12.1 Summary
The Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with Srila Sukadeva Gosvami predicting the kings of the earth who will appear in the future during the age of Kali. Then he gives a description of the numerous faults of the age, after which the presiding goddess of the earth sarcastically berates the foolish members of the kingly order who perpetually try to conquer her. Next Sukadeva Gosvami explains the four varieties of material annihilation, and then he gives his final advice to Maharaja Pariksit. Thereafter King Pariksit is bitten by the snake-bird Taksaka and leaves this world. Suta Gosvami concludes his narration of Srimad-Bhagavatam to the sages at Naimisaranya forest by enumerating the teachers of the various branches of the Vedas and Puranas, relating the pious history of Markandeya Rsi, glorifying the Supreme Lord in His universal form and in His expansion as the sun-god, summarizing the topics discussed in this literature, and offering final benedictions and prayers.

The first chapter of this canto briefly describes the future kings of the dynasty of Magadha and how they become degraded because of the influence of the age of Kali. There were twenty kings who ruled in the family of Puru, in the dynasty of the sun-god, counting from Uparicara Vasu to Puranjaya. After Puranjaya, the lineage of this dynasty will become corrupted. Following Puranjaya there will be five kings known as the Pradyotanas, who are then followed by the Sisunagas, the Mauryas, the Sungas, the Kanvas, thirty kings of the Andhra nation, seven Abhiras, ten Gardabhis, sixteen Kankas, eight Yavanas, fourteen Turuskas, ten Gurundas, eleven Maulas, five Kilakila monarchs and thirteen Bahlikas. After this, different regions will be ruled over at the same time by seven Andhra kings, seven Kausalas, the kings of Vidura, and the Nisadhas. Then the power of rulership in the countries of Magadha and so forth will fall to kings who are no better than sudras and mlecchas and are totally absorbed in irreligion.

SB 12.1.1-2
Sukadeva Gosvami said: The last king mentioned in our previous enumeration of the future rulers of the Magadha dynasty was Puranjaya, who will take birth as the descendant of Brhadratha. Puranjaya’s minister Sunaka will assassinate the king and install his own son, Pradyota, on the throne. The son of Pradyota will be Palaka, his son will be Visakhayupa, and his son will be Rajaka.

PURPORT
The vicious political intrigue described here is symptomatic of the age of Kali. In the Ninth Canto of this work, Sukadeva Gosvami describes how the great rulers of men descended from two royal dynasties, that of the sun and that of the moon. The Ninth Canto’s description of Lord Ramacandra, a most famous incarnation of God, occurs in this genealogical narration, and at the end of the Ninth Canto Sukadeva describes the forefathers of Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama. Finally, the appearance of Lord Krsna and that of Lord Balarama are mentioned within the context of the narration of the moon dynasty.

The Tenth Canto is devoted exclusively to a description of Lord Krsna’s childhood pastimes in Vrndavana, His teenage activities in Mathura and His adult activities in Dvaraka. The famous epic Mahabharata also describes the events of this period, focusing upon the five Pandava brothers and their activities in relation with Lord Krsna and other leading historical figures, such as Bhisma, Dhrtarastra, Dronacarya and Vidura. Within the Mahabharata is Bhagavad-Gita, in which Lord Krsna is declared to be the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srimad-Bhagavatam, of which we are presently translating the twelfth and final canto, is considered a more advanced literature than the Mahabharata because throughout the entire work Lord Sri Krsna, the Absolute Truth and supreme source of all existence, is directly, centrally and irrefutably revealed. In fact, the First Canto of the Bhagavatam describes how Sri Vyasadeva composed this great work because he was dissatisfied with his rather sporadic glorification of Lord Krsna in the Mahabharata.

Although Srimad-Bhagavatam narrates the histories of many royal dynasties and the lives of innumerable kings, not until the description of the present age, the age of Kali, do we find a minister assassinating his own king and installing his son on the throne. This incident resembles Dhrtarastra’s attempt to assassinate the Pandavas and crown his son Duryodhana king. As the Mahabharata describes, Lord Krsna thwarted this attempt, but with the departure of the Lord for the spiritual sky, the age of Kali became fully manifested, ushering in political assassination within one’s own house as a standard technique.

SB 12.1.3
The son of Rajaka will be Nandivardhana, and thus in the Pradyotana dynasty there will be five kings, who will enjoy the earth for 138 years.

SB 12.1.4
Nandivardhana will have a son named Sisunaga, and his son will be known as Kakavarna. The son of Kakavarna will be Ksemadharma, and the son of Ksemadharma will be Ksetrajna.

SB 12.1.5
The son of Ksetrajna will be Vidhisara, and his son will be Ajatasatru. Ajatasatru will have a son named Darbhaka, and his son will be Ajaya.

SB 12.1.6-8
Ajaya will father a second Nandivardhana, whose son will be Mahanandi. O best of the Kurus, these ten kings of the Sisunaga dynasty will rule the earth for a total of 360 years during the age of Kali. My dear Pariksit, King Mahanandi will father a very powerful son in the womb of a sudra woman. He will be known as Nanda and will be the master of millions of soldiers and fabulous wealth. He will wreak havoc among the ksatriyas, and from that time onward virtually all kings will be irreligious sudras.

PURPORT
Here is a description of how authentic political authority degenerated and disintegrated throughout the world. There is a Supreme Godhead, and there are saintly, powerful men who have taken the role of government leaders and represented that Godhead on earth. With the advent of the age of Kali, however, this transcendental system of government collapsed, and unauthorized, uncivilized men gradually took the reins of power.

SB 12.1.9
That lord of Mahapadma, King Nanda, will rule over the entire earth just like a second Parasurama, and no one will challenge his authority.

PURPORT
In the eighth verse of this chapter it was mentioned that King Nanda would destroy the remnants of the ksatriya order. Therefore he is here compared to Lord Parasurama, who annihilated the ksatriya class twenty-one times in a previous age.

SB 12.1.10
He will have eight sons, headed by Sumalya, who will control the earth as powerful kings for one hundred years.

SB 12.1.11
A certain brahmana [Canakya] will betray the trust of King Nanda and his eight sons and will destroy their dynasty. In their absence the Mauryas will rule the world as the age of Kali continues.

PURPORT
Sridhara Svami and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura both confirm that the brahmana mentioned here is Canakya, also known as Kautilya or Vatsyayana. The great historical narration Srimad-Bhagavatam, which began with the events prior to the cosmic manifestation, now reaches into the realm of modern recorded history. Modern historians recognize both the Maurya dynasty and Candragupta, the king mentioned in the following verse.

SB 12.1.12
This brahmana will enthrone Candragupta, whose son will be named Varisara. The son of Varisara will be Asokavardhana.

SB 12.1.13
Asokavardhana will be followed by Suyasa, whose son will be Sangata. His son will be Salisuka, Salisuka’s son will be Somasarma, and Somasarma’s son will be Satadhanva. His son will be known as Brhadratha.

SB 12.1.14
O best of the Kurus, these ten Maurya kings will rule the earth for 137 years of the Kali-yuga.

PURPORT
Although nine kings are mentioned by name, Dasaratha appeared after Sujyestha, before the rule of Sangata, and thus there are ten Maurya kings.

SB 12.1.15-17
My dear King Pariksit, Agnimitra will follow as king, and then Sujyestha. Sujyestha will be followed by Vasumitra, Bhadraka, and the son of Bhadraka, Pulinda. Then the son of Pulinda, named Ghosa, will rule, followed by Vajramitra, Bhagavata and Devabhuti. In this way, O most eminent of the Kuru heroes, ten Sunga kings will rule over the earth for more than one hundred years. Then the earth will come under the subjugation of the kings of the Kanva dynasty, who will manifest very few good qualities.

PURPORT
According to Srila Sridhara Svami, the Sunga dynasty began when General Puspamitra killed his king, Brhadratha, and assumed power. After Puspamitra came Agnimitra and the rest of the Sunga dynasty, which lasted for 112 years.

SB 12.1.18
Vasudeva, an intelligent minister coming from the Kanva family, will kill the last of the Sunga kings, a lusty debauchee named Devabhuti, and assume rulership himself.

PURPORT
Apparently, because King Devabhuti was lusty after the wives of other men, his minister killed him, assuming leadership and thus beginning the Kanva dynasty.

SB 12.1.19
The son of Vasudeva will be Bhumitra, and his son will be Narayana. These kings of the Kanva dynasty will rule the earth for 345 more years of the Kali-yuga.

SB 12.1.20
The last of the Kanvas, Susarma, will be murdered by his own servant, Bali a low-class sudra of the Andhra race. This most degraded Maharaja Bali will have control over the earth for some time.

PURPORT
Here is a further description of how uncultured men infiltrated government administration. The so-called king named Bali is described as asattama, a most impious, uncultured man.

SB 12.1.21-26
The brother of Bali, named Krsna, will become the next ruler of the earth. His son will be Santakarna, and his son will be Paurnamasa. The son of Paurnamasa will be Lambodara, who will father Maharaja Cibilaka. From Cibilaka will come Meghasvati, whose son will be Atamana. The son of Atamana will be Anistakarma. His son will be Haleya, and his son will be Talaka. The son of Talaka will be Purisabhiru, and following him Sunandana will become king. Sunandana will be followed by Cakora and the eight Bahus, among whom Sivasvati will be a great subduer of enemies. The son of Sivasvati will be Gomati. His son will be Puriman, whose son will be Medasira. His son will be Sivaskanda, and his son will be YajnaSri. The son of YajnaSri will be Vijaya, who will have two sons, Candravijna and Lomadhi. These thirty kings will enjoy sovereignty over the earth for a total of 456 years, O favorite son of the Kurus.

SB 12.1.27
Then will follow seven kings of the Abhira race from the ciq of Avabhrti, and then ten Gardabhis. After them, sixteen kings of the Kankas will rule and will be known for their excessive greed.

SB 12.1.28
Eight Yavanas will then take power, followed by fourteen Turuskas, ten Gurundas and eleven kings of the Maula dynasty.

SB 12.1.29-31
These Abhiras, Gardabhis and Kankas will enjoy the earth for 1,099 years, and the Maulas will rule for 300 years. When all of them have died off there will appear in the city of Kilakila a dynasty of kings consisting of Bhutananda, Vangiri, Sisunandi, Sisunandi’s brother Yasonandi, and Praviraka. These kings of Kilakila will hold sway for a total of 106 years.

SB 12.1.32-33
The Kilakilas will be followed by their thirteen sons, the Bahlikas, and after them King Puspamitra, his son Durmitra, seven Andhras, seven Kausalas and also kings of the Vidura and Nisadha provinces will separately rule in different parts of the world.

SB 12.1.34
There will then appear a king of the Magadhas named Visvasphurji, who will be like another Puranjaya. He will turn all the civilized classes into low-class, uncivilized men in the same category as the Pulindas, Yadus and Madrakas.

SB 12.1.35
Foolish King Visvasphurji will maintain all the citizens in ungodliness and will use his power to completely disrupt the ksatriya order. From his capital of Padmavati he will rule that part of the earth extending from the source of the Ganga to Prayaga.

SB 12.1.36
At that time the brahmanas of such provinces as Saurastra, Avanti, Abhira, Sura, Arbuda and Malava will forget all their regulative principles, and the members of the royal order in these places will become no better than sudras.

SB 12.1.37
The land along the Sindhu River, as well as the districts of Candrabhaga, Kaunti and Kasmira, will be ruled by sudras, fallen brahmanas and meat-eaters. Having given up the path of Vedic civilization, they will have lost all spiritual strength.

SB 12.1.38
There will be many such uncivilized kings ruling at the same time, O King Pariksit, and they will all be uncharitable, possessed of fierce tempers, and great devotees of irreligion and falsity.

SB 12.1.39-40
These barbarians in the guise of kings will devour the citizenry, murdering innocent women, children, cows and brahmanas and coveting the wives and property of other men. They will be erratic in their moods, have little strength of character and be very short-lived. Indeed, not purified by any Vedic rituals and lacking in the practice of regulative principles, they will be completely covered by the modes of passion and ignorance.

PURPORT
These verses give a concise, accurate description of the fallen leaders of this age.

SB 12.1.41
The citizens governed by these low-class kings will imitate the character, behavior and speech of their rulers. Harassed by their leaders and by each other, they will all suffer ruination.

PURPORT
At the end of the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is stated that Ripunjaya, or Puranjaya, the first king mentioned in this chapter, ended his rule about one thousand years after the time of Lord Krsna. Since Lord Krsna appeared approximately five thousand years ago, Puranjaya must have appeared about four thousand years ago. That would mean that Visvasphurji, the last king mentioned, would have appeared approximately in the twelfth century of the Christian era.

Modern Western scholars have made the false accusation that Indian religious literature has no sense of chronological history. But the elaborate historical chronology described in this chapter certainly refutes that naive assessment.

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to the Twelfth Canto, First Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled “The Degraded Dynasties of Kali-yuga.”