kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhīra-sumbha yavanaḥ khasadayaḥ
ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayaḥ
sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namaḥ
SYNONYMS
kirata - a province of old Bharata; huna - part of Germany and Russia; andhra - a province of southern India;pulinda - the Greeks; pulkasaḥ - another province; abhīra - part of old Sind; sumbhaḥ - another province;yavanaḥ - the Turks; khasa-adayaḥ - the Mongolian province; ye - even those; anye - others; ca - also; papaḥ - addicted to sinful acts; yat - whose; apasraya-asrayaḥ - having taken shelter of the devotees of the Lord;sudhyanti - at once purified; tasmai - unto Him; prabhavisnave - unto the powerful Visnu; namaḥ - my respectful obeisances.
Kirata, Huna, andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, abhīra, sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
PURPORT:
Kirata: A province of old Bharata-varsa mentioned in the Bhīsma-parva of Mahabharata. Generally the Kiratas are known as the aboriginal tribes of India, and in modern days the Santal Parganas in Bihar and Chota Nagpur might comprise the old province named Kirata.
Huna: The area of East Germany and part of Russia is known as the province of the Hunas. Accordingly, sometimes a kind of hill tribe is known as the Hunas.
andhra: A province in southern India mentioned in the Bhīsma-parva of Mahabharata. It is still extant under the same name.
Pulinda: It is mentioned in the Mahabharata (adi-parva 174.38), viz., the inhabitants of the province of the name Pulinda. This country was conquered by Bhīmasena and Sahadeva. The Greeks are known as Pulindas, and it is mentioned in the Vana-parva of Mahabharata that the non-Vedic race of this part of the world would rule over the world. This Pulinda province was also one of the provinces of Bharata, and the inhabitants were classified amongst the ksatriya kings. But later on, due to their giving up the brahminical culture, they were mentioned as mlecchas (just as those who are not followers of the Islamic culture are called kafirs and those who are not followers of the Christian culture are called heathens).
abhīra: This name also appears in the Mahabharata, both in the Sabha-parva and Bhīsma-parva. It is mentioned that this province was situated on the River Sarasvatī in Sind. The modern Sind province formerly extended on the other side of the Arabian Sea, and all the inhabitants of that province were known as the abhīras. They were under the domination of Maharaja Yudhisṭhira, and according to the statements of Markanḍeya the mlecchas of this part of the world would also rule over Bharata. Later on this proved to be true, as in the case of the Pulindas. On behalf of the Pulindas, Alexander the Great conquered India, and on behalf of the abhīras, Muhammad Ghori conquered India. These abhīras were also formerly ksatriyas within the brahminical culture, but they gave up the connection. The ksatriyas who were afraid of Parasurama and had hidden themselves in the Caucasian hilly regions later on became known as the abhīras, and the place they inhabited was known as abhīradesa.
sumbhas or Kaṅkas: The inhabitants of the Kaṅka province of old Bharata, mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Yavanas: Yavana was the name of one of the sons of Maharaja Yayati who was given the part of the world known as Turkey to rule. Therefore the Turks are Yavanas due to being descendants of Maharaja Yavana. The Yavanas were therefore ksatriyas, and later on, by giving up the brahminical culture, they became mleccha-yavanas. Descriptions of the Yavanas are in the Mahabharata (adi-parva 85.34). Another prince called Turvasu was also known as Yavana, and his country was conquered by Sahadeva, one of the Panḍavas. The western Yavana joined with Duryodhana in the Battle of Kuruksetra under the pressure of Karna. It is also foretold that these Yavanas also would conquer India, and it proved to be true.
Khasa: The inhabitants of the Khasadesa are mentioned in the Mahabharata (Drona-parva). Those who have a stunted growth of hair on the upper lip are generally called Khasas. As such, the Khasa are the Mongolians, the Chinese and others who are so designated.
The above-mentioned historical names are different nations of the world. Even those who are constantly engaged in sinful acts are all corrigible to the standard of perfect human beings if they take shelter of the devotees of the Lord. Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of the Lord, have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on the surface of the globe. And from the version of srīla sukadeva Gosvamī it appears that instead of running a godless civilization in the present context of the world situation, if the leadership of world affairs is entrusted to the devotees of the Lord, for which a worldwide organization under the name and style of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has already been started, then by the grace of the Almighty Lord there can be a thorough change of heart in human beings all over the world because the devotees of the Lord are able authorities to effect such a change by purifying the dust-worn minds of the people in general.
The politicians of the world may remain in their respective positions because the pure devotees of the Lord are not interested in political leadership or diplomatic implications. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people in general are not misguided by political propaganda and in seeing that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization which is ultimately doomed. If the politicians, therefore, would be guided by the good counsel of the devotees, then certainly there would be a great change in the world situation by the purifying propaganda of the devotees, as shown by Lord Caitanya.
As sukadeva Gosvamī began his prayer by discussing the word yat-kīrtanam, so also Lord Caitanya recommended that simply by glorifying the Lord's holy name, a tremendous change of heart can take place by which the complete misunderstanding between the human nations created by politicians can at once be extinguished. And after the extinction of the fire of misunderstanding, other profits will follow. The destination is to go back home, back to Godhead, as we have several times discussed in these pages.
(From The Srimad-Bhagavatam Chapter 2, text 4, verse 18 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
Source: http://harekrishnablog.blogspot.in/2012/10/alexander-great-known-in-india-as.html
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