Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.38

para-devatā-prasādādhigatātma-pratyavamarśenānupravrittebhyah putrebhya imām yathā-dāyam vibhajya bhukta-bhogām ca mahishīm mritakam iva saha mahā-vibhūtim apahāya svayam nihita-nirvedo hridi grihīta-hari-vihārānubhāvo bhagavato nāradasya padavīm punar evānusasāra

SYNONYMS

para-devatā — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prasāda — by the mercy; adhigata — obtained; ātma-pratyavamarśena — by self-realization; anupravrittebhyah — who exactly follow his path; putrebhyah — unto his sons; imām — this earth; yathā-dāyam — exactly according to the inheritance; vibhajya — dividing; bhukta-bhogām — whom he enjoyed in so many ways; ca — also; mahishīm — the Queen; mritakam iva — exactly like a dead body; saha — with; mahā-vibhūtim — great opulence; apahāya — giving up; svayam — himself; nihita — perfectly taken to; nirvedah — renunciation; hridi — in the heart; grihīta — accepted; hari — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vihāra — pastimes; anubhāvah — in such an attitude; bhagavatah — of the great saintly person; nāradasya — of Saint Nārada; padavīm — position; punah — again; eva — certainly; anusasāra — began to follow.

TRANSLATION

By the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahārāja Priyavrata reawakened to his senses. He divided all his earthly possessions among his obedient sons. He gave up everything, including his wife, with whom he had enjoyed so much sense gratification, and his great and opulent kingdom, and he completely renounced all attachment. His heart, having been cleansed, became a place of pastimes for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he was able to return to the path of Krishna consciousness, spiritual life, and resume the position he had attained by the grace of the great saint Nārada.

PURPORT

As enunciated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikshāshtaka, ceto-darpana-mārjanam bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanam: [Cc. Antya 20.12] as soon as one's heart is cleansed, the blazing fire of material existence is immediately extinguished. Our hearts are meant for the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that one should be fully Krishna conscious, thinking of Krishna, as He Himself advises (man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī mām namaskuru [Bg. 18.65]). This should be our only business. One whose heart is not clean cannot think of the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord, but if one can once again place the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his heart, he very easily becomes qualified to renounce material attachment. Māyāvādī philosophers, yogīs and jñānīs try to give up this material world simply by saying, brahma satyam jagan mithyā: "This world is false. There is no use of it. Let us take to Brahman." Such theoretical knowledge will not help us. If we believe that Brahman is the real truth, we have to place within our hearts the lotus feet of Śrī Krishna, as Mahārāja Ambarīsha did (sa vai manah krishna-padāravindayoh). One has to fix the lotus feet of the Lord within his heart. Then he gets the strength to be freed from material entanglement.

Mahārāja Priyavrata was able to give up his opulent kingdom, and he also gave up the association of his beautiful wife as if she were a dead body. However beautiful one's wife and however attractive her bodily features, one is no longer interested in her when her body is dead. We praise a beautiful woman for her body, but that same body, when bereft of a spirit soul, is no longer interesting to any lusty man. Mahārāja Priyavrata was so strong, by the grace of the Lord, that even though his beautiful wife was alive, he could give up her association exactly like one who is forced to give up the association of a dead wife. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:

na dhanam na janam na sundarīm

kavitām vā jagadīśa kāmaye

mama janmani janmanīśvare

bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

"O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth." For one who desires to advance in spiritual life, attachment to material opulence and attachment to a beautiful wile are two great impediments. Such attachments are condemned even more than suicide. Therefore anyone desiring to cross beyond material nescience must, by the grace of Krishna, be freed from attachment to women and money. When Mahārāja Priyavrata became completely free from these attachments, he could again peacefully follow the principles instructed by the great sage Nārada.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness