SB 4.28.16

SB 4.28.16

Devanagari

दुहितृ: पुत्रपौत्रांश्च जामिजामातृपार्षदान् । स्वत्वावशिष्टं यत्किञ्चिद् गृहकोशपरिच्छदम् ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

duhitṝḥ putra-pautrāṁś ca jāmi-jāmātṛ-pārṣadān svatvāvaśiṣṭaṁ yat kiṣcid gṛha-kośa-paricchadam

Synonyms

duhitṝḥ daughters ; putra sons ; pautrān grandsons ; ca and ; jāmi daughters-in-law ; jāmātṛ sons-in-law ; pārṣadān associates ; svatva property ; avaśiṣṭam remaining ; yat kiṣcit whatever ; gṛha home ; kośa accumulation of wealth ; paricchadam household paraphernalia .

Translation

King Puraṣjana then began to think of his daughters, sons, grandsons, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, servants and other associates, as well as his house, his household paraphernalia and his little accumulation of wealth.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Since he was a foolish householder, accepting me and mine concerning his household, he became miserable at impending separation from his wife. He began to think of his daughters, sons, grandsons, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, followers, remaining property, house, treasury and furniture. Yāmi means daughter-in-law. pramadayā viprayote upasthitaḥ means “when separated from a woman.” This does not refer to his intelligence since, when the gross body of the jīva is destroyed, there is no separation of the jīva from the intelligence. This refers to a conditioned jīva’s normal material wife, object of attachment, enjoyed by all the senses. The daughters and others mentioned in this verse also refer to conventional daughters and relatives, not the symbols in the spiritual metaphor. Some say that, at the time of death, the jīva thinks of his wife and sons, not of intelligence, discernment and other elements. Others say that dharmic intelligence was previously represented by his wife Puraṣjanī, but at the time of death, there is separation from dharmic intelligence, and joining with another intelligence. There are statements such as na mayy anāśite bhuṅkte: his wife would not take her dinner until he had finished his. (SB 4.28.19) This refers to a time before the separation from his dharmic intelligence. This will be explained later. The description in this verse presents the idea “I am not satisfied with my actions of dharma. What should I do? Death is now approaching.”

Purport

It is not infrequent for a person overly attached to the material body to request a physician to prolong his life at least for some time. If the so-called scientific physician is able to prolong one’s life for a few minutes through the use of oxygen or other medicines, he thinks that he is very successful in his attempts, although ultimately the patient will die. This is called the struggle for existence. At the time of death both patient and physician still think of prolonging life, although all the constituents of the body are practically dead and gone.