VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
11.17.33
saḿlāpa-kṣvelanādikam
agṛhastho 'gratas tyajet
(33) With [sexually receptive] women - or sex-minded living beings - glancing, touching, conversing and joking and such is the first thing that someone not running a household [who is not married: the sannyâsî, the vânaprastha and the brahmacârî] should forsake [see 11.14: 29 and 6.1: 56-68].
11.17.34-35
sandhyopāstir mamārcanam
bhakṣyāsambhāṣya-varjanam
sarvāśrama-prayukto 'yaḿ
(34-35) Cleanliness, washing one's hands, bathing, in the morning and evening, being of religious service, worshiping Me, visiting holy places, doing the rosary, avoiding things untouchable, things not fit for consumption and things not to discuss - this all constitutes the voluntary penance that with Me, I who reside within all beings, in order to restrain the mind, the words and the body is enjoined for all spiritual departments [âs'ramas], o Uddhava.
11.17.36
(36) A brahmin thus observing the great vow becomes bright like fire My spotless devotee of whom the karma was burned by the intensity of the penance.
The spirit soul is more brilliant than the sun, and as the process of spiritual purification gradually takes effect, even the external form of a devotee becomes effulgent. The glowing fire of spiritual knowledge burns to ashes the mentality of sense gratification, and one naturally becomes austere and disinterested in mundane enjoyment. Among all austerities, the best is celibacy, by which the shackles of material life immediately become slackened. One who is amala, free from material desire, is known as a pure devotee of the Lord. On the paths of jñāna, karma and yoga the mind retains the concept of personal interest, but on the path of pure devotion the mind is trained to see only the interests of the Personality of Godhead. Thus a pure devotee of the Lord is amala, completely pure.
11.17.37
athānantaram āvekṣyan
yathā-jijñāsitāgamaḥ
snāyād gurv-anumoditaḥ
(37) Thus properly having studied the vedic literatures he should [as a brahmacârî], care for what's next [see next paragraph], offer the guru remuneration, tidy himself and leave [**] with his permission.
This verse describes the process called samāvartana, or returning to one's home after finishing Vedic education in the āśrama of the spiritual master. One who cannot concentrate all of his desires in the devotional service of the Lord is attracted to householder life, and if this attraction is not regulated, one will fall down. Being covered by the ignorance of fruitive activities and mental speculation, a living entity seeks enjoyment outside the devotional service of the Supreme Lord and becomes a nondevotee. One who takes to family life must rigidly follow the Vedic rules and regulations in order to avoid the collapse of his spiritual determination. One who enjoys intimate sense gratification with women must become duplicitous in his dealings with others and consequently falls down from the platform of simple, pure life. When the mind is disturbed by lust, one begins to resent the principle of submission to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pure devotee, and the dark clouds of one's offensive mentality completely cover the light of spiritual knowledge. One should dovetail his propensity to love someone by serving the lotus feet of a pure devotee. As stated in Vedic literature, "One who worships Govinda, Lord Kṛṣṇa, but does not worship His devotees is not to be considered an advanced Vaiṣṇava; rather, he is to be considered a proud hypocrite."
11.17.38
pravrajed vā dvijottamaḥ
āśramād āśramaḿ gacchen
nānyathāmat-paraś caret
(38) He should found a family or else live in the forest [becoming a recluse] or, belonging to the best of the twice-born [the brahmins], become a mendicant. For someone who didn't surrender to Me there is no alternative but to move systematically from one spiritual department to the next âs'rama.
Those who are not surrendered devotees of the Lord must rigidly observe the regulations governing one's authorized social status. There are four social divisions of life, namely brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. One who wants to fulfill material desires should become an ordinary householder (gṛhastha), establish a comfortable residence and maintain his family. One desiring to accelerate the process of purification may give up his home and business and live in a sacred place with his wife, as indicated here by the word vanam, or "forest." There are many sacred forests in India meant for this purpose, such as Vṛndāvana and Māyāpur. The word dvijottama indicates the brāhmaṇas. Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are all dvija, or initiated in the Gāyatrī mantra, but the brāhmaṇa is dvijottama, or the highest among those who have received second birth by spiritual initiation. It is recommended that a purified brāhmaṇa take to the renounced order of life (sannyāsa), giving up further contact with his so-called wife. The brāhmaṇa is specifically mentioned here, since kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are not to take the renounced order of life. Even so, there are many stories in the Bhāgavatam wherein great kings retire with their aristocratic wives to the forest to practice the austerities of vānaprastha and thus accelerate the process of purification. The brāhmaṇas, however, may directly accept the renounced order of life.
The words āśramād āśramaḿ gacchet indicate that one may progressively move from brahmacārī life to gṛhastha life to vānaprastha life and then to sannyāsa. The words āśramād āśramam emphasize that one should never remain without an authorized social status, nor should one go backward, falling down from a higher position. Those who are not surrendered devotees of the Lord must rigidly observe such injunctions, for otherwise they will quickly become degraded, and their sins will place them outside the bounds of authorized human civilization.
Lord Kṛṣṇa emphasizes here that a nondevotee must rigidly observe the rituals and regulations of Vedic social divisions, whereas the Lord's pure devotee, engaged twenty-four hours a day in Lord Kṛṣṇa's mission, is transcendental to such divisions. If, however, one performs illicit activities on the strength of being transcendental to Vedic social divisions, one is revealed to be a materialistic neophyte and not an advanced devotee of the Lord. An advanced devotee, who remains aloof from material sense gratification, is not bound by the Vedic social divisions; thus even a householder may live very austerely, traveling and preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness away from home, and even a sannyāsī may sometimes engage women in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The most advanced devotees cannot be restricted by the rituals and regulations of the varṇāśrama system, and they move freely around the world distributing love of Godhead. Mat-para indicates a pure devotee of the Lord who always keeps the Lord fixed in his heart and consciousness. One who falls down to become a victim of sense gratification is not fully established on the platform of mat-para and should rigidly observe the social divisions and regulations to remain steady on the platform of pious human life.
11.17.39
udvahed ajugupsitām
(39) Desiring a household one should marry a wife with similar qualities who is beyond reproach and younger in age. With the first wife of the same vocation may follow another one [of a lower class or caste].
As stated in the Vedic literature,
tisro varṇānupūrvyeṇa
The purport of this verse is that one's first wife must always be sadṛśīm, or similar to oneself. In other words, an intellectual man should marry an intellectual wife, a heroic man should marry a heroic wife, a business minded man should marry a woman who can encourage him in such activities, and a śūdra should marry a less intelligent woman. The wife must be beyond reproach in terms of her background and character and should always be younger than oneself, ideally five to ten years younger. If one desires to marry a second wife, then, as stated in this verse by the word varṇānupūrvyeṇa and in the verse spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa by the word anukramāt, one must wait until the first marriage is established and then select a second wife from the next-lower caste. If one marries a third time the wife must be, again, from the next-lower caste. For example, a brāhmaṇa's first wife will be a brāhmaṇī, his second wife will be from the kṣatriya community, his third wife from the vaiśya community and fourth wife from the śūdra community. A kṣatriya may first marry a kṣatriya lady and then vaiśya and śūdra ladies. A vaiśya can accept wives from two classes, and a śūdra will accept a wife only from the śūdra class. By this progression of marriages there will be relative peace in the family. These Vedic marriage injunctions, as mentioned in the previous verse, are especially for those who are not pure devotees of the Lord.11.17.40
ijyādhyayana-dānāni
pratigraho 'dhyāpanaḿ ca
brāhmaṇasyaiva yājanam
(40) Sacrifice, vedic study and charity are the activities of all the twice-born, but only the brahmins practice the acceptance of charity, teaching vedic knowledge and officiating in sacrifices [compare 7.11: 14].
All civilized men must participate in sacrificial performances, give charity and study the Vedic literature. The best of the twice-born, namely the brāhmaṇas, are specifically empowered to lead sacrificial performances on behalf of all members of society, teach everyone Vedic knowledge and receive everyone's charity. Without the assistance or participation of qualified brāhmaṇas, the lower classes cannot properly study the Vedic literature, perform sacrifices or give in charity, because they do not have the required intelligence to perfectly execute such functions. When kṣatriyas and vaiśyas take shelter of bona fide brāhmaṇas, they are able to properly execute their respective duties, and society functions smoothly and efficiently.
11.17.41
pratigrahaḿ manyamānas
(41)When an intellectual [a brahmin] considers the acceptance of charity as detrimental to his penance, spiritual stature and glory, he must subsist on the other two [of teaching and sacrifice] or, when he considers these two as incompatible with his spirituality, subsist on gathering ears of corn left behind in the field ['of the stones', live on the dole, see also 6.7: 36, 7.15: 30 and B.G. 9: 22].
11.17.42
brāhmaṇasya hi deho 'yaḿ
kṛcchrāya tapase ceha
(42) Certain is that the embodiment of a brahmin is meant for the hardship of [voluntary] penances in this world to find unlimited happiness in the hereafter and not for futile sense gratification [and the consequent involuntary penances of war, disease and incarceration, see also 11.6: 9 and B.G. 17: 14-19].
11.17.43
śiloñcha-vṛttyā parituṣṭa-citto
(43) Perfectly contented in being occupied with gleaning grains and magnanimously, free from passion cultivating dharma, can, even staying at home, the one who turned his mind to Me - and is thus not that attached - achieve liberation [compare B.G. 3: 22 and 10.69].
Mahāntam refers to magnanimous religious principles such as very hospitably receiving guests, even those who are uninvited and unexpected. Householders must always be magnanimous and charitable to others, being alert to curb unnecessary affection and attachment in family life. In the past, very renounced brāhmaṇa householders would collect grains that had fallen on the ground in the marketplace or those that had been left behind in the fields after harvesting. The most important item here is mayy arpitātmā, or fixing the mind in Lord Kṛṣṇa. Despite his material situation, anyone who constantly meditates upon the Lord can become a liberated soul. As stated in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.187),
īhā yasya harer dāsye
"A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness [or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa] with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person, even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities."
11.17.44
tān uddhariṣye na cirād
āpadbhyo naur ivārṇavāt
(44) Those who uplift the learned as well as the ones who having surrendered to Me are suffering [poverty and disease], will by Me, like with a boat in the ocean, very soon be delivered from all miseries.
The Lord has described how brāhmaṇas and devotees achieve the perfection of life, and now a similar perfection is offered to those who utilize their materialistic wealth to relieve the poverty-stricken condition of devotees and brāhmaṇas. Although one may neglect the devotional service of the Lord to pursue a material life of sense gratification, one can rectify one's position by dedicating one's hard-earned money to the service of the Lord. Seeing the difficult austerities accepted by saintly persons, a pious person should make arrangements for their comfort. Just as a boat saves hopeless people who have fallen into the ocean, similarly, the Lord uplifts persons who have hopelessly fallen into the ocean of material attachment if they have been charitable to the brāhmaṇas and devotees.
11.17.45
(45) Like a bull elephant who fearlessly protects himself and other elephants, protects the king himself by saving, just like a father, all citizens from difficulties [see also 4.20: 14].
Lord Kṛṣṇa, having concluded His discussion of brahminical duties, now describes the character and activities of a king. Protecting all of the citizens from difficulty is an essential duty for the king.
11.17.46
vimānenārka-varcasā
vidhūyehāśubhaḿ kṛtsnam
(46) Thus the human ruler, who on earth removes all sins, enjoys heaven, together with Indra riding a heavenly vehicle as brilliant as the sun.
11.17.47
paṇyair evāpadaḿ taret
khaḍgena vāpadākrānto
(47) When a learned person is indebted the calamity must be overcome by doing business in behaving like a merchant, or else, still afflicted with misfortune, he must take up the sword [go in politics]. In no case can he behave like a dog [follow a lower master].
Śva-vṛttyā, or "a dog's profession," refers to the śūdras, who cannot live without accepting a master. A destitute brāhmaṇa who is suffering intolerably may become a merchant and then a kṣatriya but may never take the position of a śūdra by working in a company or accepting a master. Although a kṣatriya is ordinarily considered more elevated than a vaiśya, the Lord here recommends that distressed brāhmaṇas first accept the vaiśya occupation, since it is not violent.
11.17.48
jīven mṛgayayāpadi
(48) A king suffering want may maintain himself acting like a merchant, or do so by means of hunting or by stepping forward as a man of learning. Under no condition may he follow the course of a dog.
11.17.49
(49) A vais'ya may adopt the business of a s'ûdra and a s'ûdra may adopt the way of an artisan, making baskets and mats to deal with an awkward situation, but freed one must not desire the work of such an inferior livelihood [see also 7.11: 17].
11.17.50
baly-annādyair yathodayam
(50) According to one's prosperity one should daily be of respect for the manifestations of My potency - the gods, the sages, the forefathers and all living entities - by vedic study and by offerings of food and such accompanied by [the mantras] svadhâ ['blessed be'] and svâhâ ['hail to', this rule thus applies to normal householders, see also 11.5: 41].
The Lord again discusses the duties of those in the household order of life. Obviously, the five ritualistic daily sacrifices mentioned here are meant for those who are not pure devotees of the Lord and who thus have to counteract their exploitation of material nature by the abovementioned sacrifices. as confirmed in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.41):
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāḿ pitṝṇāḿ
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaḿ śaraṇyaḿ
gato mukundaḿ parihṛtya kartam
"Anyone who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, the giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods, sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers."11.17.51
yadṛcchayopapannena
śuklenopārjitena vā
dhanenāpīḍayan bhṛtyān
nyāyenaivāharet kratūn
(51) Unembarrassed with one's dependents whether one is of money acquired without endeavor or of money acquired by honest work, one should be of proper respect with the help of vedic rituals.
The Lord here describes the religious duties that are to be performed as far as possible, according to one's means, and when there is opportunity.
11.17.52
vipaścin naśvaraḿ paśyed
(52) One should not be attached to family members, nor go crazy [in being the controller]; nay, a wise person should see that things that lay ahead are just as temporary as matters that have happened.
A family man often acts like a lord, protecting his wife, ordering his children, maintaining servants, grandchildren, domestic animals, and so forth. The words na pramādyet kuṭumby api indicate that although one acts like a little lord, surrounded by his family, servants and friends, one should not, through false pride, become mentally unbalanced, considering oneself to be the actual lord. The word vipaścit indicates that one should remain sober and intelligent, never forgetting oneself to be the eternal servant of the Supreme Lord.
Householders of the upper, middle and lower classes become attached to different types of sense gratification. In any economic or social class, however, one should remember that all material enjoyment, either here or in the next life, is temporary and ultimately useless. A responsible householder should guide his family members and other dependents back home, back to Godhead, for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge. One should not become a false and puffed-up lord for a brief span of time, for then one will remain bound up, along with his family members, in the cycle of repeated birth and death.
11.17.53
putra-dārāpta-bandhūnāḿ
svapno nidrānugo yathā
(53) The association of children, a wife, relatives and friends is like the being together with travelers; like a dream occurring in one's sleep are they all separated with each change of body [see also 7.2: 21, 9.19: 27-28].
Pāntha-sańgama indicates the momentary association of travelers at hotels, restaurants, tourist spots or, in more traditional cultures, freshwater wells and walking paths. We are now associated with many relatives, friends and well-wishers, but as soon as we change our material body we will immediately be separated from all these associates, just as upon awakening we are immediately separated from the imaginary situation of a dream. One becomes attached to the sense gratification of one's dream, and similarly, under the spell of the illusory concepts of "I" and "mine," we become attached to so-called relatives and friends who gratify our sense of false ego. Unfortunately, such fleeting egoistic association covers our real knowledge of the self and the Supreme, and we remain hovering in material illusion, futilely endeavoring for permanent sense gratification. One who remains attached to the bodily concept of family and friends cannot possibly give up the false egoism of "I" and "mine," or "I am everything and everything is mine."
Without giving up material sense gratification we cannot become steady on the transcendental platform of devotional service, and therefore we cannot relish the actual flavor of eternal happiness. Unless one becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, accepting Lord Kṛṣṇa as one's only friend, one cannot give up the hankering for temporary and superficial material relationships. A traveler far away from his home and loved ones may strike up superficial conversations with other travelers, but such relationships have no ultimate meaning. One should therefore revive one's lost relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa. We are constitutionally part and parcel of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the reservoir of all spiritual pleasure, and our original relationship with Him is full of love and happiness. But because of our desire to enjoy independently from Him, we fall down into the confusing, meaningless network of material relationships created by māyā. An intelligent person realizes there is no actual pleasure or satisfaction for the soul on either this planet or any other material planet.
11.17.54
itthaḿ parimṛśan mukto
na gṛhair anubadhyeta
nirmamo nirahańkṛtaḥ
(54) With that conviction a liberated soul who doesn't identify with the body and lives selflessly at home like a guest, will not get entangled in the domestic situation.
The word mukta, or "liberated," refers to one freed from all material attachment. In this status, called mukta-sańga, one no longer identifies oneself as a permanent resident of the material world. This liberated status may be attained even by one situated in family life. The only requirement is that one should take up a serious program of kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtana, which includes constant chanting of the holy names of the Lord, worship of the Deity and participation in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Without a serious program of kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtana it is very difficult to give up the iron shackles of attachment to women and the byproducts of such attachment.
11.17.55
karmabhir gṛha-medhīyair
tiṣṭhed vanaḿ vopaviśet
prajāvān vā parivrajet
(55) When one with the activities of a family life worships Me, may one as a devotee remain at home or enter the forest, or also, given responsible offspring, take to the renounced order.
This verse describes the three alternatives for a householder. He may continue at home, or he may take vānaprastha, which involves going to a sacred place with one's wife. Or if he has a responsible son to take over his family duties, he may take sannyāsa, the renounced order, for a definitive solution to the problems of life. In all three āśramas, ultimate success depends on sincere surrender to the Supreme Lord; therefore, the most important qualification one can have is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
11.17.56
putra-vittaiṣaṇāturaḥ
straiṇaḥ kṛpaṇa-dhīr mūḍho
(56) Someone fixed on women however and whose consciousness is perturbed by the desire for a home, children and money, is in his bondage unintelligently with a miserly mentality thinking 'I am that and this is mine'.
Although one may try by various analytical or psychological processes to detach the mind from illusory family attachment, one will inevitably be drawn back into the network of material attachment unless the heart is purified by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A miserly householder thinks only of his own family or community, without mercy for outsiders. Being egoistic, lusty, attached and always disturbed by ardent desires to enjoy money and children, a materialistic householder is hopelessly bound in a web of anxiety.
11.17.57
bhāryā bālātmajātmajāḥ
(57) 'O my poor old mom and dad, my wife with a baby in her arms and my young, unprotected children! How in the world can they live when they wretched have to suffer greatly, missing me?' [see e.g. also 11.7: 52-57].
11.17.58
evaḿ gṛhāśayākṣipta-
atṛptas tān anudhyāyan
(58) Thus will, with his home as his retreat, such a one, with his heart overwhelmed unsated ruminating about them, with a wrong point of view blinded land in darkness when he dies.'
Andhaḿ viśate tamaḥ indicates that in his next life an attached householder will certainly be degraded because of his primitive mentality of bodily attachment, which is called mūḍha-dhī. In other words, after enjoying the sense gratification of considering oneself the center of everything, one enters into a lower species of life. Somehow or other, we must fix our minds on Lord Kṛṣṇa and come out of the darkness of ignorance to our real life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Seventeenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Lord Kṛṣṇa's Description of the Varṇāśrama System."
Footnotes:
* The term adhauta used here means, according the Monier Williams Dictionary, the negative of dhauta, which means white, washed, and purified as well as removed and destroyed. Concerning teeth and clothes this could mean as well unpolished teeth and unwashed clothes as teeth not broken or rotting and clothes properly covering the body. So it is to the context of the other values of renunciation to decide which meaning would apply. Since adhauta in the first sense would be in conflict with the value of cleanliness, s'aucam [see e.g. verse 20 of this chapter and 1.17: 24], is here, contrary to previous interpretations chosen for the second sense of teeth well-maintained and clothes properly covering the body, which is more in line with the normal code of conduct of vaishnava devotees in acceptance of a spiritual master [see also pp. 11.17: 23].
** This process of 'tidying' is called the samâvartana-samskâra that marks the completion of the studies and returning home from living with the guru.
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