Purañjana abandons his intelligence and hunts in the forest (Srimad Bhagavatam #69)
In the allegory, the queen represents one's intelligence. Now Purañjana leaves it behind and performs sinful activities accompanied by only his mind.
Purañjana left his queen and went to hunt in the forest. This part of the allegory illustrates the situation of a man who abandons his good sense and goes to perform sinful activities guided just by his senses and the desires of the mind. In the allegory, the queen represents one's intelligence, which may be imperfect and propense to materialistic activities, but that at least offers a degree of piety, religiousness, and morals to guide these activities. Purañjana was already entangled in material life by following his intelligence, but now, without it he becomes busy in simply performing gross sinful activities.
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Purañjana abandons his intelligence and hunts in the forest (chapter 4.26)
Chapter 26 describes the incident when Purañjana left his queen and went to hunt in the forest. This part of the allegory illustrates the situation of a man who abandons his good sense and goes to perform sinful activities guided just by his senses and the desires of the mind.
In the allegory, the queen represents one's intelligence, which may be imperfect and propense to materialistic activities, but that at least offers a degree of piety, religiousness, and morals to guide these activities. Purañjana was already entangled in material life by following his intelligence, but now, without it he becomes busy in simply performing gross sinful activities.
"The great sage Nārada continued: My dear King, once upon a time King Purañjana took up his great bow, and equipped with golden armor and a quiver of unlimited arrows and accompanied by eleven commanders, he sat on his chariot driven by five swift horses and went to the forest named Pañca-prastha. He took with him in that chariot two explosive arrows. The chariot itself was situated on two wheels and one revolving axle. On the chariot were three flags, one rein, one chariot driver, one sitting place, two poles to which the harness was fixed, five weapons and seven coverings. The chariot moved in five different styles, and five obstacles lay before it. All the decorations of the chariot were made of gold." (SB 4.26.1-3)
In the previous passage, the body was compared to a city, where the soul lives, together with the material intelligence, enjoying the senses and the sense objects. Now the body is compared to a chariot, which allows one to perform different types of activities.
This chariot of the body is moved by five horses, which represent the five sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue), and using it, Purañjana goes to Pañca-prastha (the forest of the five sense-objects), enjoying gross sense gratification manifest as forms, sounds, tastes, tactile sensations, and smells.
The golden armor, as well as the golden decorations on the chariot, represent the effects of the mode of passion, characterized by pride and restless desire. The king takes with him a quiver of unlimited arrows (akṣaya iṣudhiḥ), which represent his unlimited stock of material desires, which lead to a string of sinful activities. The eleven commanders represent the mind and the ten senses, which were already introduced in chapter 4.25 as the servants of the intelligence. Now, however, the King takes them on his excursion without the supervision of his high intelligence, which stays behind in the palace.
Apart from his regular arrows, the king carries two explosive arrows, which are very destructive. These represent the two aspects of the false ego: ahantā (I am this body) and mamatā (everything related to this body is mine). These are especially dangerous and can lead one to cause great harm to others, creating karmic reactions that will keep him perpetually bound to this world.
The two wheels of the chariot represent śubha and aśubha (pious and impious activities), which are supported by the same revolving axle, which represents the material nature. In this way, both types of activities, pious and impious, are just two sides of material action that keep the soul bound to this material world. A person may do either one or the other, or a combination of both, in his pursuit of sense gratification, and in any case, the result is the continuation of birth and death.
All material activities are performed under the three modes of material nature, which are represented by the three flags on the chariot. The chariot runs on pañca-bandhuram, five roads with uneven grounds, where the chariot moves, but with difficulty. These are the five vital airs (prāṇa, apāna, udāna, samāna, and vyāna), which on the one hand sustain the body, but on the other hand create all sorts of problems when out of balance, as studied in Vedic medicine. Despite all inconveniences, we have no choice but to travel on these uneven roads as long as we inhabit the body.
The seven coverings of the chariot (sapta varūtham) are the seven ingredients of the body, which serve as coverings for the soul (skin, muscle, fat, blood, marrow, bone, and semen). The rein of the chariot is the mind (an example also given in the Gītā), the driver (damanam) is buddhi, discrimination, and the nīḍa, or sitting place, is the heart, where the soul resides, accompanied by the Supersoul.
The two poles to which the harness was fixed (dvi-kūbara) represent the causes of material bondage (lamentation and illusion) which keep us firmly bound to this material world, and the five weapons (pañca-praharaṇam) are the five functional senses (hands, legs, mouth, genital, and anus) which are used to perform physical actions. Using these five senses, the chariot can perform five classes of activities, and thus it is described it can move in five different styles. The five obstacles are the inconveniences caused by imbalances in the vital airs (anxiety, constipation, dizziness, indigestion, and tremors).
Nārada uses this example to indicate that although Prācīnabarhi was performing sacrifices, he was in reality performing sinful activities under the mode of ignorance, just like someone killing animals in the forest. Normally, Vedic sacrifices are performed by people in the mode of goodness, but as Prabhupada points out in his purport, even a man in goodness is sometimes polluted by passion and ignorance and acts sinfully, just as Prācīnabarhi. As long as one lives under the false conceptions created by false ego, and is propense to enjoy one's senses, it is very difficult to refrain from committing sinful activities. If even a pious king like Prācīnabarhi could fall into illusion due to his material desires, what to say about an ordinary soul? The only solution is to come to the platform of Krsna Consciousness, as indicated later in the chapter.
How could Purañjana abandon his intelligence? This is described in the next verse:
"It was almost impossible for King Purañjana to give up the company of his Queen even for a moment. Nonetheless, on that day, being very much inspired by the desire to hunt, he took up his bow and arrow with great pride and went to the forest, not caring for his wife." (SB 4.26.4)
In his purport, Prabhupada connects this verse with a man leaving his religious wife to hunt other women. In the previous chapter, the relationship of Purañjana with the material intelligence illustrates the life of a pious materialist who, although attached, conducts his life more or less according to the injunctions of the scriptures. This style of life is condemned in the sense that it doesn't directly awaken the soul to its original consciousness, but it is, of course, much better than a grossly sinful life. Now, however, Purañjana abandons his piety, and controlled by his unlimited material desires, surrenders himself to gross sinful activities, like animal killing and illicit sex, abandoning both his intelligence and his dully married wife.
As Prabhupada explains: "One form of hunting is known as woman-hunting. A conditioned soul is never satisfied with one wife. Those whose senses are very much uncontrolled especially try to hunt for many women. King Purañjana’s abandoning the company of his religiously married wife is representative of the conditioned soul’s attempt to hunt for many women for sense gratification. Wherever a king goes, he is supposed to be accompanied by his queen, but when the king, or conditioned soul, becomes greatly overpowered by the desire for sense gratification, he does not care for religious principles. Instead, with great pride, he accepts the bow and arrow of attachment and hatred. Our consciousness is always working in two ways — the right way and the wrong way. When one becomes too proud of his position, influenced by the mode of passion, he gives up the right path and accepts the wrong one."
When one goes to the forest to hunt indiscriminately, he abandon all sense of compassion for the poor animals. Similarly, when a person abandons one’s good sense and commits sins indiscriminately, he also abandon all sense of empathy and commit the most terrible actions, not caring for the suffering caused to others. This is described in text five:
"At that time King Purañjana was very much influenced by demoniac propensities. Because of this, his heart became very hard and merciless, and with sharp arrows he killed many innocent animals in the forest, taking no consideration." (SB 4.26.5)
In the Gītā (18.20-21), Krsna explains: "That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms, you should understand to be in the mode of goodness. That knowledge by which one sees that in every different body there is a different type of living entity you should understand to be in the mode of passion."
A person in knowledge understands that all souls are equal, and therefore one doesn't see oneself as better than anyone, and never causes harm to others. One in passion and ignorance, however, discriminates on the basis of the body, and arrogantly considers himself, or his dependents, to be more important than others. With this mentality, one can become merciless and commit all sorts of violence. Even religious persons often fall under this demoniac mentality, considering people who don't follow the same path, as well as women, people of different ethnic groups, etc., as inferior or less important, which leads to the conclusion that they may be disregarded, mistreated, or exploited. This is generally also applied to animals and other creatures, which are then mercilessly killed. One who kills animals becomes merciless and may very well also kill human beings in the same cruel ways, which leads to all sorts of human tragedy.
Prabhupada explains this point very graphically in his purport: "In this Age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of nature, or the laws of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor animals, not caring for them at all. In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, animal-killing is completely prohibited. One is not accepted as a bona fide student in this movement unless he promises to follow the four regulative principles: no animal-killing, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only means by which the sinful activities of men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted."
Although Nārada condemns the fruitive mentality and the animal killing of the king, he is also careful not to condemn the performance of sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas, which are destined to purify materialists. Therefore, from texts six to eight, he gives the other side, teaching about their proper performance. Here are the main points of his instructions:
4.26.6: The performance of sacrifices should never be performed with the purpose of eating the meat of the sacrificed animals. If a king is too attracted to eating flesh, he may kill some animals in the forest according to the prescriptions for kṣatriyas, killing dangerous animals with the purpose of controlling their population or to train his military art, but never kill indiscriminately or use sacrifices as an excuse for that. Similarly, the Vedas offer many other restrictions for other sinful activities, such as intoxication, sex life, etc. The purpose is to stop the extravagance of foolish men influenced by the lower modes. One should therefore restrict one's sense enjoyment to the regulative principles given in the Vedas. This is what human life is all about.
In his purport, Prabhupada also touches on the point of polygamy. His point is that if a man will be involved with a lady at all, he should be prepared to maintain her for life, under the rights granted by marriage, and not just hunt women without restriction. He thus calls the hypocrisy of modern societies, where polygamy is abolished, but at the same time, men are free to get involved with multiple women and leave them as they please. The general idea is that if it is not possible for a man to be satisfied with just one wife, then polygamy is a better option than unrestrained debauchery. Although polygamy is a sensitive topic, that's something to think about.
4.26.7: The rules and regulations prescribed in the Vedas allow one to satisfy one's material desires, but at the same time, become gradually free from material bondage. By acting according to the injunctions of the scriptures, one doesn't get entangled in sinful reactions, and by becoming gradually purified, one eventually comes to the platform of renunciation and does not become further involved in fruitive activities.
4.26.8: On the other hand, if one disregards the injunctions of the scriptures and acts whimsically, one falls from one’s position, becoming devoid of all intelligence, and continues in the process of birth and death, transmigrating through different species. As Krsna mentions in the Gītā (16.23): "He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme destination."
Material life comes from the desire to be an independent enjoyer, an idea that is behind most of what we do in this material world. There is no reason for us to be in this position; we fell into it, and remain here due to choice. Although the soul has no potency to revive its Krsna Consciousness independently, Krsna leaves us the Vedic literature, so we can revive our original nature in association with devotees. "Every human being should therefore take advantage of the Vedic instructions; otherwise one will be bound by his whimsical activities and will be without any guide."
As Prabhupada explains: "Every living entity is part and parcel of God. There is no reason for the living entity’s being put into the miserable threefold condition of material existence but that he voluntarily accepts material existence on the false pretext of becoming an enjoyer. To save him from this horrible condition, the Lord has given all the Vedic literatures in His incarnation of Vyāsadeva."
After explaining these points, Nārada returns to the allegory of Purañjana on text 4.26.9, explaining the results of the activities of the King:
"When King Purañjana was hunting in this way, many animals within the forest lost their lives with great pain, being pierced by the sharp arrowheads. Upon seeing these devastating, ghastly activities performed by the King, all the people who were merciful by nature became very unhappy. Such merciful persons could not tolerate seeing all this killing."
Animals act according to their natures, without much choice. Humans, however, have the free will to decide. When a person acts sinfully, demigods and devotees, who are by nature merciful, become unhappy, not only because of the persons and animals who suffer due to these actions, but also for the sinner himself, who will later suffer the results of these actions. Prācīnabarhi had already seen the animals he had killed in the sky, waiting to punish him, and with these words, Nārada again reminded him. The practical actions of Nārada in this passage are also significant, since by preaching to the king, he saved both the many other animals he was about to kill and the king himself.
Back to the allegory, after killing so many animals, Purañjana became tired and returned to the palace. This tiredness of the king after committing sinful activities is linked to the intervention of conscience, which inspires a person to stop sinful activities and return to one's good sense. In his purport to text 10, Prabhupada also raises another reason, the meeting with a saintly person:
"The King became tired after killing so many animals. When a man comes in contact with a saintly person, he becomes aware of the stringent laws of nature and thus becomes a religious person. Irreligious persons are like animals, but in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement such persons can come to a sense of understanding things as they are and abandon the four principles of prohibited activities, namely illicit sex life, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication. This is the beginning of religious life."
From this point on, the main narration of the pastime, described in the verses, and the purports of Prabhupada appear to diverge. The main narration describes Purañjana returning to the castle and reconciling himself with the Queen, who represents his good intelligence, returning to the path of pious enjoyment, according to the descriptions of the Vedas, and refraining from further animal killing and woman hunting. Prabhupada, however, sticks with the deeper meaning of the text: a sinful man meeting with a saintly person and reviving his original Krsna Consciousness. Both meanings are present in the original verses, and indicate two different possibilities for the redemption of a sinful person, and the difference between ordinary pious intelligence, and the same intelligence when purified by the instructions of a self-realized person.
It's quite common for passages in the scriptures to have multiple meanings simultaneously, with the deeper meanings being exposed in the commentaries of our ācāryas. In this case, the superficial meaning is directly indicated in the text, while the deeper meaning is revealed in the purports of Srila Prabhupada.
To make it clear, let's separately study the same passage under the two different meanings, first with the superficial meaning of the verses, and then with the deeper meaning invoked by Prabhupada in his purports.
Purañjana returns to the material intelligence
This is the meaning we get from just reading the verses. Pressed by his consciousness, Purañjana returns home and reconciles with his material intelligence, returning to the path of material piety.
"After this, the King, very much fatigued, hungry and thirsty, returned to his royal palace. After returning, he took a bath and had an appropriate dinner. Then he took rest and thus became freed from all restlessness. After this, King Purañjana decorated his body with suitable ornaments. He also smeared scented sandalwood pulp over his body and put on flower garlands. In this way he became completely refreshed. After this, he began to search out his Queen." (SB 4.26.11-12)
After all his sinful activities, Purañjana returned to his routine of purificatory rites. The sandalwood pulp and ornaments on his body are compared to spiritual instructions about religion and the self. Instead of being elevated to a higher consciousness, however, he was again captivated by the path of fruitive activities and material enjoyment, just as before:
"After taking his dinner and having his thirst and hunger satisfied, King Purañjana felt some joy within his heart. Instead of being elevated to a higher consciousness, he became captivated by Cupid, and was moved by a desire to find his wife, who kept him satisfied in his household life." (4.26.13)
After all his woman-hunting and other sinful activities, however, his wife was not very eager to see him. It is described that she was very mortified, lying down on the bare ground. This illustrates the position of a wife who was, for a long time, neglected by her husband, who was busy chasing other women. Now, Purañjana had to apologize and somehow regain her trust in order to enjoy married life with her according to religious principles.
Another meaning is that Purañjana had to reconcile with his good consciousness, finding his neglected religious intelligence inside the heart to start again on the path of piety. Just as the rapprochement with a neglected wife, this process can be difficult, involving dealing with all the regret, shame and self-blaming for all one's past mistakes.
Yet another meaning for the Queen lying on the ground like a mendicant, noted by Sridhara Swami in his Bhāvārtha-dīpikā commentary, is one's neglected intelligence being overwhelmed by tama-guna due to bad habits, and becoming incapable of offering any good guidance.
The remaining verses of the chapter describe the apologetic attitude of Purañjana, trying to reconcile with his wife, reconciling with his good consciousness, or trying to revive his neglected intelligence after years of neglect through the process of hearing spiritual instructions, etc., according to the meaning picked.
This humble attitude of Purañjana is not so laudable, because it has the goal of simply enjoying his senses with his wife, his consciousness, or his intelligence. In the pious path, one needs the cooperation of his wife to enjoy his senses (since one is not supposed to go to other women), and similarly, one can't enjoy life peacefully if his consciousness is beating him, or if one's intelligence is not working properly. Therefore, the attitude of Purañjana is more out of selfish desire than anything else.
This meaning is captured by Prabhupada in his purports to texts 23 and 26:
"An effeminate husband, simply being attracted by the external beauty of his wife, tries to become her most obedient servant. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has therefore advised that we not become attracted by a lump of flesh and blood."
"Both man and woman desire one another; that is the basic principle of material existence. Women in general always keep themselves beautiful so that they can be attractive to their lusty husbands. When a lusty husband comes before his wife, the wife takes advantage of his aggressive activities and enjoys life."
What happened after that? Purañjana simply started again his materialistic life of pious sense enjoyment and continued on this path until the end of life, as described in the next chapter, being later reborn as a woman.
Purañjana meets a saintly person and revives his original Krsna Consciousness
Prabhupada, however, goes deeper in his purports, connecting this passage with a sinful man coming in contact with a saintly person, or a devotee trying to revive his Krsna Consciousness after a fall.
As he comments on text 4.26.11: "King Purañjana’s coming home, taking bath and having an appropriate dinner indicate that a materialistic person must retire from sinful activities and become purified by accepting a spiritual master and hearing from him about the values of life. If one would do this, he would feel completely refreshed, just as one feels after taking a bath. After receiving initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, one must abandon all kinds of sinful activities, namely illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating."
Later, in the same purport, he states: "King Purañjana’s returning home is indicative of man’s returning to his original consciousness, known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is absolutely necessary for one who has committed a lot of sinful activities, especially killing animals or hunting in the forest."
In the higher meaning, Purañjana becoming fatigued, hungry, and thirsty, returning to the palace, taking a bath, and having an appropriate dinner means a sinful man who becomes somehow mindful of his mistakes and meets a self-realized soul, being trained in the regulative principles, taking initiation and becoming properly situated in one's practice of Krsna Consciousness. As explained in other passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam, this is the proper process of purification for all types of sinners, since it is the only process that not only destroys the results of one's sinful activities, but also destroys the desire to commit new sins.
The king searching for the Queen on text twelve is compared by Srila Prabhupada to a person who, after being decorated with knowledge received from saintly persons, searches out his original consciousness, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. He then makes a point that makes his whole explanation clear: "One cannot return to Kṛṣṇa consciousness unless he is favored by the instructions of a saintly person."
In the first interpretation, Purañjana receives instructions on material dharma and fruitive activities, which just bring him back to the same process of pious enjoyment he was following before, without purifying him of the sinful reactions for his hunting, and much less of the desire for material enjoyment. The interpretation given by Srila Prabhupada reveals the situation of a person who meets devotees and is trained in the process of devotional service. The result is then completely different, eliminating material desires from the heart and bringing one to a platform of love of Godhead.
Falling from the process
The description of Purañjana being captivated by Cupid and searching for his wife in text thirteen to have sexual enjoyment is compared by Srila Prabhupada with a devotee who, after adopting the process and practicing for some time, falls from regulative principles due to past bad habits, weakness, or accident.
The verse mentions that Purañjana took dinner and instead of being elevated to a higher consciousness, became captivated by Cupid. Prabhupada connects this with the situation of a neophyte who eats more than necessary, and thus ends up falling from regulative principles. This is a point Prabhupada also makes in other purports: eating more than necessary makes one propense to sense enjoyment, and the job of controlling the mind much harder.
Prasāda is the proper diet for anyone trying to advance spiritually, but in excess, it can have negative effects. It is important to differentiate the attitude of humbly honoring modest quantities of prasāda as a means to maintain our health to be able to serve the Lord, and voracious eating of offered vegetarian food as a means of sense gratification.
As he explains in his purport to text thirteen: "Simple food like rice, dāl, capātīs, vegetables, milk and sugar constitute a balanced diet, but sometimes it is found that an initiated person, in the name of prasāda, eats very luxurious foodstuffs. Due to his past sinful life he becomes attracted by Cupid and eats good food voraciously. It is clearly visible that when a neophyte in Kṛṣṇa consciousness eats too much, he falls down. Instead of being elevated to pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he becomes attracted by Cupid. The so-called brahmacārī becomes agitated by women, and the vānaprastha may again become captivated into having sex with his wife, or he may begin to search out another wife. Due to some sentiment, he may give up his own wife and come into the association of devotees and a spiritual master, but due to his past sinful life he cannot stay. Instead of being elevated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he falls down, being attracted by Cupid, and takes to another wife for sex enjoyment."
Chubby devotees may look cute, but according to Srila Prabhupada, this can be a risk factor in our spiritual life. As he later mentions in his purport to SB 4.28.35-36: "We can definitely see that to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness one must control his bodily weight. If one becomes too fat, it is to be assumed that he is not advancing spiritually. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura severely criticized his fat disciples. The idea is that one who intends to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness must not eat very much. Devotees used to go to forests, high hills or mountains on pilgrimages, but such severe austerities are not possible in these days. One should instead eat only prasāda and no more than required. According to the Vaiṣṇava calendar, there are many fasts, such as Ekādaśī and the appearance and disappearance days of God and His devotees. All of these are meant to decrease the fat within the body so that one will not sleep more than desired and will not become inactive and lazy. Overindulgence in food will cause a man to sleep more than required. This human form of life is meant for austerity, and austerity means controlling sex, food intake, etc. In this way time can be saved for spiritual activity, and one can purify himself both externally and internally. Thus both body and mind can be cleansed."
In the allegory, this gluttony is pointed out as the main factor for the fall of Purañjana from the platform of Krsna Consciousness, which brings him to a new birth.
Purañjana looks for the Queen
On text 14, Purañjana, not finding his Queen, asks the other woman of the household about her whereabouts:
"At that time King Purañjana was a little anxious, and he inquired from the household women: My dear beautiful women, are you and your mistress all very happy like before, or not?" (SB 4.26.14)
Prabhupada connects this passage with a beginning devotee considering whether he should remain steady in the practice of devotional service or return to his material activities.
After having a lapse or a fall-down, a devotee inevitably comes to reflect on what should be his next step: return to the practice of Krsna Consciousness, and try to become steadier, or go back to his previous life of material activities? The king inquiring about the whereabouts of the Queen indicates that at this point, his intelligence is not working properly, just as in the case of the sādhaka who just fell down from his practice.
Not finding his intelligence, Purañjana enquires from the other woman of the house (antaḥ-pura-striyaḥ). These represent the subsidiary operations of the mind (thinking, feeling, and willing), or in other words, his desires, plans, feelings, etc. At this stage, if we can remember the difficulties and anxieties of material life, or remember periods of joy in our spiritual practice, or our commitment to the process, we can find reasons to continue, even when our good intelligence fails us, and by remaining steady in the process, our Krsna Conscious intelligence can be swiftly restored.
In the beginning, the mind may suggest that sensory enjoyment can make us happy, but as we advance, we experience a higher taste, and this makes sense gratification progressively less attractive. As Prabhupada explains: "One cannot be unattached to the sense objects unless he finds better engagement in devotional service. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate: one can cease from material activities only when one actually engages in devotional service."
This process of inquiry continues in the next verse:
"King Purañjana said: I do not understand why my household paraphernalia does not attract me as before. I think that if there is neither a mother nor devoted wife at home, the home is like a chariot without wheels. Where is the fool who will sit down on such an unworkable chariot?" (SB 4.26.15)
After consulting his mind and feelings, Purañjana comes to the conclusion that material enjoyment can't make him happy. He laments that no one can be happy without a good mother and a devoted wife at home. In this analogy, the mother is devotional service to the Lord, and the devoted wife is his purified intelligence, which helps him in his spiritual practice. Without these two, his home is like a chariot without wheels, and he sees no reason to remain there.
In his purport, Prabhupada comments: "In other words, it is essential that one have both a good mother and wife in order to become perfectly happy at home. Otherwise home life has no meaning. Unless one is religiously guided by intelligence and renders devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his home can never become very pleasing to a saintly person."
In both the verse and the purport, "home" has two meanings. One is the body, our current individual situation, which will not be happy unless we have the mother of devotional service and the wife of good intelligence with us. The other is our house, which will not be happy unless filled by spiritual practice, supported by a Krsna-conscious wife or husband.
If one is not married, one should try to stay in an environment where one is supported in one's spiritual practice, be it in a temple, community, or any other option that may work. If one is married, then one should cooperate with the spouse to create a Krsna-conscious home. If we are successful on this, we can live happily even while still in this material world.
While living in Navadvīpa, Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu had both: He had a loving mother and wife at home, and his life was filled with Krsna Consciousness. He decided to leave home because this would give Him more facilities to fulfill His purpose of spreading Krsna Consciousness, but in general, if a man has a good wife and a Krsna conscious home, there is no necessity of taking sannyāsa. Otherwise, if the family is materialistic, one may come to the point of deciding to leave home to practice peacefully and develop his Krsna Consciousness.
A Krsna Conscious home
Prabhupada dedicates much of his purports in the next verses to discuss the value of a Krsna-conscious wife. These descriptions are important for both men and women because they help us to understand the basic dynamics of a Krsna-conscious home.
"Kindly let me know the whereabouts of that beautiful woman who always saves me when I am drowning in the ocean of danger. By giving me good intelligence at every step, she always saves me." (SB 4.26.16)
In his purport, Prabhupada explains that "There is no difference between a good wife and good intelligence. One who possesses good intelligence can deliberate properly and save himself from many dangerous conditions."
What is a good wife? Two qualities are given: she should be Krsna-conscious, and she should be faithful. Here, a good wife is equated with good intelligence, and as Prabhupada explains, good intelligence means becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. If the wife is Krsna-conscious, she can act as a second source of intelligence and support her husband by remembering him when he faces a crisis. In the verse, Purañjana is seeking both the help of his intelligence and of his good wife.
As Prabhupada explains: "But if one gets a chaste wife, accepted through a religious marriage ritual, she can be of great help when one is threatened by the many dangerous situations of life. Actually such a wife can become the source of all good intelligence. With such a good wife, the family’s engagement in the devotional service of the Lord actually makes a home a gṛhastha-āśrama, or household dedicated to spiritual cultivation."
The next verse speaks about the qualifications of the husband:
"All the women addressed the King: O master of the citizens, we do not know why your dear wife has taken on this sort of existence. O killer of enemies, kindly look! She is lying on the ground without bedding. We cannot understand why she is acting this way." (SB 4.26.17)
What does it mean? Prabhupada explains in his purport: "Actually the woman must always be protected by her husband. We always speak of the goddess of fortune as being placed on the chest of Nārāyaṇa. In other words, the wife must remain embraced by her husband. Thus she becomes beloved and well protected. Just as one saves his money and places it under his own personal protection, one should similarly protect his wife by his own personal supervision. Just as intelligence is always within the heart, so a beloved chaste wife should always have her place on the chest of a good husband. This is the proper relationship between husband and wife. "
Just as the wife should be faithful, the husband should be protective. If both qualities are present, and both are Krsna Conscious, this is a recipe for a good marriage. Often, we think of a list of qualities and dream of a wife or husband who will come with everything ready, but that's not how it works. Everyone has a certain potential, but this potential can only be developed in the proper environment. In the case of a devotee, this development comes from a combination of the nourishment received from the spouse and the environment they have at home. If a wife is not faithful and supportive, she can't expect that her husband will develop all his potential, and she will be the main victim of it. Similarly, if the man is not protective, he may sabotage his own family life.
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