प्राचीनबर्हिरुवाच
भगवंस्ते वचोऽस्माभिर्न सम्यगवगम्यते ।
कवयस्तद्विजानन्ति न वयं कर्ममोहिताः ॥१॥

sarveṣām eva jantūnāṁ
satataṁ deha-poṣaṇe
asti prajñā samāyattā
ko viśeṣas tadā nṛṇām
labdhvehānte manuṣyatvaṁ
hitvā dehādy-asad-graham
ātma-sṛtyā vihāyedaṁ
jīvātmā sa viśiṣyate

 sarveṣām - all; eva - certainly; jantūnām - of animals; satatam - always; deha-poṣaṇe - to maintain the body; asti - there is; prajñā - intelligence; samāyattā - resting on; kaḥ - what; viśeṣaḥ - difference; tadā - then; nṛṇām - of the human beings; labdhvā - having attained; iha - here; ante - at the end of many births; manuṣyatvam - a human life; hitvā - after giving up; deha-ādi - in the gross and subtle body; asat-graham - an incorrect conception of life; ātma - of spiritual knowledge; sṛtyā - by the path; vihāya - having abandoned; idam - this body; jīva-ātmā - the individual spirit soul; saḥ - that; viśiṣyate - becomes prominent.


Text

King Prācīnabarhi replied: My dear lord, we could not appreciate completely the purport of your allegorical story of King Purañjana. Actually, those who are perfect in spiritual knowledge can understand, but for us, who are overly attached to fruitive activities, to realize the purpose of your story is very difficult.

Purport

In Bhagavad-gītā (7.13) Lord Kṛṣṇa says:

tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair
 ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
 mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam

“Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.” Generally people are enchanted by the three modes of material nature and therefore practically unable to understand that behind all materialistic activities in the cosmic manifestation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Generally when people are engaged in sinful or pious activities, they are not perfect in knowledge of devotional service. The allegorical story narrated by Nārada Muni to King Barhiṣmān is especially meant to engage conditioned souls in devotional service. The entire story, narrated allegorically, is easily understood by a person in devotional service, but those who are engaged not in devotional service but in sense gratification cannot perfectly understand it. That is admitted by King Barhiṣmān.

This Twenty-ninth Chapter describes that by too much attachment for women one becomes a woman in the next life, but a person who associates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative becomes free from all material attachments and is thus liberated.