Text 32
tasya putro ’titejasvī
viharan bālako ’rbhakaiḥ
rājñāghaṁ prāpitaṁ tātaṁ
śrutvā tatredam abravīt
tasya — his (the sage’s); putraḥ — son; ati — extremely; tejasvī — powerful; viharan — while playing; bālakaḥ — with boys; arbhakaiḥ — who were all childish; rājñā — by the King; agham — distress; prāpitam — made to have; tātam — the father; śrutvā — by hearing; tatra — then and there; idam — this; abravīt — spoke.
The sage had a son who was very powerful, being a brāhmaṇa’s son. While he was playing with inexperienced boys, he heard of his father’s distress, which was occasioned by the King. Then and there the boy spoke as follows.
Due to Mahārāja Parīkṣit’s good government, even a boy of tender age, who was playing with other inexperienced boys, could become as powerful as a qualified brāhmaṇa. This boy was known as Śṛṅgi, and he achieved good training in brahmacarya by his father so that he could be as powerful as a brāhmaṇa, even at that age. But because the Age of Kali was seeking an opportunity to spoil the cultural heritage of the four orders of life, the inexperienced boy gave a chance for the Age of Kali to enter into the field of Vedic culture. Hatred of the lower orders of life began from this brāhmaṇa boy, under the influence of Kali, and thus cultural life began to dwindle day after day. The first victim of brahminical injustice was Mahārāja Parīkṣit, and thus the protection given by the King against the onslaught of Kali was slackened.