Why is there a huge difference regarding the liberation of Parikshit in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavatam?

Question

The Mahabharata, one of the two Itihasas, begins with the tale of the Sarpa Satra of King Janamejaya, during which the epic was narrated to him by Janamejaya. The Sarpa Satra was a 12-year Yajna conducted by Janamejaya to avenge his father Parikshit's death by the Snake Takshaka, by killing all the snakes. Fortunately (?) this act of his was stopped by Sage Astika, the son of Jaratkaru and Manasa Devi. (Here too there is a difference, as in the Bhagavatam, Janamejaya is stopped by Brhaspati.)

Now, the background of this story is the death of Parikshit. In the Adi Parva, it is described that Maharaja Parikshit, while hunting, gets thirsty and reaches the Ashrama of Maharshi Shamika. When Maharshi Shamika doesn't respong to his request for water, due to his meditation, Parikshit gets angry and drapes a dead snake around the Maharshi's neck and leaves. He is noticed by the sage's son Shringi, who pronounces a curse on the King to be killed by the Snake King Takshaka within seven days.

When Parikshit is informed, he becomes paranoid and builds a high tower, inaccessible to all but him, and resides within it with all his supplies. But Takshaka decides to enter one of the fruits to be taken for Parikshit. He stops a rishi named Kashyapa (not the famous Kashyapa) who had been on his way to chant the Mrta Sanjeevani on a dead Parikshit and bring him to life, thereby obtaining lot of rewards. Takshaka gives Kashyapa a lot of wealth and then enters a fruit. When Parikshit bites into the fruit Takshaka comes out and bites him back, killing him. (The Devi Bhagavatam adds that Parikshit attains Moksha when his son listens to Devi Bhagavatam (!) and worships Devi.)

But the Srimad Bhagavatam is unaware of the above story from the tower building part. In Srimad Bhagavatam, as soon as Parikshit knows of his fate, he goes to the banks of the Ganga, where he meets several rishis, led by Shukadeva Gosvami, who imparts to him Srimad Bhagavatam within seven days, following which Parikshit is free from all desires, and in the midst of all the rishis happily accepts death as Takshaka (who has here too stopped Kashyapa) bites him and burns him to ashes.

So, why this huge difference between the two stories? Because the Parishit and Shukadeva story leads to Srimad Bhagavatam, and the other to Devi Bhagavata directly and indirectly to the Mahabharata (since the story of the tower is present in the Mahabharata.)

We can not dismiss this as an interpolation, because there seems to be no cause for interpolation; if anything it only advances the plot.

So, once again, why is there such a glaring difference between the two scriptures?

Answer 1

The problem is not only with description of Parikshit but also with the narrator (of Bhagvatam) there. Because as per Mahabharata Suka had already attained Moksha long time before. This chapter of Shanti Parva of Mahabharata clearly narrates it. It also states:

The Rishi, beholding these movements, understood that his son had been emancipated from all attachments, but that he himself was not freed therefrom. At this he became filled with both joy and shame. As Vyasa was seated there, the auspicious god Siva, armed with Pinaka, surrounded on all sides by many deities and Gandharvas and adored by all the great Rishis came thither. Consoling the Island-born Rishi who was burning with grief on account of his son, Mahadeva said these words unto him.--Thou hadst formerly solicited from me a son possessed of the energy of Fire, of Water, of Wind, and of Space; Procreated by thy penances, the son that was born unto thee was of that very kind. Proceeding from my grace, he was pure and full of Brahma-energy. He has attained to the highest end--an end which none can win that has not completely subjugated his senses, nor can be won by even any of the deities. Why then, O regenerate Rishi, dost thou grieve for that son? As long as the hills will last, as long as the ocean will last, so long will the fame of thy son endure undiminished! Through my grace, O great Rishi thou shalt behold in this world a shadowy form resembling thy son, moving by the side and never deserting thee for a single moment!--Thus favoured by the illustrious Rudra himself, O Bharata, the Rishi beheld a shadow of his son by his side. He returned from that place, filled with joy at this.

Before narrating this the Mahabharata clearly states Suka entering over all elements of Universe, and becoming soul of all (which I discuss here.) Particularly The Mahabharata states:

शुक सर्वगतो भूत्वा सर्वात्मा सर्वतोमुख ।।

Suka entered all elements, Became Atman of all and omnipresent having face at all places.

So, as Suka had already attained Moksha (entering all elements, becoming Atman of all) and description of Parikshit also doesn't match with the description of Mahabharata. So, only two cases are possible.

Case 1:
➡➡ It is an interpolation.

Case 2:
➡➡ Solution from Matsya Purana:

As described in answer here different Puranas tell story of different Kalpas. So, that type of description for Srimad Bhagvatam is also possible as it primarily tells story of Sarswata Kalpa. Regarding Bhagvata Purana. Matsya Purana Chapter 53 states:

सारस्वतस्य कल्पस्य मध्य मे स्युर्नरोत्तमा । तद्वृत्तान्तोद्भवं लोके तद्भागवतमुच्यते ।।

That Purana which tells the story of famous men who flourished in Sarswata Kalpa and also narrates the destruction of Vrittasura is known as Bhagvata.

Thus it means that Bhagvata Purana tells the story of men who flourished in Sarswata Kalpa. Present Kalpa is Svetavaraha Kalpa and so Mahabharata story of Parikshit is of SvetaVaraha Kalpa. So, two stories do not match as they are of different Kalpas.

Answer 2

Purana is narrated as history, but the stories act on three levels as I understand - Internally-externally and on the Supra level of totality. This is how I understand the intention of the sages who described them. They are to be seen as a kind of history that happened an allegory of symbolic meaning taking place internally in all beings and ultimately the supreme Yajna taking place with in the Supreme Being- Lila.. This is accommodated by understanding the nature of Reality, which is three fold in nature. Dual, non dual- and ultimately dual and non dual simultaneously- by dint of the nature of Infinity

Om purnam adha purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate purnasya purnam adhaya purnat evavasisyate.

The absolute truth -Tattva is Brahman -consciousness of three fold nature - Sat Cit Ananda - It is all being awareness and experiance - from it arise all that is experienced and that can be made aware of. Thus all the characters in purana and in our day to day are in fact states of being- interacting with three gunas.The names of these individuals and their forms etc give us the details that describe their state of being. This gives us the internal meaning. The external meaning is the story as history and the highest is beyond my capacity to know.

So now let us explore the contradictory stories and see how they are infact two different stories relating to the same state of Being - the differance being the predominant guna.

Parikshit means something like he with superior vision. Like one who look down the road and see whats coming. In both stories he becomes aware of his impending death - Takshaka. Takshaka - implies a wood cutter. A chopper. This world is Naimisharanya or the Transient woods. Thus takshaka is like the destructive force of desire that ultimately manifests as death the final fruit. There are many ways that these two characters and how they are brought together can be analysed. Like the connection of insult in both Shringi and Parikshit that gives rise to the curse. Now Devi Bhagavatam is a Raja guna purana it deals with overcoming raja guna its glorifies Devi who is clad in Red. It is the knowledge that interacting with the world can give you. Thus in Devi Bhagavatam and in Mahabharata -we can see that Parikshit is acting from the place of rajas. He is not possesed of the highest awareness -sattva- being motivated by the pursuit of material well being. Thus his actions reflect a worldly man trying to save himself from death by trying to protect his fortress. Which could be seen as protecting the body. Ultimately the snake enters the fruit. Phala. Phala being a very important word as it is the result of your activities. Thus having acted there was no escaping the fruit.

In contrast Srimad Bhagavatam is called the spotless purana it is said to be above the gunas but because it is Vaishnava it can be seen that the individuals are acting from sattva -top most awareness. So when Parikshit is acting from Sattva he sees that there is no avoiding his oncoming death - and seeing his death coming he has the topmost vision to try to over come it not in the physical sense but the spiritual, making the most of his human form of life. Thus he goes to the ganga and hears from Sukhadeva goswami - the master of the internal faculties who gives the guiding light of happiness.

One may ask why then are there not three accounts. Sattva Rajas and Tamas. The answer as I see it is that the state of Parikshit does not arise in Tamas because in Tamas there is no awareness and there for Para vision will not arise. Parikshit descended from Abhimanyu who descended from Arjuna -Thus we see the order. Arjuna -pure actions - Abhimanyu - conquering of Anger -Parikshit superior vision. Inferior Parikshit can still arise when Raja guna predominates but it is not possible when Tamas does.

I have not delved into the other aspects of the story as they are more or less the same. But I encourage you to ponder their implications.

Answer 3

Excellent question!
I think that the difference in the stories from the Mahabharata and the Bhagavatam are not due to interpolation, but are due to another reason.
To my knowledge, acaryas and tradition interpret such differences due to kalpa bheda. The kalpa bheda are differences in events that have occurred in the different Kalpas or periods in the history of the universe.
It is said that the events that are described in the "Histories", ie in the Puranas and Itihasas (Mahabharata and Ramayana) are eternal pastimes or nitya lila of the Lord. Since they are nitya lila of the Lord, they are periodically, from time to time, repeated over and over again throughout eternity. Thus, the story of King Parikshit is repeated from time to time throughout eternity infinite number of times! But when it is repeated, it will not be repeated each time completely in the same manner as it was the previous time to the last detail, but it will be repeated similarly as before, but with some differences. That is why the Parikshit story in the Bhagavatam is different from the Mahabharata. It was not the same King Parikshit, but there were two different kings Parikshit from two completely different eras in the history of the universe.

I suggest you to make a simple google search: kalpa bheda
Thus you'll see some examples of this.

There are other examples of differences in the stories due to kalpa bheda also. One such example is the difference in the descriptions of the story of the birth of Rudra. In some scriptures it is described that Rudra was born from Brahma's wrath, and in others it is said that he was born out of Aniruddha's (Vishnu's) anger.
See eg Bhagavatam, canto 3, chapter 12, verses 4 and forward where it is said that Rudra was born from the wrath of Brahma:
http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/3/12

SB 3.12.7 — Although he tried to curb his anger, it came out from between his eyebrows, and a child mixed blue and red was immediately generated.

The same story can be seen also in The Vishnu Purana: Book I: Chapter VIII at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp042.htm
If you look at translator's footnotes there, you'll see that he states that in some Puranas it is said that Rudra comes from Brahma's mouth, and in other Puranas from his forehead. This is also an example of a kalpa bheda.

In the Satapatha Brahmana 6:1:3 the story of Rudra's birth is completely different, see at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe41/sbe4130.htm

On the other hand, in some scriptures Rudra is said to be born out of Vishnu's wrath. The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCXLII at http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c041.htm

Salutations unto Narayana, ... From His grace 'lath arisen Brahman and from His wrath hath arisen Rudra.
...
He is otherwise called Aniruddha and is the source of the Creation and the Destruction of the universe. When Brahma's night wore off, through the grace of that Being of immeasurable energy, a lotus made its appearance first, O thou of eyes like lotus petals. Within that lotus was born Brahma, springing from Aniruddha's grace. Towards the evening of Brahma's day, Aniruddha became filled with wrath, and as a consequence of this, there sprang from his forehead a son called Rudra vested with the power of destroying everything (when the hour for destruction comes). These two, viz., Brahma and Rudra, are the foremost of all the deities, having sprung respectively from the Propitiousness and the Wrath (of Aniruddha).

Subala Upanishad says Rudra was born from Narayana's forehead, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tmu/tmu13.htm

From His forehead, Ruḍra was born through His anger.
...
At first there was not anything in the least. These creatures were born through no root, no support but the Divine Ḍeva, the one Nārāyaṇa.

Maha Upanishad:

I-7. Again, Narayana, desiring something else, thought. From his forehead a person arose with three eyes and a trident, having glory, fame, truth, celibacy, austerity, detachment, mind, lordship, seven Vyahritis (Bhur etc.,) along with Pranava, Rik and other Vedas, all metres is his body –, he is the Mahesvara.