Chapter Fifteen The Glories of the Descendants of King Priyavrata
1. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami continued: The son of Maharaja Bharata known as Sumati followed the path of Rsabhadeva, but some unscrupulous people imagined him to be Lord Buddha himself. These people, who were actually atheistic and of bad character, took up the Vedic principles in an imaginary, infamous way to support their activities. Thus these sinful people accepted Sumati as Lord Buddhadeva and propagated the theory that everyone should follow the principles of Sumati. In this way they were carried away by mental concoction.
2. From Sumati, a son named Devatajit was born by the womb of his wife named Vrddhasena.
3. Thereafter, in the womb of Asuri, the wife of Devatajit, a son named Devadyumna was begotten. Devadyumna begot in the womb of his wife, Dhenumati, a son named Paramesthi. Paramesthi begot a son named Pratiha in the womb of his wife, Suvarcala.
4. King Pratiha personally propagated the principles of self-realization. In this way, not only was he purified, but he became a great devotee of the Supreme Person, Lord Visnu, and directly realized Him.
5. In the womb of his wife Suvarcala, Pratiha begot three sons, named Pratiharta, Prastota and Udgata. These three sons were very expert in performing Vedic rituals. Pratiharta begot two sons, named Aja and Bhuma, in the womb of his wife, named Stuti.
6. In the womb of his wife, Rsikulya, King Bhuma begot a son named Udgitha. From Udgitha’s wife, Devakulya, a son named Prastava was born, and Prastava begot a son named Vibhu through his wife, Niyutsa. In the womb of his wife, Rati, Vibhu begot a son named Prthusena. Prthusena begot a son named Nakta in the womb of his wife, named Akuti. Nakta’s wife was Druti, and from her womb the great King Gaya was born. Gaya was very famous and pious; he was the best of saintly kings. Lord Visnu and His expansions, who are meant to protect the universe, are always situated in the transcendental mode of goodness, known as visuddha-sattva. Being the direct expansion of Lord Visnu, King Gaya was also situated in the visuddha-sattva. Because of this, Maharaja Gaya was fully equipped with transcendental knowledge. Therefore he was called Mahapurusa.
7. King Gaya gave full protection and security to the citizens so that their personal property would not be disturbed by undesirable elements. He also saw that there was sufficient food to feed all the citizens. [This is called posana.] He would sometimes distribute gifts to the citizens to satisfy them. [This is called prinana.] He would sometimes call meetings and satisfy the citizens with sweet words. [This is called upalalana.] He would also give them good instructions on how to become first-class citizens. [This is called anusasana.] Such were the characteristics of King Gaya’s royal order. Besides all this, King Gaya was a householder who strictly observed the rules and regulations of household life. He performed sacrifices and was an unalloyed pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was called Mahapurusa because as a king he gave the citizens all facilities, and as a householder he executed all his duties so that at the end he became a strict devotee of the Supreme Lord. As a devotee, he was always ready to give respect to other devotees and to engage in the devotional service of the Lord. This is the bhakti-yoga process. Due to all these transcendental activites, King Gaya was always free from the bodily conception. He was full in Brahman realization, and consequently he was always jubilant. He did not experience material lamentation. Although he was perfect in all respects, he was not proud, nor was he anxious to rule the kingdom.
8. My dear King Pariksit, those who are learned scholars in the histories of the Puranas eulogize and glorify King Gaya with the following verses.
9. The great King Gaya used to perform all kinds of Vedic rituals. He was highly intelligent and expert in studying all the Vedic literatures. He maintained the religious principles and possessed all kinds of opulence. He was a leader among gentlemen and a servant of the devotees. He was a totally qualified plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore who could equal him in the performance of gigantic ritualistic ceremonies?
10. All the chaste and honest daughters of Maharaja Daksa, such as Sraddha, Maitri and Daya, whose blessings were always effective, bathed Maharaja Gaya with sanctified water. Indeed, they were very satisfied with Maharaja Gaya. The planet earth personified came as a cow, and, as though she saw her calf, she delivered milk profusely when she saw all the good qualities of Maharaja Gaya. In other words, Maharaja Gaya was able to derive all benefits from the earth and thus satisfy the desires of his citizens. However, he personally had no desire.
11. Although King Gaya had no personal desire for sense gratification, all his desires were fulfilled by virtue of his performance of Vedic rituals. All the kings with whom Maharaja Gaya had to fight were forced to fight on religious principles. They were very satisfied with his fighting, and they would present all kinds of gifts to him. Similarly, all the brahmanas in his kingdom were very satisfied with King Gaya’s munificent charities. Consequently the brahmanas contributed a sixth of their pious activities for King Gaya’s benefit in the next life.
12. In Maharaja Gaya’s sacrifices, there was a great supply of the intoxicant known as soma. King Indra used to come and become intoxicated by drinking large quantities of soma-rasa. Also, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu [the yajna-purusa] also came and personally accepted all the sacrifices offered unto Him with pure and firm devotion in the sacrificial arena.
13. When the Supreme Lord is pleased by a person’s actions, automatically all the demigods, human beings, animals, birds, bees, creepers, trees, grass and all other living entities, beginning with Lord Brahma, are pleased. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supersoul of everyone, and He is by nature fully pleased. Nonetheless, He came to the arena of Maharaja Gaya and said, “I am fully pleased.”
14-15. In the womb of Gayanti, Maharaja Gaya begot three sons,
named Citraratha, Sugati and Avarodhana. In the womb of his wife Urna, Citraratha begot a son named Samrat. The wife of Samrat was Utkala, and in her womb Samrat begot a son named Marici. In the womb of his wife Bindumati, Marici begot a son named Bindu. In the womb of his wife Saragha, Bindu begot a son named Madhu. In the womb of his wife named Sumana, Madhu begot a son named Viravrata. In the womb of his wife Bhoja, Viravrata begot two sons named Manthu and Pramanthu. In the womb of his wife Satya, Manthu begot a son named Bhauvana, and in the womb of his wife Dusana, Bhauvana begot a son named Tvasta. In the womb of his wife Virocana, Tvasta begot a son named Viraja. The wife of Viraja was Visuci, and in her womb Viraja begot one hundred sons and one daughter. Of all these sons, the son named Satajit was predominant.
16. There is a famous verse about King Viraja. “Because of his high qualities and wide fame, King Viraja became the jewel of the dynasty of King Priyavrata, just as Lord Visnu, by His transcendental potency, decorates and blesses the demigods.”
