Text 67
mātaraṁ pitaraṁ bhrātṝn
sarvāṁś ca suhṛdas tathā
ghnanti hy asutṛpo lubdhā
rājānaḥ prāyaśo bhuvi
mātaram — unto the mother; pitaram — unto the father; bhrātṝn — unto brothers; sarvān ca — and anyone else; suhṛdaḥ — friends; tathā — as well as; ghnanti — they kill (as it is practically seen); hi — indeed; asu-tṛpaḥ — those who envy the lives of others for their personal sense gratification; lubdhāḥ — greedy; rājānaḥ — such kings; prāyaśaḥ — almost always; bhuvi — on the earth.
Kings greedy for sense gratification on this earth almost always kill their enemies indiscriminately. To satisfy their own whims, they may kill anyone, even their mothers, fathers, brothers or friends.
We have seen in the history of India that Aurangzeb killed his brother and nephews and imprisoned his father to fulfill political ambitions. There have been many similar instances, and Kaṁsa was the same type of king. Kaṁsa did not hesitate to kill his nephews and imprison his sister and his father. For demons to do such things is not astonishing. Nonetheless, although Kaṁsa was a demon, he was aware that Lord Viṣṇu cannot be killed, and thus he attained salvation. Even partial understanding of the activities of Lord Viṣṇu makes one eligible for salvation. Kaṁsa knew a little about Kṛṣṇa — that He could not be killed — and therefore he attained salvation although he thought of Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, as an enemy. What then is to be said of one who knows Kṛṣṇa perfectly from the descriptions of śāstras like Bhagavad-gītā? It is therefore the duty of everyone to read Bhagavad-gītā and understand Kṛṣṇa perfectly. This will make one’s life successful.