SB 6.5.7 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

उवाच चाथ हर्यश्वा: कथं स्रक्ष्यथ वै प्रजा: । अद‍ृष्ट्वान्तं भुवो यूयं बालिशा बत पालका: ॥ ६ ॥ तथैकपुरुषं राष्ट्रं बिलं चाद‍ृष्टनिर्गमम् । बहुरूपां स्त्रियं चापि पुमांसं पुंश्चलीपतिम् ॥ ७ ॥ नदीमुभयतो वाहां पञ्चपञ्चाद्भ‍ुतं गृहम् । क्‍वचिद्धंसं चित्रकथं क्षौरपव्यं स्वयं भ्रमि ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

uvāca cātha haryaśvāḥ kathaṁ srakṣyatha vai prajāḥ adṛṣṭvāntaṁ bhuvo yūyaṁ bāliśā bata pālakāḥ tathaika-puruṣaṁ rāṣṭraṁ bilaṁ cādṛṣṭa-nirgamam bahu-rūpāṁ striyaṁ cāpi pumāṁsaṁ puṁścalī-patim nadīm ubhayato vāhāṁ paṣca-paṣcādbhutaṁ gṛham kvacid dhaṁsaṁ citra-kathaṁ kṣaura-pavyaṁ svayaṁ bhrami

Synonyms

uvāca — he said ; ca — also ; atha — thus ; haryaśvāḥ — O Haryaśvas, sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa ; katham — why ; srakṣyatha — you will beget ; vai — indeed ; prajāḥ — progeny ; adṛṣṭvā — having not seen ; antam — the end ; bhuvaḥ — of this earth ; yūyam — all of you ; bāliśāḥ — inexperienced ; bata — alas ; pālakāḥ — although ruling princes ; tathā — so also ; eka — one ; puruṣam — man ; rāṣṭram — kingdom ; bilam — the hole ; ca — also ; adṛṣṭa — nirgamam — from which there is no coming out ; bahu — rūpām — taking many forms ; striyam — the woman ; ca — and ; api — even ; pumāṁsam — the man ; puṁścalī — patim — the husband of a prostitute ; nadīm — a river ; ubhayataḥ — in both ways ; vāhām — which flows ; paṣca — paṣca — of five multiplied by five (twenty-five) ; adbhutam — a wonder ; gṛham — the house ; kvacit — somewhere ; haṁsam — a swan ; citra — katham — whose story is wonderful ; kṣaura — pavyam — made of sharp razors and thunderbolts ; svayam — itself ; bhrami — revolving .

Translation

The great sage Nārada said: My dear Haryaśvas, you have not seen the extremities of the earth. There is a kingdom where only one man lives and where there is a hole from which, having entered, no one emerges. A woman there who is extremely unchaste adorns herself with various attractive dresses, and the man who lives there is her husband. In that kingdom, there is a river flowing in both directions, a wonderful home made of twenty-five materials, a swan that vibrates various sounds, and an automatically revolving object made of sharp razors and thunderbolts. You have not seen all this, and therefore you are inexperienced boys without advanced knowledge. How, then, will you create progeny?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

He said, “O Haryaśvas! Why should you create progeny? Though you are princes you are inexperienced and have not seen the end of this earth. There is one kingdom where only one man lives. There is a hole from which, having entered, no one emerges. There is a woman there with many forms. There is one man, husband of the unchaste woman. There is a river flowing in both directions, a wonderful home made of twenty-five materials, a swan that vibrates various sounds, and an automatically revolving object made of sharp razors and thunderbolts. Why should these sons, pure hearted and qualified for liberation, take to the path of karma on the order of their father? After giving them confidential teachings I will liberate them. Thus the merciful Nārada spoke enigmatic, metaphorical words to them. O Haryaśvas! How will you create progeny when you have not seen the end of the earth? One should not say that this statement will be fulfilled on its own later (when you are ruling the planet). You are foolish, because you are young (bālakāḥ). Another version has pālakāḥ. Though you are protectors of the people you are foolish. How disappointing (bata)! The sentence continues till verse 9. How will you create, not knowing about that place with one man, a country and a hole. There is a river flowing in both directions. There is an astonishing house made of twenty-five elements. This is Viṣṇu. He is called an astonishing house, because the devotees can remain in the twenty-five elements, since they take on spiritual qualities by the mercy of the Lord. There is a sharp object made of razors and thunderbolts.

Purport

Nārada Muni saw that the boys known as the Haryaśvas were already purified because of living in that holy place and were practically ready for liberation. Why then should they be encouraged to become entangled in family life, which is so dark that once having entered it one cannot leave it? Through this analogy, Nārada Muni asked them to consider why they should follow their father’s order to be entangled in family life. Indirectly, he asked them to find within the cores of their hearts the situation of the Supersoul, Lord Viṣṇu, for then they would truly be experienced. In other words, one who is too involved in his material environment and does not look within the core of his heart is increasingly entangled in the illusory energy. Nārada Muni’s purpose was to get the sons of Prajāpati Dakṣa to divert their attention toward spiritual realization instead of involving themselves in the ordinary but complicated affairs of propagation. The same advice was given by Prahlāda Mahārāja to his father ( Bhāg. 7.5.5 ): tat sādhu manye ’sura-varya dehināṁ sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt hitvātma-pātaṁ gṛham andha-kūpaṁ vanaṁ gato yad dharim āśrayeta In the dark well of family life, one is always full of anxiety because of having accepted a temporary body. If one wants to free himself from this anxiety, one should immediately leave family life and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Vṛndāvana. Nārada Muni advised the Haryaśvas not to enter household life. Since they were already advanced in spiritual knowledge, why should they be entangled in that way?