Devanagari
तामेव मनसा गृह्णन् बभूव प्रमदोत्तमा ।
अनन्तरं विदर्भस्य राजसिंहस्य वेश्मनि ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
tām eva manasā gṛhṇan
babhūva pramadottamā
anantaraṁ vidarbhasya
rāja-siṁhasya veśmani
Synonyms
tām
—
her
;
eva
—
certainly
;
manasā
—
by the mind
;
gṛhṇan
—
accepting
;
babhūva
—
became
;
pramadā
—
woman
;
uttamā
—
highly situated
;
anantaram
—
after death
;
vidarbhasya
—
of Vidarbha
;
rāja
—
siṁhasya — of the most powerful king
;
veśmani
—
at the house .
Translation
King Puraṣjana gave up his body while remembering his wife, and consequently in his next life he became a very beautiful and well-situated woman. He took his next birth as the daughter of King Vidarbha in the very house of the King.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Merged in unending darkness, devoid of memory, experiencing pain for infinite years, and, contaminated by association with a woman, he remembered in his mind that woman, and finally was born in the house of a great king of Vidarbha as the best of women.
He was merged in darkness devoid of end, in suffering. Since he worshipped through many sacrifices, it should be understood that he also enjoyed happiness in Svarga for many years. This is not mentioned in order to create a sense of renunciation in Prācīnabarhi. Because of remembering a woman he became a woman. The spiritual perspective is this. It was said that, because one faints from the extreme pain at the time of death, the loss of dharmic intelligence is temporary. After enjoying in Svarga with the exhaustion of pious deed, he regains his dharmic intelligence and is born in the house of a person following dharma. That is the intention of the verse. However, attaining a body of a man or woman was not mentioned. The various options of birth however, such as man or woman, are not mentioned here. This is explained later:
kvacit pumān kvacic ca strī kvacin nobhayam andha-dhīḥ
devo manuṣyas tiryag vā yathā-karma-guṇaṁ bhavaḥ
This foolish jīva is sometimes a man and sometimes he is a woman. Sometimes he is eunuch. Sometimes he is a devatā, a human or an animal. His birth takes place according to the guṇas and his actions. SB 4.29.29
Purport
Since King Puraṣjana thought of his wife at the time of death, he attained the body of a woman in his next birth. This verifies the following verse in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.6)
:
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”
When a living entity is accustomed to think of a particular subject matter or become absorbed in a certain type of thought, he will think of that subject at the time of death. At the time of death, one will think of the subject that has occupied his life while he was awake, lightly sleeping or dreaming, or while he was deeply sleeping. After falling from the association of the Supreme Lord, the living entity thus transmigrates from one bodily form to another according to nature’s course, until he finally attains the human form. If he is absorbed in material thoughts and ignorant of spiritual life, and if he does not take shelter under the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who solves all questions of birth and death, he will become a woman in the next life, especially if he thinks of his wife. As stated in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(3.31.1)
,
karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa.
A living entity acts piously and impiously, and sometimes in both ways. All actions are taken into account, and the living entity is offered a new body by his superiors. Although King Puraṣjana was overly attached to his wife, he nonetheless performed many pious fruitive activities. Consequently, although he took the form of a woman, he was given a chance to be the daughter of a powerful king. As confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(6.41)
:
prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān
uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe
yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate
“The unsuccessful
yogī,
after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people or into a family of rich aristocracy.”
If a person falls from the path of
bhakti-yoga,
God realization, due to attachment to fruitive activity, philosophical speculation or mystic
yoga,
he is given a chance to take birth in a high and rich family. The higher authorities appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead thus render justice to the living entity according to the living entity’s desires. Although King Puraṣjana was overly absorbed in thoughts of his wife and thus became a woman, he took birth in the family of a king due to his previous pious activities. The conclusion is that all our activities are taken into consideration before we are awarded another body. Nārada Muni therefore advised Vyāsadeva that one should take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service, and abandon all ordinary occupational duties. This advice was also given by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Although a devotee may fall from the path of spiritual consciousness, he will nonetheless attain a human body in the home of a devotee or a rich man. In this way one can resume his devotional service.