SB 1.18.47
apapesu sva-bhrtyesu
balenapakva-buddhina
papam krtam tad bhagavan
sarvatma ksantum arhati
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Then the rsi prayed to the all-pervading Personality of Godhead to pardon his immature boy, who had no intelligence and who committed the great sin of cursing a person who was completely free from all sins, who was subordinate and who deserved to be protected.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Everyone is responsible for his own action, either pious or sinful. Rsi Samika could foresee that his son had committed a great sin by cursing Maharaja Pariksit, who deserved to be protected by the brahmanas, for he was a pious ruler and completely free from all sins because of his being a first-class devotee of the Lord. When an offense is done unto the devotee of the Lord, it is very difficult to overcome the reaction. The brahmanas, being at the head of the social orders, are meant to give protection to their subordinates and not to curse them. There are occasions when a brahmana may furiously curse a subordinate ksatriya or vaisya, etc., but in the case of Maharaja Pariksit there were no grounds, as already explained. The foolish boy had done it out of sheer vanity in being a brahmana’s son, and thus he became liable to be punished by the law of God. The Lord never forgives a person who condemns His pure devotee. Therefore, by cursing a king the foolish Srngi had committed not only a sin but also the greatest offense. Therefore the rsi could foresee that only the Supreme Personality of Godhead could save his boy from his sinful act. He therefore directly prayed for pardon from the Supreme Lord, who alone can undo a thing which is impossible to change. The appeal was made in the name of a foolish boy who had developed no intelligence at all.
A question may be raised herein that since it was the desire of the Lord that Pariksit Maharaja be put into that awkward position so that he might be delivered from material existence, then why was a brahmana’s son made responsible for this offensive act? The answer is that the offensive act was performed by a child only so that he could be excused very easily, and thus the prayer of the father was accepted. But if the question is raised why the brahmana community as a whole was made responsible for allowing Kali into the world affairs, the answer is given in the Varaha Purana that the demons who acted inimically toward the Personality of Godhead but were not killed by the Lord were allowed to take birth in the families of brahmanas to take advantage of the Age of Kali. The all-merciful Lord gave them a chance to have their births in the families of pious brahmanas so that they could progress toward salvation. But the demons, instead of utilizing the good opportunity, misused the brahminical culture due to being puffed up by vanity in becoming brahmanas. The typical example is the son of Samika Rsi, and all the foolish sons of brahmanas are warned hereby not to become as foolish as Srngi and to be always on guard against the demoniac qualities which they had in their previous births. The foolish boy was, of course, excused by the Lord, but others, who may not have a father like Samika Rsi, will be put into great difficulty if they misuse the advantages obtained by birth in a brahmana family.