Canto 1, 2, 12 · 5 moments
Mahārāja Parīkṣit
The seven-day frame of spiritual hearing
Mortality becomes a sacred question
- 1Where it begins
Already an exalted devotee, Parīkṣit shows how impending death can occasion concentrated hearing and fearless spiritual absorption.
- 2The test
What should a human being hear and do when death is near?
- 3The turn
He takes shelter of Śukadeva and asks about the ultimate duty.
- 4What it teaches
The transformation is primarily the reader’s pedagogical arc; Parīkṣit is not portrayed as starting with ordinary fear.
The journey
Moment by moment
Tap a point or a step
Moment 1 of 5 · SB 1.18
The curse is announced
Parīkṣit learns of the curse that he will die in seven days.
The heart here: UrgencyPressure 8 · Bhakti 8
In the verse · SB 1.18.37
“The brāhmaṇa’s son cursed the King thus: On the seventh day from today a snake-bird will bite the most wretched one of that dynasty [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] because of his having broken the laws of etiquette by insulting my father.”
A question to carry
If time were short, what would I want my mind and heart to rest upon?
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