Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.13

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.13

ākhyāhi vṛṣa bhadraḿ vaḥ

sādhūnām akṛtāgasām

ātma-vairūpya-kartāraḿ

pārthānāḿ kīrti-dūṣaṇam

SYNONYMS

ākhyāhi — just let me know; vṛṣa — O bull; bhadram — good; vaḥ — for you; sādhūnām — of the honest; akṛta-āgasām — of those who are offenseless; ātma-vairūpya — deformation of the self; kartāram — the doer; pārthānām — of the sons of Pṛthā; kīrti-dūṣaṇam — blackmailing the reputation.

TRANSLATION

O bull, you are offenseless and thoroughly honest; therefore I wish all good to you. Please tell me of the perpetrator of these mutilations, which blackmail the reputation of the sons of Pṛthā.

PURPORT

The reputation of the reign of Mahārāja Rāmacandra and that of the kings who followed in the footsteps of Mahārāja Rāmacandra, like the Pāṇḍavas and their descendants, are never to be forgotten because in their kingdom offenseless and honest living beings were never in trouble. The bull and the cow are the symbols of the most offenseless living beings because even the stool and urine of these animals are utilized to benefit human society. The descendants of the sons of Pṛthā, like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, were afraid of losing their reputations, but in the modern days the leaders are not even afraid of killing such offenseless animals. Herein lies the difference between the reign of those pious kings and the modern states ruled by irresponsible executive heads without knowledge of the codes of God.