Why Anga, a pious king and great devotee, ended up getting a demoniac son?

Usually, a devotee father gets a devotee son, but sometimes the opposite happens. The universe operates under many different subtle laws we can’t fully understand.

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Usually, a devotee father gets a devotee son, but sometimes it happens that a divine father gets a demoniac son, just as sometimes a demoniac father may get a divine son (like in the case of Hiraṇyakaśipu). The universe operates under many different subtle laws we can’t fully understand. However, in the case of a devotee, we can assume that everything happens under the supervision and sanction of the Lord. The story of King Anga, how he ended up becoming the father of the demoniac Vena, and how this ultimately led him back home, back to Godhead, is an instructive example in this direction.

Although a great saintly king, Aṅga had no son. Once, he desired to perform an aśvamedha-yajña. However, despite all preparations and the best efforts of qualified brāhmaṇas, the demigods were not participating or accepting their shares of the oblations. The brāhmana priests explained to him that everything was properly done, but still, the demigods were not coming, and they did not understand the reason.

Hearing this honest description by the priests, King Aṅga immediately understood that since there was no fault in the ritualistic arrangements, and also no fault in the actions of the priests, the reason must have been some personal offense he somehow committed. After being inquired by Aṅga about his fault, the brāhmaṇas were able to identify that although Aṅga had committed no fault in the current life, he had performed some sinful activities in his past life, and because of that, he remained childless, although being married and possessing all good qualities.

Having a son is essential for any person who is following the path of fruitive activities because on this path, one will inevitably commit many sins, which can bring him to hell. The way to save himself is by begetting a good son who will perform the srāddha rituals to deliver his father from such sinful reactions. Without a pious son, a materialist will almost surely face hell after death. Therefore, in Vedic culture, not having a son is considered a great curse, because it excludes one from the path of material progress by being elevated to Pitṛloka, etc.

Generally, people enter into married life because they desire material happiness, and a pious married life, according to the recommendations of the scripture,s is the way to achieve that. Begetting children is an essential step on this path, because without pious children, even if one can achieve some success in this life, after death, he will go to hell and face misery.

The only solution for one in this situation was to abandon the idea of material sense gratification and dedicate himself to the practice of devotional service, which is actually the recommendation for everyone. On the path of devotional service, one doesn’t depend on sons or any other material condition because he or she is derived by the Lord Himself. Because Aṅga was a great devotee, the Lord will gradually bring him to this path.

Considering the situation, what did the priests advise Anga to do? Since the demigods were refusing to cooperate with Aṅga, the priests advised him to abandon his fruitive performance and instead perform a sacrifice directly for the satisfaction of Lord Viṣnu. When the Lord becomes present, be it due to the performance of a sacrifice for His satisfaction, or to the chanting of the holy names, all the demigods come with Him, and thus everything becomes auspicious. As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita, He is the master enjoyer of all sacrifices, and even when one worships some demigods, he indirectly worships Him, although he does so in an improper way.

Since all results are ultimately granted by the Lord, even in fruitive performances, the brāhmaṇas instructed Aṅga to directly worship the Lord, even though he wanted a son. Therefore, the king abandoned the performance of the aśvamedha-yajña and started a new sacrifice to satisfy the Lord. As soon as the oblation was offered in the fire, the Lord appeared from the fire as the yajña-puruṣa, wearing a white dress and a golden garland, and carrying a pot filled with rice boiled in milk.

This rice was empowered to grant the king’s desire to obtain a son. However, because his wife was not qualified to generate a good son, the result would be an irreligious son. The king is described as udāra-dhīḥ, or very liberal in text 4.13.37, indicating his mentality of just allowing things to happen the way they are supposed to happen without being overly attached. The benediction of the Lord would grant him the ultimate benefit, developing renunciation of the material world and returning back to Godhead, but the short-term results would not be so pleasant. As Prabhupāda mentions, the birth of Vena was ultimately due to the will of the Lord, who was anxious to bring Aṅga back home.

Srila Prabhupāda explains it in more detail in his purport to text 37:

“The word udāra-dhīḥ is significant in this connection. The wife of the King, Sunīthā, was not fit to accept this benediction, yet the King was so liberal that without hesitation he offered to his wife the boiled rice in milk prasāda received from the yajña-puruṣa. Of course, everything is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As will be explained in later verses, this incident was not very favorable for the King. Since the King was very liberal, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to increase his detachment from this material world, willed that a cruel son be born of the Queen so that the King would have to leave home. As stated above, Lord Viṣṇu fulfills the desires of the karmīs as they desire, but the Lord fulfills the desire of a devotee in a different way so that the devotee may gradually come to Him. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te). The Lord gives the devotee the opportunity to make progress further and further so that he may come back home, back to Godhead.”

Why does Prabhupāda mention that “the wife of the King, Sunīthā, was not fit to accept this benediction”? More details on this pastime are given in the Padma Purana.

King Aṅga was a descendant of Dhruva Maharaja, from the lineage of Svāyambhuva Manu. A child is, however, not the product of just the father, but a combination of the characteristics of the father and mother. Although very pious, Aṅga was married to Sunīthā, who was the daughter of Mrityu, death personified. The genealogical tree of Mrityu was described in chapter 4.8, the lineage coming from Adharma (irreligion).

In the Padma Purana, Mrityu is described in connection with Kāla (time) and Yamarāja. Kāla is the energy of the Lord that puts the universe in motion, and also the destroyer of everything. Death is certainly one of the features of time, and once a sinful person dies, he is carried to Yamarāja for punishment. The three are thus connected, but they are not exactly the same person, just as Lord Śiva is not the same as the Rudras, even though they are connected.

This passage from the Ramayana (prologue) reinforces this point, describing Yamarāja, death personified, and time personified as three separate deities, as they rode to fight with Rāvaṇa:

“By his side stood the personified form of Kaladanda, the infallible rod of Death, his body a brilliant black and his eyes blazing like two red fires. On the other side of Yamarāja stood the very Time Spirit himself, the destroyer of the worlds, fearful in appearance. Standing together those three deities could not be countenanced. On all four sides of the chariot, which looked like a dark mountain, hung the frightful nooses of Death.”

The whole passage describes the three personalities interacting with each other and with Ravana, and the demon being separately struck by their weapons.

Sunīthā is described as a beautiful young lady. She had, however, a cruel and restless nature, which led her to repeatedly disturb a gāndharva called Suśaṅkha who was practicing austerities. Every day, she disturbed her meditation, and the Suśaṅkha patiently tolerated her mischief, merely telling her to go away.

One day, she struck him and verbally abused him, but even this, Suśaṅkha tolerated, avoiding retaliation since she was a woman. Once, however, she whipped him, and that was too much to tolerate. Suśaṅkha lost his patience and cursed her to become the mother of a sinful son. Due to this, none of the demigods wanted to marry her. She was then advised by Rambhā, a divine maid, to approach Aṅga when he was practicing austerities in a cave. Attracted by her beauty and unaware of the course and of her character, Aṅga agreed to marry her in the gāndharva style, by mutual agreement.

This makes the point that a man entering family life should be careful with the character of the woman he is accepting as his wife, since his entire family life, the sons and daughters he is going to get, and the destiny of these children will be determined by it. Often, men get married to a lady just because she is beautiful, without considering other factors, but as this pastime indicates, this is not such a good idea. Just as a lady should not marry any man from the street just because he dresses well, a man should not marry a lady just based on physical beauty without carefully considering other factors. Of course, in the case of Anga, this ultimately led him to return back to godhead due to the arrangement of the Lord, but in our case, a bad marriage may not be so favorable.

Back to the rice granted by the Lord, why did the king smell it before offering it to his wife? Because that’s a way of accepting prasāda without directly tasting it. The king was not supposed to eat the rice, because it was meant to generate a child, but at the same time, he wanted to honor the prasāda of the Lord.

In due course of time, Sunīthā became pregnant by the king and gave birth to a son, Vena, a profoundly cruel and irreligious person, who would lead Anga to renounce his family and his kingdom in frustration.

As Prabhupāda mentions in his purport to text 4.13.39:

“Sometimes the Lord arranges an unfortunate wife for His devotee so that gradually, due to family circumstances, the devotee becomes detached from his wife and home and makes progress in devotional life. It appears that by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, King Aṅga, although a pious devotee, got an unfortunate wife like Sunīthā and later on a bad child like Vena. But the result was that he got complete freedom from the entanglement of family life and left home to go back to Godhead.”

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