Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.2.21

āgnīdhra-sutās te mātur anugrahād autpattikenaiva samhanana-balopetāh pitrā vibhaktā ātma-tulya-nāmāni yathā-bhāgam jambūdvīpa-varshāni bubhujuh

SYNONYMS

āgnīdhra-sutāh — the sons of Mahārāja Āgnīdhra; te — they; mātuh — of the mother; anugrahāt — by the mercy or by drinking the breast milk; autpattikena — naturally; eva — certainly; samhanana — well-built body; bala — strength; upetāh — obtained; pitrā — by the father; vibhaktāh — divided; ātma-tulya — following their own; nāmāni — possessing names; yathā-bhāgam — divided properly; jambūdvīpa-varshāni — different parts of Jambūdvīpa (probably Asia and Europe combined together); bubhujuh — ruled.

TRANSLATION

Because of drinking the breast milk of their mother, the nine sons of Āgnīdhra naturally had strong, well-built bodies. Their father gave them each a kingdom in a different part of Jambūdvīpa. The kingdoms were named according to the names of the sons. Thus the sons of Āgnīdhra ruled the kingdoms they received from their father.

PURPORT

The ācāryas specifically mention that in this verse the words mātuh anugrahāt ("by the mercy of their mother") refer to the breast milk of their mother. In India it is a common belief that if a baby is fed his mother's milk for at least six months, his body will be very strong. Besides that, it is mentioned herein that all the sons of Āgnīdhra were endowed with the nature of their mother. Bhagavad-gītā (1.40) also declares, strīshu dushtāsu vārshneya jāyate varna-sańkarah: when women are polluted, varna-sańkara, unqualified children, are generated, and when the varna-sańkara population increases, the entire world becomes hellish. Therefore, according to Manu-samhitā, a woman needs a great deal of protection in order to remain pure and chaste so that her children can be fully engaged for the benefit of human society.

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