Devanagari
मिथुनव्यवायधर्मस्त्वं प्रजासर्गमिमं पुन: ।
मिथुनव्यवायधर्मिण्यां भूरिशो भावयिष्यसि ॥ ५२ ॥
Verse text
mithuna-vyavāya-dharmas tvaṁ
prajā-sargam imaṁ punaḥ
mithuna-vyavāya-dharmiṇyāṁ
bhūriśo bhāvayiṣyasi
Synonyms
mithuna
—
of man and woman
;
vyavāya
—
sexual activities
;
dharmaḥ
—
who accepts by religious performance
;
tvam
—
you
;
prajā
—
sargam — creation of living entities
;
imam
—
this
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
mithuna
—
of man and woman united
;
vyavāya
—
dharmiṇyām — in her according to the religious performance of sexual intercourse
;
bhūriśaḥ
—
manifold
;
bhāvayiṣyasi
—
you will cause to be .
Translation
Now unite in sexual life as man and woman, and in this way, by sexual intercourse, you will be able to beget hundreds of children in the womb of this girl to increase the population.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Having a natural quality of sex life, you will increase the population through this woman, who has a similar nature.
You, having the quality of sex life between man and woman, will produce population in her. Though the Lord mercifully showed Dakṣa his form after Dakṣa had praised him, and had given him instructions, he cast Dakṣa onto the path of karma and material enjoyment, and not into the sweet ocean of his prema. That is because the influence of his offense to his great devotee Śiva had not been completely removed. In the next chapter Śukadeva says that Dakṣa, impelled by the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, begot ten thousand sons in the womb of Asiknī. (SB 6.5.1) Because of his offense, he also criticizes Nārada. One should not say “The Lord also put Kardama into material enjoyment.” The Lord gave Kardama limited enjoyment on seeing slight desire in him, and did not give unlimited enjoyment.
tvaṁ ca samyag anuṣṭhāya nideśaṁ ma uśattamaḥ
mayi tīrthī-kṛtāśeṣa-kriyārtho māṁ prapatsyase
Obeying my instructions, offer the results of your actions to me. Becoming pure, finally you will attain me. SB 3.21.30
Kardama also prayed for bhakti:
naitad batādhīśa padaṁ tavepsitaṁ
yan māyayā nas tanuṣe bhūta-sūkṣmam
anugrahāyāstv api yarhi māyayā
lasat-tulasyā bhagavān vilakṣitaḥ
O Lord! I offer repeated respects to you, who destroy the desire to enjoy by giving realization of your sweetness, and who cover us with the results of karma through the inspiration of your material māyā, who give material benedictions to low persons such as me, and whose lotus feet are worthy of worship. SB 3.21.20
All the devotees like Dhruva, though having material desires, desired bhakti. But Dakṣa did not desire bhakti. Therefore the Lord did not give him bhakti. This is the nature of traces of offense.
Purport
The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.11)
,
dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu kāmo ’smi:
“I am sex that is not contrary to religious principles.” Sexual intercourse ordained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
dharma,
a religious principle, but it is not intended for sense enjoyment. Indulgence in sense enjoyment through sexual intercourse is not allowed by the Vedic principles. One may follow the natural tendency for sex life only to beget children. Therefore the Lord told Dakṣa in this verse, “This girl is offered to you only for sex life to beget children, not for any other purpose. She is very fertile, and therefore you will be able to have as many children as you can beget.”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that Dakṣa was given the facility for unlimited sexual intercourse. In Dakṣa’s previous life he was also known as Dakṣa, but in the course of performing sacrifices he offended Lord Śiva, and thus his head was replaced with that of a goat. Then Dakṣa gave up his life because of his degraded condition, but because he maintained the same unlimited sexual desires, he underwent austerities by which he satisfied the Supreme Lord, who then gave him unlimited potency for sexual intercourse.
It should be noted that although such a facility for sexual intercourse is achieved by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this facility is not offered to advanced devotees, who are free from material desires (
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam
). In this connection it may be noted that if the American boys and girls engaged in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement want to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to achieve the supreme benefit of loving service to the Lord, they should refrain from indulging in this facility for sex life. Therefore we advise that one should at least refrain from illicit sex. Even if there are opportunities for sex life, one should voluntarily accept the limitation of having sex only for progeny, not for any other purpose. Kardama Muni was also given the facility for sex life, but he had only a slight desire for it. Therefore after begetting children in the womb of Devahūti, Kardama Muni became completely renounced. The purport is that if one wants to return home, back to Godhead, one should voluntarily refrain from sex life. Sex should be accepted only as much as needed, not unlimitedly.
One should not think that Dakṣa received the favor of the Lord by receiving the facilities for unlimited sex. Later verses will reveal that Dakṣa again committed an offense, this time at the lotus feet of Nārada. Therefore although sex life is the topmost enjoyment in the material world and although one may have an opportunity for sexual enjoyment by the grace of God, this entails a risk of committing offenses. Dakṣa was open to such offenses, and therefore, strictly speaking, he was not actually favored by the Supreme Lord. One should not seek the favor of the Lord for unlimited potency in sex life.