Text 41
niśamya śaptam atad-arhaṁ narendraṁ
sa brāhmaṇo nātmajam abhyanandat
aho batāṁho mahad adya te kṛtam
alpīyasi droha urur damo dhṛtaḥ
niśamya — after hearing; śaptam — cursed; atat-arham — never to be condemned; nara-indram — unto the King, best of humankind; saḥ — that; brāhmaṇaḥ — brāhmaṇa-ṛṣi; na — not; ātma-jam — his own son; abhyanandat — congratulated; aho — alas; bata — distressing; aṁhaḥ — sins; mahat — great; adya — today; te — yourself; kṛtam — performed; alpīyasi — insignificant; drohe — offense; uruḥ — very great; damaḥ — punishment; dhṛtaḥ — awarded.
父親は王がすでに呪いをかけられていることを聞いた。王はすべての人間の中で最もすばらしい人物であったので、彼は決して非難を受けるべきではなかった。リシは息子を褒めることはしなかった。それどころか反対に後悔し始めて言った：ああなんということか！なんと大きな過ちを私の息子はしてしまったのか？彼は些細な無礼に対して厳罰を与えてしまった。
The king is the best of all human beings. He is the representative of God, and he is never to be condemned for any of his actions. In other words, the king can do no wrong. The king may order hanging of a culprit son of a brāhmaṇa, but he does not become sinful for killing a brāhmaṇa. Even if there is something wrong with the king, he is never to be condemned. A medical practitioner may kill a patient by mistaken treatment, but such a killer is never condemned to death. So what to speak of a good and pious king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit? In the Vedic way of life, the king is trained to become a rājarṣi, or a great saint, although he is ruling as king. It is the king only by whose good government the citizens can live peacefully and without any fear. The rājarṣis would manage their kingdoms so nicely and piously that their subjects would respect them as if they were the Lord. That is the instruction of the Vedas. The king is called narendra, or the best amongst the human beings. How then could a king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit be condemned by an inexperienced, puffed-up son of a brāhmaṇa, even though he had attained the powers of a qualified brāhmaṇa?
Since Śamīka Ṛṣi was an experienced, good brāhmaṇa, he did not approve of the actions of his condemned son. He began to lament for all that his son had done. The king was beyond the jurisdiction of curses as a general rule, and what to speak of a good king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The offense of the King was most insignificant, and his being condemned to death was certainly a very great sin for Śṛṅgi. Therefore Ṛṣi Śamīka regretted the whole incident.