinda, Purushottama, Nārāyana, Hrishīkeśa, Punyaśloka, Acyuta, Avyaya! O Krishna, please permit me to depart for the world of the demigods. Wherever I live, O master, may my mind always take shelter of Your feet.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments as follows on this verse: His faith emboldened upon receiving the Lord’s mercy and thus attaining the status of servitude, King Nriga properly glorifies the Lord by chanting His names and then asks the Lord’s permission to take his leave. The spirit of his prayer is as follows: “You are Devadeva, God even of the gods, and Jagannātha, the master of the universe, so please be my master. O Govinda, please make me Your property with the same merciful glance You use to enchant the cows. You can do this because You are Purushottama, the supreme form of Godhead. O Nārāyana, since You are the foundation of the living entities, please be my support, even though I am a bad living entity. O Hrishīkeśa, please make my senses Your own. O Punyaśloka, now You have become famous as the deliverer of Nriga. O Acyuta, please never be lost to my mind. O Avyaya, You will never diminish in my mind.” Thus the great Bhāgavatam commentator Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains the purport of these verses.
I offer my repeated obeisances unto You, Krishna, the son of Vasudeva. You are the source of all beings, the Supreme Absolute Truth, the possessor of unlimited potencies, the master of all spiritual disciplines.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī comments that King Nriga here offers his obeisances to Brahman — that is, the Absolute Truth — who is unchanged in spite of performing activities. Since ancient times, Western philosophers have puzzled over the question of how God can be unchanging and yet perform activities. Śrīdhara Svāmī states that this doubt is answered here by the term ananta-śaktaye, which describes the Lord as “the possessor of unlimited potency.” Thus through the Lord’s infinite potencies He can perform innumerable activities without changing His essential nature.
The King further offers his obeisances to Śrī Krishna, the possessor of the form of eternal bliss and the supreme goal of life. The holy name of Krishna is analyzed in a verse from the Mahābhārata (Udyoga-parva 71.4), which is quoted in the Caitanya-caritāmrita (Madhya 9.30):
“The word krish is the attractive feature of the Lord’s existence, and na means ‘spiritual pleasure.’ When the verb krish is added to na, it becomes krishna, which indicates the Absolute Truth.”
King Nriga offers the above prayers as he is about to leave the personal association of the Supreme Lord.
Having spoken thus, Mahārāja Nriga circumambulated Lord Krishna and touched his crown to the Lord’s feet. Granted permission to depart, King Nriga then boarded a wonderful celestial airplane as all the people present looked on.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead — Lord Krishna, the son of Devakī — who is especially devoted to the brāhmanas and who embodies the essence of religion, then spoke to His personal associates and thus instructed the royal class in general.
[Lord Krishna said:] How indigestible is the property of a brāhmana, even when enjoyed just slightly and by one more potent than fire! What then to speak of kings who try to enjoy it, presuming themselves lords.
Even those made powerful by austerity, mystic yoga and so on cannot enjoy property stolen from a brāhmana, and what to speak of others.
I do not consider hālāhala to be real poison, because it has an antidote. But a brāhmana’s property, when stolen, can truly be called poison, for it has no antidote in this world.
One who takes a brāhmana’s property, thinking to enjoy it, has actually taken the most deadly poison.
Poison kills only the person who ingests it, and an ordinary fire may be extinguished with water. But the fire generated from the kindling wood of a brāhmana’s property burns the thief’s entire family down to the root.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī compares the fire ignited by stealing a brāhmana’s property to the fire that blazes within the cavity of an old tree. Such a fire cannot be put out even with the water of numerous rainfalls. Rather, it burns the whole tree from within, all the way down to the roots in the ground. Similarly, the fire ignited by stealing a brāhmana’s property is the most deadly and should be avoided at all costs.
If a person enjoys a brāhmana’s property without receiving due permission, that property destroys three generations of his family. But if he takes it by force or gets the government or other outsiders to help him usurp it, then ten generations of his ancestors and ten generations of his descendants are all destroyed.
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, tri-pūrusha refers to oneself, one’s sons and one’s grandsons.
Members of the royal order, blinded by royal opulence, fail to foresee their own downfall. Childishly hankering to enjoy a brāhmana’s property, they are actually hankering to go to hell.
For as many years as there are particles of dust touched by the tears of generous brāhmanas who have dependent families and whose property is stolen, uncontrolled kings who usurp a brāhmana’s property are cooked, along with their royal families, in the hell known as Kumbhīpāka.
Whether it be his own gift or someone else’s, a person who steals a brāhmana’s property will take birth as a worm in feces for sixty thousand years.
I do not desire brāhmanas’ wealth. Those who lust after it become short-lived and are defeated. They lose their kingdoms and become snakes, who trouble others.
My dear followers, never treat a learned brāhmana harshly, even if he has sinned. Even if he attacks you physically or repeatedly curses you, always continue to offer him obeisances.
Lord Krishna offers this instruction not only to His personal associates but to all those who claim to be followers of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Just us I always carefully bow down to brāhmanas, so all of you should likewise bow down to them. I will punish anyone who acts otherwise.
When a brāhmana’s property is stolen, even unknowingly, it certainly causes the person who takes it to fall down, just as the brāhmana’s cow did to Nriga.
The Lord here demonstrates that His instructions are not theoretical but practical, as seen concretely in the case of Nriga Mahārāja.
Having thus instructed the residents of Dvārakā, Lord Mukunda, purifier of all the worlds, entered His palace.