कृष्णचरितं कलिकल्मषघ्नं ।
kṛṣṇa-caritaṁ kali-kalmaṣa-ghnaṁ … |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.1.14)
“The acts of Kṛṣṇa are dispellers of the defilement of [the Age of] Kali.”
Commentary
kṛṣṇasya sarva-cittākarṣakasya bhāgavataś caritam | kiṁ ca, kalau yat kalmaṣaṁ sudustaraṁ pāpaṁ, tad api | yad vā, sarva-pāpa-hetoḥ kaler api, kiṁ punas tat-kālīna-janasya kalmaṣaṁ doṣam | yad vā, “kiṁ tattvaṁ? kiṁ phalaṁ? kiṁ vā sādhanam?” ity ādi-viṣayakaḥ kaliḥ kalaha eva kalmaṣaṁ śrī-bhagavan-māhātmyānirdhārāt tad dhantīti | tathā tac-chrī-bhagavac-carita-śravaṇādinaiva tan-māhātmya-vijñānād aśeṣa-kalaha-doṣa-nivṛtteḥ | yad vā, kaliṁ ca, ata eva kalmaṣaṁ ca, sarva-duḥkha-mūlaṁ ca pāpaṁ saṁsāra-duḥkham eva hantīti sarva-duḥkha-hantṛtvam uktam |
(Excerpt from the Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā and Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“The acts of Kṛṣṇa, that is, of Bhagavān, the attractor of the hearts of all, further are the destroyer of the defilement (kalmaṣa), that is, even the exceedingly unsurmountable sin, in [the Age of] Kali, or, [they are the destroyer] of even Kali [personified quarrel himself], the cause of all sin, and so all the more [are they the destroyer of] the faults (kalmaṣa) of the people of his time, or, [they are the destroyer] of the defilement (kalmaṣa) that is quarrel (kali) related to subjects such as, ’What is reality (tattva)? What is the end result (phalam)? What is the process (sādhana)?’, [all of] which are based on a lack of ascertainment of the greatness of Śrī Bhagavān, since the cessation of the fault of endless quarrel comes about only as a result of realization of Śrī Bhagavān’s greatness through [the process of] hearing and so forth [e.g., praising and remembering] his acts. Or, they are the destroyer of Kali, that is, the root of all suffering, or sin, and thus also of defilement (kalmaṣa), that is, the suffering of saṁsāra. Thus, it is said that they [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s acts] are the destroyer of all suffering.”