SB 4.28.32 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अगस्त्य: प्राग्दुहितरमुपयेमे धृतव्रताम् । यस्यां द‍ृढच्युतो जात इध्मवाहात्मजो मुनि: ॥ ३२ ॥

Verse text

agastyaḥ prāg duhitaram upayeme dhṛta-vratām yasyāṁ dṛḍhacyuto jāta idhmavāhātmajo muniḥ

Synonyms

agastyaḥ — the great sage Agastya ; prāk — first ; duhitaram — daughter ; upayeme — married ; dhṛta — vratām — taken to vows ; yasyām — through whom ; dṛḍhacyutaḥ — named Dṛḍhacyuta ; jātaḥ — was born ; idhmavāha — named Idhmavāha ; ātma — jaḥ — son ; muniḥ — the great sage .

Translation

The great sage named Agastya married the first-born daughter of Malayadhvaja, the avowed devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. From her one son was born, whose name was Dṛḍhacyuta, and from him another son was born, whose name was Idhmavāha.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sage Agastya married the first-born daughter of Malayadhvaja, who had firm vows, in whom one son named Dṛḍhacyuta was born. Dṛḍhacyuta had Idhmavāha as his son. Agastya married the first daughter. Agastya means “one who brings together (stya) all the senses which cannot act (aga) on their own.” This means the mind, which accepted a taste (ruci) for Kṛṣṇa (the first daughter). That taste produced firm vows of mercy, tolerance and other good qualities (dṛdha-vratām). This means that from taste (ruci), by great mercy, the mind of the jīva then developed āsakti for serving Kṛṣṇa. That āsakti was devoid of (cyutaḥ) attachment (dṛdha) to Satyaloka and other places. This means it had distaste for enjoyments of this world and higher worlds. Or there developed distaste for other practices like jṣāna and for liberation. That means the mind was completely devoid of desire for other practices or goals because of the exclusive taste for serving Kṛṣṇa. How did all this arise? He had a son Idhmavāha (one who carries firewood for sacrifice). This is famous in the śruti passage tad-vijṣānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham: with fuel in hand, one should approach a guru learned in the Vedas and fixed in the Lord for knowledge of the Lord. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12) It means surrender to guru. According to the story line, Agastya had a son named Dṛdhacyuta who had a son named Idhmavāha. This is a description of the descendents of Malaydhvaja’s daughter.

Purport

The name Agastya Muni is very significant. Agastya Muni represents the mind. The word agastya indicates that the senses do not act independently, and the word muni means “mind.” The mind is the center of all the senses, and thus the senses cannot work independent of the mind. When the mind takes to the cult of bhakti, it engages in devotional service. The cult of bhakti ( bhakti-latā ) is the first daughter of Malayadhvaja, and as previously described, her eyes are always upon Kṛṣṇa ( asitekṣaṇām ). One cannot render bhakti to any demigod. Bhakti can be rendered only to Viṣṇu ( śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ ). Thinking the Absolute Truth to be without form, the Māyāvādīs say that the word bhakti can apply to any form of worship. If this were the case, a devotee could imagine any demigod or any godly form and worship it. This, however, is not the real fact. The real fact is that bhakti can be applied only to Lord Viṣṇu and His expansions. Therefore bhakti-latā is dṛḍha-vrata, the great vow, for when the mind is completely engaged in devotional service, the mind does not fall down. If one tries to advance by other means — by karma-yoga or jṣāna-yoga — one will fall down, but if one is fixed in bhakti, he never falls down. Thus from bhakti-latā the son Dṛḍhacyuta is born, and from Dṛḍhacyuta the next son, Idhmavāha, is born. The word idhma-vāha refers to one who carries wood for burning in a sacrifice when approaching a spiritual master. The point is that bhakti-latā, the cult of devotion, fixes one in his spiritual position. One so fixed never comes down, and he begets children who are strict followers of the śāstric injunctions. As said in the Vedas: tad-vijṣānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham In the line of devotional service, those who are initiated are strict followers of the Vedic scriptural injunctions.