Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 4: “The Creation of the Fourth Order”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter Twenty-five

SB4.25.27

TEXT 27

ka ete ’nupatha ye ta

ekadasa maha-bhatah

eta va lalanah subhru

ko ’yam te ’hih purah-sarah

SYNONYMS

ke—who; ete—all these; anupathah—followers; ye—they who; te—your; ekadasa—eleven; maha-bhatah—very powerful bodyguards; etah—all of these; va—also; lalanah—women; su-bhru—O beautiful-eyed one; kah—who; ayam—this; te—your; ahih—the snake; purah—in front; sarah—going.

TRANSLATION

My dear lotus-eyed, who are those eleven strong bodyguards with you, and who are those ten specific servants? Who are those women following the ten servants, and who is the snake that is preceding you?

PURPORT

The ten strong servants of the mind are the five working senses and the five knowledge-gathering senses. All these ten senses work under the aegis of the mind. The mind and the ten senses combine to become eleven strong bodyguards. The hundreds of women under the jurisdiction of the senses are addressed here as lalanah. The mind works under the intelligence, and under the mind are the ten senses, and under the ten senses are innumerable desires to be fulfilled. All these, however, depend on the vital life-force, which is here represented by the snake. As long as the vital life-force is there, the mind works, and under the mind the senses work, and the senses give rise to so many material desires. Actually the living entity, known as puranjana, is embarrassed by so much paraphernalia. All this paraphernalia simply constitutes different sources of anxiety, but one who is surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who leaves all business to Him, is freed from such anxieties. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja advises a person who has taken to the materialistic way of life, which is never permanent but always temporary, to take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and leave aside all his so-called responsibilities in order to get free from all anxieties.

SB4.25.28

TEXT 28

tvam hrir bhavany asy atha vag rama patim

vicinvati kim munivad raho vane

tvad-anghri-kamapta-samasta-kamam

kva padma-kosah patitah karagrat

SYNONYMS

tvam—you; hrih—shyness; bhavani—the wife of Lord Siva; asi—are; atha—rather; vak—Sarasvati, the goddess of learning; rama—the goddess of fortune; patim—husband; vicinvati—searching after, thinking of; kim—are you; muni-vat—like a sage; rahah—in this lonely place; vane—in the forest; tvat-anghri—your feet; kama—desiring; apta—achieved; samasta—all; kamam—desirable things; kva—where is; padma-kosah—the lotus flower; patitah—fallen; kara—of the hand; agrat—from the front portion, or palm.

TRANSLATION

My dear beautiful girl, you are exactly like the goddess of fortune or the wife of Lord Siva or the goddess of learning, the wife of Lord Brahma. Although you must be one of them, I see that you are loitering in this forest. Indeed, you are as silent as the great sages. Is it that you are searching after your own husband? Whoever your husband may be, simply by understanding that you are so faithful to him, he will come to possess all opulences. I think you must be the goddess of fortune, but I do not see the lotus flower in your hand. Therefore I am asking you where you have thrown that lotus.

PURPORT

Everyone thinks that his intelligence is perfect. Sometimes one employs his intelligence in the worship of Uma, the wife of Lord Siva, in order to obtain a beautiful wife. Sometimes, when one wants to become as learned as Lord Brahma, he employs his intelligence in the worship of the goddess of learning, Sarasvati. Sometimes, when one wishes to become as opulent as Lord Visnu, he worships the goddess of fortune, Laksmi. In this verse all these inquiries are made by King Puranjana, the living entity who is bewildered and does not know how to employ his intelligence. Intelligence should be employed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As soon as one uses his intelligence in this way, the goddess of fortune automatically becomes favorable to him. The goddess of fortune, Laksmi, never remains without her husband, Lord Visnu. Consequently, when one worships Lord Visnu he automatically obtains the favor of the goddess of fortune. One should not, like Ravana, worship the goddess of fortune alone, for she cannot remain long without her husband. Thus her other name is Cancala, or restless. In this verse it is clear that Puranjana is representing our intelligence while he is talking with the girl. He not only appreciated the shyness of the girl but actually became more and more attracted by that shyness. He was actually thinking of becoming her husband and consequently was asking her whether she was thinking of her prospective husband or whether she was married. This is an example of bhoga-iccha—the desire for enjoyment. One who is attracted by such desires becomes conditioned in this material world, and one who is not so attracted attains liberation. King Puranjana was appreciating the beauty of the girl as if she were the goddess of fortune, but at the same time he was careful to understand that the goddess of fortune cannot be enjoyed by anyone except Lord Visnu. Since he doubted whether the girl was the goddess of fortune, he inquired about the lotus flower she was not holding. The material world is also the goddess of fortune because the material energy works under the direction of Lord Visnu, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram).

The material world cannot be enjoyed by any living entity. If one so desires to enjoy it, he immediately becomes a demon like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu or Kamsa. Because Ravana wanted to enjoy the goddess of fortune, Sitadevi, he was vanquished with all his family, wealth and opulence. One can, however, enjoy that maya bestowed upon the living entity by Lord Visnu. The satisfaction of one’s senses and desires means enjoying maya, not the goddess of fortune.

SB4.25.29

TEXT 29

nasam varorv anyatama bhuvi-sprk

purim imam vira-varena sakam

arhasy alankartum adabhra-karmana

lokam param srir iva yajna-pumsa

SYNONYMS

na—not; asam—of these; varoru—O most fortunate one; anya-tama—anyone; bhuvi-sprk—touching the ground; purim—city; imam—this; vira-varena—the great hero; sakam—along with; arhasi—you deserve; alankartum—to decorate; adabhra—glorious; karmana—whose activities; lokam—world; param—transcendental; srih—the goddess of fortune; iva—like; yajna-pumsa—with the enjoyer of all yajnas.

TRANSLATION

O greatly fortunate one, it appears that you are none of the women I have mentioned because I see that your feet are touching the ground. But if you are some woman of this planet, you can, like the goddess of fortune, who, accompanied by Lord Visnu, increases the beauty of the Vaikuntha planets, also increase the beauty of this city by associating with me. You should understand that I am a great hero and a very powerful king on this planet.

PURPORT

There is a difference between demoniac mentality and devotional mentality. Devotees know perfectly well that the goddess of fortune, who is the constant companion of Visnu, or Narayana, cannot be enjoyed by a living entity. This higher sense of understanding is called Krsna consciousness. Nonetheless, everyone wants to become happy by imitating the prosperity of Narayana. In this verse Puranjana states that the girl appears to be an ordinary woman. However, since he is attracted by her, he requests that she become as happy as the goddess of fortune by associating with him. Thus he introduces himself as a great king with great influence so that she might accept him as her husband and be as happy as the goddess of fortune. To desire to enjoy this material world as a subordinate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is godly. The demons, however, want to enjoy this material world without considering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the difference between a demon and a demigod.

The word bhuvi-sprk mentioned in this verse is very significant. When the demigods sometimes come to this planet, they do not touch the ground. Puranjana could understand that this girl did not belong to the transcendental world or the higher planetary system because her feet were touching the ground. Since every woman in this world wants her husband to be very influential, rich and powerful, Puranjana, to seduce the girl, introduced himself as such a personality. In the material world, whether one be a man or a woman, one wants to enjoy. A man wants to enjoy a beautiful woman, and a woman wants to enjoy a powerful, opulent man. Every living entity who possesses such material desires is called purusa, an enjoyer. Superficially it appears that the woman is the enjoyed and the man is the enjoyer, but internally everyone is an enjoyer. Consequently everything in this material world is called maya.

SB4.25.30

TEXT 30

yad esa mapanga-vikhanditendriyam

savrida-bhava-smita-vibhramad-bhruva

tvayopasrsto bhagavan mano-bhavah

prabadhate ’thanugrhana sobhane

SYNONYMS

yat—because; esah—this; ma—me; apanga—by your glances; vikhandita—agitated; indriyam—whose senses or mind; sa-vrida—with shyness; bhava—affection; smita—smiling; vibhramat—bewildering; bhruva—with eyebrows; tvaya—by you; upasrstah—being influenced; bhagavan—the most powerful; manah-bhavah—cupid; prabadhate—is harassing; atha—therefore; anugrhana—be merciful; sobhane—O very beautiful one.

TRANSLATION

Certainly your glancing upon me today has very much agitated my mind. Your smile, which is full of shyness but at the same time lusty, is agitating the most powerful cupid within me. Therefore, O most beautiful, I ask you to be merciful upon me.

PURPORT

Everyone has lusty desires within, and as soon as one is agitated by the movement of a beautiful woman’s eyebrows, the cupid within immediately throws his arrow at the heart. Thus one is quickly conquered by the eyebrows of a beautiful woman. When one is agitated by lusty desires, his senses are attracted by all kinds of visaya (enjoyable things like sound, touch, form, smell and taste). These attractive sense objects oblige one to come under the control of a woman. In this way the conditional life of a living entity begins. Conditional life means being under the control of a woman, and certainly the living entity is always at the mercy of a woman or a man. Thus living entities live in bondage to one another, and thus they continue this conditional, material life illusioned by maya.

SB4.25.31

TEXT 31

tvad-ananam subhru sutara-locanam

vyalambi-nilalaka-vrnda-samvrtam

unniya me darsaya valgu-vacakam

yad vridaya nabhimukham suci-smite

SYNONYMS

tvat—your; ananam—face; su-bhru—having nice eyebrows; su-tara—with nice pupils; locanam—eyes; vyalambi—scattered; nila—bluish; alaka-vrnda—by locks of hair; samvrtam—surrounded; unniya—having raised; me—unto me; darsaya—show; valgu-vacakam—having words very sweet to hear; yat—which face; vridaya—by shyness; na—not; abhimukham—face to face; suci-smite—O woman with lovely smiles.

TRANSLATION

My dear girl, your face is so beautiful with your nice eyebrows and eyes and with your bluish hair scattered about. In addition, very sweet sounds are coming from your mouth. Nonetheless, you are so covered with shyness that you do not see me face to face. I therefore request you, my dear girl, to smile and kindly raise your head to see me.

PURPORT

Such a speech is typical of a living entity attracted by the opposite sex. This is called bewilderment occasioned by becoming conditioned by material nature. When thus attracted by the beauty of the material energy, one becomes very eager to enjoy. This is elaborately described in this instance of Puranjana’s becoming attracted by the beautiful woman. In conditional life the living entity is attracted by a face, eyebrows or eyes, a voice or anything. In short, everything becomes attractive. When a man or a woman is attracted by the opposite sex, it does not matter whether the opposite sex is beautiful or not. The lover sees everything beautiful in the face of the beloved and thus becomes attracted. This attraction causes the living entity to fall down in this material world. This is described in Bhagavad-gita (7.27):

iccha-dvesa-samutthena
dvandva-mohena bharata
sarva-bhutani sammoham
sarge yanti parantapa

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.”

This condition of life is called avidya. Opposed to this avidya is real knowledge. Sri Isopanisad distinguishes between vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance. By avidya (ignorance) one becomes conditioned, and by vidya (knowledge) one becomes liberated. Puranjana admits herein that he is attracted by avidya. Now he wishes to see the complete feature of avidya and so requests the girl to raise her head so that he can see her face to face. He thus wishes to see the various features that make avidya attractive.

SB4.25.32

TEXT 32

narada uvaca

ittham puranjanam nari

yacamanam adhiravat

abhyanandata tam viram

hasanti vira mohita

SYNONYMS

naradah uvaca—the great sage Narada continued to speak; ittham—upon this; puranjanam—unto Puranjana; nari—the woman; yacamanam—begging; adhira-vat—being too impatient; abhyanandata—she addressed; tam—him; viram—the hero; hasanti—smiling; vira—O hero; mohita—being attracted by him.

TRANSLATION

Narada continued: My dear King, when Puranjana became so attracted and impatient to touch the girl and enjoy her, the girl also became attracted by his words and accepted his request by smiling. By this time she was certainly attracted by the King.

PURPORT

By this incident we can understand that when a man is aggressive and begins to woo a woman, the woman becomes attracted to the man. This process is described in the Bhagavatam (5.5.8) as pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam. This attraction is enacted on the platform of sexual life. Thus the sex impulse is the platform of material engagement. This conditional life, the platform of material sense enjoyment, is the cause of forgetfulness of spiritual life. In this way a living entity’s original Krsna consciousness becomes covered or converted into material consciousness. Thus one engages in the business of sense gratification.

SB4.25.33

TEXT 33

na vidama vayam samyak

kartaram purusarsabha

atmanas ca parasyapi

gotram nama ca yat-krtam

SYNONYMS

na—do not; vidama—know; vayam—I; samyak—perfectly; kartaram—maker; purusa-rsabha—O best of human beings; atmanah—of myself; ca—and; parasya—of others; api—also; gotram—family history; nama—name; ca—and; yat-krtam—which has been made by whom.

TRANSLATION

The girl said: O best of human beings, I do not know who has begotten me. I cannot speak to you perfectly about this. Nor do I know the names or the origin of the associates with me.

PURPORT

The living entity is ignorant of his origin. He does not know why this material world was created, why others are working in this material world and what the ultimate source of this manifestation is. No one knows the answers to these questions, and this is called ignorance. By researching into the origin of life, important scientists are finding some chemical compositions or cellular combinations, but actually no one knows the original source of life within this material world. The phrase brahma jijnasa is used to indicate an inquisitiveness to know the original source of our existence in this material world. No philosopher, scientist or politician actually knows wherefrom we have come, why we are here struggling so hard for existence and where we will go. Generally people are of the opinion that we are all here accidentally and that as soon as these bodies are finished all our dramatic activities will be finished and we will become zero. Such scientists and philosophers are impersonalists and voidists. In this verse the girl is expressing the actual position of the living entity. She cannot tell Puranjana her father’s name because she does not know from where she has come. Nor does she know why she is present in that place. She frankly says that she does not know anything about all this. This is the position of the living entity in the material world. There are so many scientists, philosophers and big leaders, but they do not know wherefrom they have come, nor do they know why they are busy within this material world to obtain a position of so-called happiness. In this material world we have many nice facilities for living, but we are so foolish that we do not ask who has made this world habitable for us and has arranged it so nicely. Everything is functioning in order, but people foolishly think that they are produced by chance in this material world and that after death they will become zero. They think that this beautiful place of habitation will automatically remain.

SB4.25.34

TEXT 34

ihadya santam atmanam

vidama na tatah param

yeneyam nirmita vira

puri saranam atmanah

SYNONYMS

iha—here; adya—today; santam—existing; atmanam—living entities; vidama—that much we know; na—not; tatah param—beyond that; yena—by whom; iyam—this; nirmita—created; vira—O great hero; puri—city; saranam—resting place; atmanah—of all living entities.

TRANSLATION

O great hero, we only know that we are existing in this place. We do not know what will come after. Indeed, we are so foolish that we do not care to understand who has created this beautiful place for our residence.

PURPORT

This lack of Krsna consciousness is called ignorance. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.5) it is called parabhavas tavad abodha jatah. Everyone is born ignorant. The Bhagavatam therefore says that we are all born ignorant within this material world. In our ignorance we may create nationalism, philanthropy, internationalism, science, philosophy and so many other things. The basic principle behind all these is ignorance. What then is the value of all this advancement of knowledge if the basic principle is ignorance? Unless a person comes to Krsna consciousness, all of his activities are defeated. This human form of life is especially meant to dissipate ignorance, but without understanding how to dissipate ignorance people are planning and building many things. After death, however, all of this is finished.

SB4.25.35

TEXT 35

ete sakhayah sakhyo me

nara naryas ca manada

suptayam mayi jagarti

nago ’yam palayan purim

SYNONYMS

ete—all these; sakhayah—male friends; sakhyah—female associates; me—my; narah—men; naryah—women; ca—and; mana-da—O very respectful one; suptayam—while sleeping; mayi—I am; jagarti—keeps awake; nagah—snake; ayam—this; palayan—protecting; purim—this city.

TRANSLATION

My dear gentleman, all these men and women with me are known as my friends, and the snake, who always remains awake, protects this city even during my sleeping hours. So much I know. I do not know anything beyond this.

PURPORT

Puranjana inquired from the woman about those eleven men and their wives and the snake. The woman gave a brief description of them. She was obviously without full knowledge of her surrounding men and women and the snake. As stated before, the snake is the vital force of the living being. This vital force always remains awake even when the body and the senses become fatigued and do no work. Even in the state of unconsciousness, when we sleep, the snake, or the life-force, remains intact and awake. Consequently we dream when we sleep. When the living entity gives up this material body, the vital force still remains intact and is carried to another material body. That is called transmigration, or change of the body, and we have come to know this process as death. Actually, there is no death. The vital force always exists with the soul, and when the soul is awakened from so-called sleep, he can see his eleven friends, or the active senses and the mind with their various desires (wives). The vital life-force remains. Even during our sleeping hours we can understand by virtue of our breathing process that the snake lives by eating the air that passes within this body. Air is exhibited in the form of breathing, and as long as breath is there, one can understand that a sleeping man is alive. Even when the gross body is asleep the vital force remains active and alive to protect the body. Thus the snake is described as living and eating air to keep the body fit for life.

SB4.25.36

TEXT 36

distyagato ’si bhadram te

gramyan kaman abhipsase

udvahisyami tams te ’ham

sva-bandhubhir arindama

SYNONYMS

distya—fortunately for me; agatah asi—you have come here; bhadram—all auspiciousness; te—unto you; gramyan—sensual; kaman—desired enjoyable objects; abhipsase—you want to enjoy; udvahisyami—I shall supply; tan—all of them; te—unto you; aham—I; sva-bandhubhih—with all my friends; arim-dama—O killer of the enemy.

TRANSLATION

O killer of the enemy, you have somehow or other come here. This is certainly great fortune for me. I wish all auspicious things for you. You have a great desire to satisfy your senses, and all my friends and I shall try our best in all respects to fulfill your desires.

PURPORT

The living entity comes down into this material world for sense gratification, and his intelligence, represented by the woman, gives him the proper direction by which he can satisfy his senses to their best capacity. In actuality, however, intelligence comes from the Supersoul, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He gives full facility to the living entity who has come down to this material world. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (2.41):

vyavasayatmika buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-sakha hy anantas ca
buddhayo ’vyavasayinam

“Those who are on the spiritual path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.”

When a devotee is advancing toward spiritual realization, his only aim is the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He does not care for any other material or spiritual activity. King Puranjana represents the ordinary living entity, and the woman represents the ordinary living entity’s intelligence. Combined, the living entity enjoys his material senses, and the intelligence supplies all paraphernalia for his enjoyment. As soon as he enters the human form, the living entity is entrapped by a family tradition, nationality, customs, etc. These are all supplied by the maya of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus the living entity, under the bodily conception of life, utilizes his intelligence to his best capacity in order to satisfy his senses.

SB4.25.37

TEXT 37

imam tvam adhitisthasva

purim nava-mukhim vibho

mayopanitan grhnanah

kama-bhogan satam samah

SYNONYMS

imam—this; tvam—your good self; adhitisthasva—just remain; purim—in the city; nava-mukhim—with nine gates; vibho—O my lord; maya—by me; upanitan—arranged; grhnanah—taking; kama-bhogan—the materials for sense gratification; satam—a hundred; samah—years.

TRANSLATION

My dear lord, I have just arranged this city of nine gates for you so that you can have all kinds of sense gratification. You may live here for one hundred years, and everything for your sense gratification will be supplied.

PURPORT

Dharmartha-kama-moksanam darah samprapti-hetavah. The wife is the cause of all kinds of success in religion, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately salvation. When one accepts a wife, it is to be understood that he is being helped in his progressive march toward liberation. In the beginning of life a person is trained as a brahmacari and is then allowed to marry a suitable girl and become a householder. If one is thoroughly trained in household life, he finds all facilities for human life—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Everything is there if it is executed according to regulative principles.

SB4.25.38

TEXT 38

kam nu tvad-anyam ramaye

hy arati-jnam akovidam

asamparayabhimukham

asvastana-vidam pasum

SYNONYMS

kam—unto whom; nu—then; tvat—than you; anyam—other; ramaye—I shall allow to enjoy; hi—certainly; arati-jnam—without knowledge of sex enjoyment; akovidam—therefore almost foolish; asamparaya—without knowledge of the next life; abhimukham—looking forward; asvastana-vidam—one who does not know what is happening next; pasum—like animals.

TRANSLATION

How can I expect to unite with others, who are neither conversant about sex nor capable of knowing how to enjoy life while living or after death? Such foolish persons are like animals because they do not know the process of sense enjoyment in this life and after death.

PURPORT

Since there are 8,400,000 species of life, there are also many different living conditions. In the lower grades of life (in plant and tree life) there is no system for sexual intercourse. In the upper grades (in the life of birds and bees) there is sex, but the insects and animals do not know how to actually enjoy sex life. In the human form of life, however, there is full knowledge of how to enjoy sex. Indeed, there are many so-called philosophers who give directions on how to enjoy sex life. There is even a science called kama-sastra, which is the science of sex. In human life there are also such divisions as brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa. There is no sex life except in the grhastha, or householder, asrama. The brahmacari is not allowed any sex, a vanaprastha voluntarily refrains from sex, and the sannyasi is completely renounced. The karmis do not practice brahmacarya, vanaprastha or sannyasa life, for they are very much interested in grhastha life. In other words, a human being is very much materially inclined. Indeed, all living entities are materially inclined. They prefer grhastha life because there is a concession for sex. The karmis think the other statuses of life are worse than animal life, for animals also have sex, whereas the brahmacari, vanaprastha and sannyasi completely give up sex. The karmis, therefore, abhor these orders of spiritual life.

SB4.25.39

TEXT 39

dharmo hy atrartha-kamau ca

prajanando ’mrtam yasah

loka visoka viraja

yan na kevalino viduh

SYNONYMS

dharmah—religious ritual; hi—certainly; atra—here (in this grhastha-asrama, or householder life); artha—economic development; kamau—sense gratification; ca—and; praja-anandah—the pleasure of generations; amrtam—the results of sacrifice; yasah—reputation; lokah—planetary systems; visokah—without lamentation; virajah—without disease; yan—which; na—never; kevalinah—the transcendentalists; viduh—know.

TRANSLATION

The woman continued: In this material world, a householder’s life brings all kinds of happiness in religion, economic development, sense gratification and the begetting of children, sons and grandsons. After that, one may desire liberation as well as material reputation. The householder can appreciate the results of sacrifices, which enable him to gain promotion to superior planetary systems. All this material happiness is practically unknown to the transcendentalists. They cannot even imagine such happiness.

PURPORT

According to Vedic instructions, there are two paths for human activities. One is called pravrtti-marga, and the other is called nivrtti-marga. The basic principle for either of these paths is religious life. In animal life there is only pravrtti-marga. Pravrtti-marga means sense enjoyment, and nivrtti-marga means spiritual advancement. In the life of animals and demons, there is no conception of nivrtti-marga, nor is there any actual conception of pravrtti-marga. pravrtti-marga maintains that even though one has the propensity for sense gratification, he can gratify his senses according to the directions of the Vedic injunctions. For example, everyone has the propensity for sex life, but in demoniac civilization sex is enjoyed without restriction. According to Vedic culture, sex is enjoyed under Vedic instructions. Thus the Vedas give direction to civilized human beings to enable them to satisfy their propensities for sense gratification.

In the nivrtti-marga, however, on the path of transcendental realization, sex is completely forbidden. The social orders are divided into four parts—brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa—and only in the householder life can the pravrtti-marga be encouraged or accepted according to Vedic instructions. In the orders of brahmacarya, vanaprastha and sannyasa, there are no facilities for sex.

In this verse the woman is advocating pravrtti-marga only and is discouraging the path of nivrtti-marga. She clearly says that the yatis, the transcendentalists, who are concerned only with spiritual life (kaivalya), cannot imagine the happiness of pravrtti-marga. In other words, the man who follows the Vedic principles enjoys the materialistic way of life not only by becoming happy in this life, but also in the next life by being promoted to the heavenly planets. In this life such a person gets all kinds of material opulences, such as sons and grandsons, because he is always engaged in various religious functions. The material distresses are birth, old age, disease and death, but those who are interested in pravrtti-marga hold various religious functions at the time of birth, old age, disease and death. Without caring for the distresses of birth, old age, disease and death, they are addicted to performing the special functions according to the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.

Factually, however, pravrtti-marga is based on sex life. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.9.45), yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham. A householder who is too much addicted to pravrtti-marga is actually called a grhamedhi, not a grhastha. Although the grhastha desires sense gratification, he acts according to Vedic instructions. The grhamedhi, however, who is interested only in sense gratification, does not follow any Vedic instruction. The grhamedhi engages himself as an advocate of sex life and also allows his sons and daughters to engage in sex and to be deprived of any glorious end in life. A grhastha enjoys sex life in this life as well as in the next, but a grhamedhi does not know what the next life is about because he is simply interested in sex in this life. On the whole, when one is too much inclined toward sex, he does not care for the transcendental spiritual life. In this age of Kali especially, no one is interested in spiritual advancement. Even though it is sometimes found that one may be interested in spiritual advancement, he is most likely to accept a bogus method of spiritual life, being misguided by so many pretenders.

SB4.25.40

TEXT 40

pitr-devarsi-martyanam

bhutanam atmanas ca ha

ksemyam vadanti saranam

bhave ’smin yad grhasramah

SYNONYMS

pitr—forefathers; deva—demigods; rsi—sages; martyanam—of humanity in general; bhutanam—of the infinite living entities; atmanah—of oneself; ca—also; ha—certainly; ksemyam—beneficial; vadanti—they say; saranam—shelter; bhave—in the material world; asmin—this; yat—that which; grha-asramah—householder life.

TRANSLATION

The woman continued: According to authorities, the householder life is pleasing not only to oneself but to all the forefathers, demigods, great sages, saintly persons and everyone else. A householder life is thus beneficial.

PURPORT

According to the Vedic system, when one is born in this material world he has many obligations. He has obligations to the demigods—the demigods of the sun and moon, King Indra, Varuna, etc.—because they are supplying the necessities of life. We receive heat, light, water and all other natural amenities through the mercy of the demigods. We are also indebted to our forefathers, who have given us these bodies, paternal property, intelligence, society, friendship and love. Similarly, we are indebted to the general public for politics and sociology, and we are also indebted to lower animals such as horses, cows, asses, dogs and cats. In this way, as soon as one is born in this material world as a human being, he has so many obligations and is bound to repay all these obligations. If he does not repay them, he is further entangled in the process of birth and death. The grhamedhi, however, who is overly addicted to material things, does not know that if he simply takes shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, he is immediately freed from all obligations to others. Unfortunately a grhamedhi does not have any interest in Krsna consciousness. Prahlada Maharaja says:

matir na krsne paratah svato va
mitho ’bhipadyeta grha-vratanam

(Bhag. 7.5.30)

A grha-vrata is the same as a grhamedhi. One who takes sex life to be supreme finds action in Krsna consciousness confusing. Either due to his own personal consideration or due to his having taken instructions from others or conferring with them, he becomes addicted to sexual indulgence and cannot act in Krsna consciousness.

Next verse (SB4.25.41)