SB 4.11.5 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स तान् पृषत्कैरभिधावतो मृधे निकृत्तबाहूरुशिरोधरोदरान् । निनाय लोकं परमर्कमण्डलं व्रजन्ति निर्भिद्य यमूर्ध्वरेतस: ॥ ५ ॥

Verse text

sa tān pṛṣatkair abhidhāvato mṛdhe nikṛtta-bāhūru-śirodharodarān nināya lokaṁ param arka-maṇḍalaṁ vrajanti nirbhidya yam ūrdhva-retasaḥ

Synonyms

saḥ — he (Dhruva Mahārāja) ; tān — all the Yakṣas ; pṛṣatkaiḥ — by his arrows ; abhidhāvataḥ — coming forward ; mṛdhe — in the battlefield ; nikṛtta — being separated ; bāhu — arms ; ūru — thighs ; śiraḥ — dhara — necks ; udarān — and bellies ; nināya — delivered ; lokam — to the planet ; param — supreme ; arka — maṇḍalam — the sun globe ; vrajanti — go ; nirbhidya — piercing ; yam — to which ; ūrdhva — retasaḥ — those who do not discharge semen at any time .

Translation

When Dhruva Mahārāja saw the Yakṣas coming forward, he immediately took his arrows and cut the enemies to pieces. Separating their arms, legs, heads and bellies from their bodies, he delivered the Yakṣas to the planetary system which is situated above the sun globe and which is attainable only by first-class brahmacārīs, who have never discharged their semen.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Attacked by the Yakṣas, Dhruva cut off there their arms, thighs, necks and torsos with his arrows and sent them to planet where the brahmacārīs go after attaining the sun. By his arrows (pṛṣatkaiḥ) he brought them, with severed thighs, to Satyaloka (param), where the sannyāsīs go after surpassing the sun planet. Because of being killed by the hand of a devotee, they got special elevation. As the Gītā says, they return again to the earth planet ābrahmabhuvanāllokāḥ punarāvartino ’rjuna: from all planets up to Brahmaloka, people return, O Arjuna! One should not think that they attained liberation with the sannyāsīs at the end of Brahmā’s life. That is because one does not even see liberation given to those killed by the Lord, such as Kālameni, other than when killed by Kṛṣṇa.

Purport

To be killed by the Lord or by His devotees is auspicious for nondevotees. The Yakṣas were killed indiscriminately by Dhruva Mahārāja, but they attained the planetary system attainable only for brahmacārīs who never discharged their semen. As the impersonalist jṣānīs or the demons killed by the Lord attain Brahmaloka, or Satyaloka, persons killed by a devotee of the Lord also attain Satyaloka. To reach the Satyaloka planetary system described here, one has to be elevated above the sun globe. Killing, therefore, is not always bad. If the killing is done by the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee or in great sacrifices, it is for the benefit of the entity killed in that way. Material so-called nonviolence is very insignificant in comparison to killing done by the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotees. Even when a king or the state government kills a person who is a murderer, that killing is for the benefit of the murderer, for thus he may become cleared of all sinful reactions. An important word in this verse is ūrdhva-retasaḥ, which means brahmacārīs who have never discharged semen. Celibacy is so important that even though one does not undergo any austerities, penances or ritualistic ceremonies prescribed in the Vedas, if one simply keeps himself a pure brahmacārī, not discharging his semen, the result is that after death he goes to the Satyaloka. Generally, sex life is the cause of all miseries in the material world. In the Vedic civilization sex life is restricted in various ways. Out of the whole population of the social structure, only the gṛhasthas are allowed restricted sex life. All others refrain from sex. The people of this age especially do not know the value of not discharging semen. As such, they are variously entangled with material qualities and suffer an existence of struggle only. The word ūrdhva-retasaḥ especially indicates the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, who undergo strict principles of austerity. But in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.16) the Lord says that even if one goes up to Brahmaloka, he again comes back ( ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna ). Therefore actual mukti, or liberation, can be attained only by devotional service, because by devotional service one can go above Brahmaloka, or to the spiritual world, wherefrom he never comes back. Māyāvādī sannyāsīs are very proud of becoming liberated, but actual liberation is not possible unless one is in touch with the Supreme Lord in devotional service. It is said, hariṁ vinā na mṛtiṁ taranti: without Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, no one can have liberation.