Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.53

evam adhyātma-yogena

karmāṇy anusamācaran

putrān utpādayām āsa

pañcārciṣy ātma-sammatān

SYNONYMS

evam — thus; adhyātma-yogena — by the means of bhakti-yoga; karmāṇi — activities; anu — always; samācaran — executing; putrān — sons; utpādayām āsa — begotten; pañca — five; arciṣi — in his wife, Arci; ātma — own; sammatān — according to his desire.

TRANSLATION

Being situated in the liberated position of devotional service, Pṛthu Mahārāja not only performed all fruitive activities but also begot five sons by his wife, Arci. Indeed, all his sons were begotten according to his own desire.

PURPORT

As a householder, Pṛthu Mahārāja had five sons by his wife, Arci, and all these sons were begotten as he desired them. They were not born whimsically or by accident. How one can beget children according to one's own desire is practically unknown in the present age (Kali-yuga). In this regard the secret of success depends on the parents' acceptance of the various purificatory methods known as saḿskāras. The first saḿskāra, the garbhādhāna-saḿskāra, or child-begetting saḿskāra, is compulsory, especially for the higher castes, the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, sex life which is not against religious principles is Kṛṣṇa Himself, and according to religious principles, when one wants to beget a child he must perform the garbhādhāna-saḿskāra before having sex. The mental state of the father and mother before sex will certainly affect the mentality of the child to be begotten. A child who is begotten out of lust may not turn out as the parents desire. As stated in the śāstras, yathā yonir yathā bījam. Yathā yoniḥ indicates the mother, and yathā bījam indicates the father. If the mental state of the parents is prepared before they have sex, the child which they will beget will certainly reflect their mental condition. It is therefore understood by the words ātma-sammatān that both Pṛthu Mahārāja and Arci underwent the garbhādhāna purificatory process before begetting children, and thus they begot all their sons according to their desires and purified mental states. Pṛthu Mahārāja did not beget his children out of lust, nor was he attracted to his wife for sense gratificatory purposes. He begot the children as a gṛhastha for the future administration of his government all over the world.

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