स च कदाचित्पितृलोककामः सुरवरवनिताक्रीडाचलद्रोण्यां भगवन्तं विश्व
सृजां पतिमाभृतपरिचर्योपकरण आत्म इकाग्र्येण तपस्व्याराधयां बभूव ॥२॥

sa ca kadÄcit pitá¹›loka-kÄmaḥ sura-vara-vanitÄkrÄ«á¸Äcala-droṇyÄá¹ bhagavantaá¹ viÅ›va-sá¹›jÄá¹ patim Äbhá¹›ta-paricaryopakaraṇa ÄtmaikÄgryeṇa tapasvy ÄrÄdhayÄá¹ babhÅ«va

 saḥ - he (King Ä€gnÄ«dhra); ca - also; kadÄcit - once upon a time; pitá¹›loka - the Pitá¹›loka planet; kÄmaḥ - desiring; sura-vara - of the great demigods; vanitÄ - the women; ÄkrÄ«á¸Ä - the place of pastimes; acala-droṇyÄm - in one valley of the Mandara Hill; bhagavantam - unto the most powerful (Lord BrahmÄ); viÅ›va-sá¹›jÄm - of personalities who have created this universe; patim - the master; Äbhá¹›ta - having collected; paricaryÄ-upakaraṇaḥ - ingredients for worship; Ätma - of the mind; eka-agryeṇa - with full attention; tapasvÄ« - one who executes austerity; ÄrÄdhayÄm babhÅ«va - became engaged in worshiping.


Text

Desiring to get a perfect son and become an inhabitant of Pitá¹›loka, MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra once worshiped Lord BrahmÄ, the master of those in charge of material creation. He went to a valley of Mandara Hill, where the damsels of the heavenly planets come down to stroll. There he collected garden flowers and other necessary paraphernalia and then engaged in severe austerities and worship.

Purport

The King became pitá¹›loka-kÄma, or desirous of being transferred to the planet named Pitá¹›loka. Pitá¹›loka is mentioned in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (yÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ). To go to this planet, one needs very good sons who can make offerings to Lord Viṣṇu and then offer the remnants to their forefathers. The purpose of the Å›rÄddha ceremony is to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, so that after pleasing Him one may offer prasÄda to one’s forefathers and in this way make them happy. The inhabitants of Pitá¹›loka are generally men of the karma-kÄṇá¸Ä«ya, or fruitive activities category, who have been transferred there because of their pious activities. They can stay there as long as their descendants offer them viṣṇu-prasÄda. Everyone in heavenly planets such as Pitá¹›loka, however, must return to earth after exhausting the effects of his pious acts. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.21), kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaá¹ viÅ›anti: persons who perform pious acts are transferred to higher planets, but when the effects of their pious acts are over, they are again transferred to earth.

Since MahÄrÄja Priyavrata was a great devotee, how could he have begotten a son who desired to be transferred to Pitá¹›loka? Lord Kṛṣṇa says, pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ: persons who desire to go to Pitá¹›loka are transferred there. Similarly, yÄnti mad-yÄjino ’pi mÄm: persons who desire to be transferred to the spiritual planets, Vaikuṇṭhalokas, can also go there. Since MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra was the son of a Vaiṣṇava, he should have desired to be transferred to the spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Why, then, did he desire to be transferred to Pitá¹›loka? In answer to this, GosvÄmÄ« Giridhara, one of the BhÄgavatam commentators, remarks that Ä€gnÄ«dhra was born when MahÄrÄja Priyavrata was infatuated by lusty desires. This may be accepted as a fact because sons are begotten with different mentalities according to the time of their conception. According to the Vedic system, therefore, before a child is conceived, the garbhÄdhÄna-saá¹skÄra is performed. This ceremony molds the mentality of the father in such a way that when he plants his seed in the womb of his wife, he will beget a child whose mind will be completely saturated with a devotional attitude. At the present moment, however, there are no such garbhÄdhÄna-saá¹skÄras, and therefore people generally have a lusty attitude when they beget children. Especially in this Age of Kali, there are no garbhÄdhÄna ceremonies; everyone enjoys sex with his wife like a cat or dog. Therefore according to Å›Ästric injunctions, almost all the people of this age belong to the śūdra category. Of course, although MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra had a desire to be transferred to Pitá¹›loka, this does not mean that his mentality was that of a śūdra; he was a ká¹£atriya.

MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra desired to be transferred to Pitá¹›loka, and therefore he needed a wife because anyone desiring to be transferred to Pitá¹›loka must leave behind a good son to offer yearly piṇá¸a, or prasÄda from Lord Viṣṇu. To have a good son, MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra wanted a wife from a family of demigods. Therefore he went to Mandara Hill, where the women of the demigods generally come, to worship Lord BrahmÄ. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.12) it is said, kÄá¹…ká¹£antaḥ karmaṇÄá¹ siddhiá¹ yajanta iha devatÄḥ: materialists who want quick results in the material world worship demigods. This is also confirmed in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. ÅšrÄ«-aiÅ›varya-prajepsavaḥ: those who desire beautiful wives, substantial wealth and many sons worship the demigods, but an intelligent devotee, instead of being entangled by the happiness of this material world in the form of a beautiful wife, material opulence and children, desires to be immediately transferred back home, back to Godhead. Thus he worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu.