From renunciation back to family life: The story of Priyavrata

Priyavrata came back to become a king and enter married life even after attaining perfection in renunciation. What is behind this mysterious pastime?

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Svāyambhuva, the first Manu, had two very qualified sons. Priyavrata had a strong tendency to renunciation and retired at a younger age, becoming a disciple of Nārada Muni, while Uttānapāda, the younger, inherited the throne.

If the name Uttānapāda sounds familiar to you, it is because he was the father of Dhruva Maharaja. We hear his name at the beginning of the pastime, when Dhruva is offended by his stepmother. It was on the lap of Uttānapāda that he was trying to sit.

Dhruva Maharaja succeeded Uttānapāda on the throne and became the head of a great dynasty, which continued up to the Pracetas, who produced a single son through their wife, Marisa: Daksa (in his second birth). Daksa, however, was not interested in becoming a human king. His goal was to regain his original position as the principal Prajāpati. He thus practiced austerities for a very long time, and never ascended to the throne. With this, the lineage of Dhruva Maharaja was broken.

With the breakage of his brother’s dynasty, the duty of ruling fell back into Priyavrata. Because he was practicing austerities as a perfect Brahmacārī, he had never grown old. Even though millions of years had passed, he was still a young man, and his profound level of spiritual realization made him extremely qualified.

Hearing this pastime from Sukadeva Goswami, Parīkṣit became surprised. How could Priyavrata accept the throne and enter into household life after attaining such an exalted level of devotional service? More than that, Parīkṣit knew very well the lives of previous great kings. He had heard that Priyavrata was a great king who had performed many great material deeds, such as creating a second sun and dividing Bhū-Mandala into the seven great islands using his chariot. These are not deeds that an unattached person, who hesitantly accepts the duties of a king, can perform. Parīkṣit thus concludes that Priyavrata had not only entered family life but had become attached. All of this seemed inconceivable to him.

How can this be understood?

Priyavrata was approached by Svāyambhuva Manu, who requested him to fulfill his duty, accepting the rule of Bhu-Mandala, and protecting all living entities. He, however, was concerned that accepting the role of a king would undermine his devotional service, and he was thus not at all inclined to accept it. Nārada Muni was also there, supporting him. Manu was, however, soon reinforced by Brahmā, who came all the way from his abode to convince the prince. Brahmā is the spiritual master of Nārada Muni, and thus, with his support, the plea of Svāyambhuva Manu became much stronger.

What did Brahma tell him?

Brahmā’s understanding was that although Priyavrata was free from material desires, he should accept the throne as a service, fulfilling his duty inside the Varnāśrama system without grudge, as an offering to the Lord. By acting for the satisfaction of the Lord, he would continue walking in the direction of spiritual perfection, even while in family life.

We can see that this is consistent with the instructions we receive from the Bhagavad-gītā. Everyone is forced to act according to the combination of the material modes he or she has obtained in this birth, according to activities in past lives; therefore, the way to become free from this conditioned nature is by executing the duties that are appropriate to us according to the instructions of the Lord and His representatives. A person who has material desires has no reason to avoid fulfilling his duties, because by fulfilling duties one gets the best results, and one without desires also has no reason not to perform his duties, understanding that this is the desire of the Lord. By allowing the Lord to guide our lives, instead of fighting His control, we obtain the peace of mind necessary to practice devotional service.

One could get the impression that Brahmā was being diplomatic in his instructions, trying to convince Priyavrata of what was convenient for the administration of the universe, and not necessarily what was best for him. However, this was not the case. Brahmā was not just acting politically in instructing Priyavrata to become the king. He was acting under the dictation of the Lord. He argued that even in the forest, one can be defeated if his senses are not controlled, while one who has controlled his senses will not fall into bondage even inside family life. The question is thus in being properly situated in Krsna Consciousness, and not so much the external situation.

This verse also brings the key for reconciling the instructions received from Nārada Muni and the instructions from Brahmā. Since both are authorities in the disciplic succession, there can be no contradiction amongst them. Nārada Muni, the spiritual master, had instructed Priyavrata to remain detached, while Brahmā is now telling him to enter into family life. Priyavrata reconciled these two sets of instructions by accepting a wife and ruling the kingdom as a matter of duty, performing these activities perfectly while internally remaining detached.

These instructions from Brahmā can be summarized into three points:

a) Brahmā instructs Priyavrata to take shelter in the lotus feet of the Lord, and thus remain transcendental even while in family life. The analogy is that one who takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord is protected from all dangers, just as a bumblebee who enters a lotus flower is fully protected by the petals and is thus not disturbed by sunshine and other external influences.

b) Our constitutional position is that of an eternal servant of the Lord. Therefore, our primary duty is to carry out His orders. When we remain fixed in this determination, we can never fall, even in the midst of material enjoyment as a king or family man.

c) There is a difference between material wealth and enjoyment received because of our previous karma (which can sometimes bewilder a devotee and make one forget Krsna), and opulence given by the Lord, which ultimately brings one to a platform of perfect renunciation. We can see that Dhruva Maharaja was blessed by the Lord to enjoy as a king for 30,000 years, and by the end of this period, he was ready to go back home, back to Godhead. As hinted by Brahmā, the opulence Priyavrata was meant to receive as a king was ordained by the Lord, and would not affect his elevated spiritual status.

Having received the order of Brahmā, Priyavrata immediately offered obeisances and accepted it by saying, “Yes, sir. I shall carry out your order.” without keeping any grudge.

In reality, there was no contradiction between the instructions of Brahmā and Nārada. The ultimate goal of both is to serve the Lord in pure devotional service. Previously, Priyavrata had been relieved from the responsibility of being the king by his younger brother, and thus Nārada instructed him on the path of renunciation. Now that there was an acute need, Brahmā instructed him on how to cultivate the same spirit of renunciation while fulfilling his duty. Priyavrata showed the perfect example as a disciple, fulfilling the instructions without being attached to a particular path, and Nārada also played the role of a perfect guru by being satisfied in his disciple receiving instructions that would put him on the path of ultimate success.

This also illustrates another important point in spiritual life. Often, we appear to receive contradictory instructions from superiors or from different scriptures. When this happens, we should not disregard one in favor of the other, but should instead use our intelligence to understand how they fit together.

Having accepted the instructions, Priyavrata was installed on the throne. Although he was free from all material contamination, he ruled to honor the orders of Brahmā, understanding that this was the desire of the Lord.

One could argue that since Priyavrata was free of material desire, why did he get married and get involved in sexual life? Why not just remain as a Brahmacārī king? The point is that many of the duties of a king can’t be performed by a celibate. A king has to perform many fruitive sacrifices that demand the presence of a wife, and he has to produce descendants that can continue the lineage. Apart from that, Vedic culture stimulates us to be properly situated in one of the āśramas instead of trying to mix up their functions. By definition, a king is supposed to be a married man, and, therefore, when he accepted the post, Priyavrata decided to also accept a wife and beget children.

In his purports, Prabhupāda compares the situation of Priyavrata with Arjuna, who also didn’t want to fight in the battle of Kurukṣetra for his personal gain, but fought with all his might for the satisfaction of Krsna. Mundane persons may sometimes act out of attachment or avoid it out of aversion, but a pure devotee acts with even more energy for the satisfaction of Krsna, regardless of any personal consideration.

The whole pastime of Priyavrata is extremely instructive, because it describes the situation most of us are in, trying to reconcile our duties in family life with the goal of becoming fully Krsna conscious in this life. Priyavrata is the teacher who showed how to pass this test in the perfect way, and by studying his example, we can learn how to navigate our own challenges.

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