एवं स्त्रियाश्रमः पुंसश्छिन्नोऽमुत्र च संशयः ॥८५॥
adhyÄtma-pÄroká¹£yam idaá¹
mayÄdhigatam adbhutam
evaá¹ striyÄÅ›ramaḥ puá¹saÅ›
chinno 'mutra ca samśayaḥ
adhyÄtma - spiritual; pÄroká¹£yam - described by authority; idam - this; mayÄ - by me; adhigatam - heard; adbhutam - wonderful; evam - thus; striyÄ - with a wife; ÄÅ›ramaḥ - shelter; puá¹saḥ - of the living entity; chinnaḥ - finished; amutra - about life after death; ca - also; samÅ›ayaḥ - doubt.
The allegory of King Purañjana, described herein according to authority, was heard by me from my spiritual master, and it is full of spiritual knowledge. If one can understand the purpose of this allegory, he will certainly be relieved from the bodily conception and will clearly understand life after death. Although one may not understand what transmigration of the soul actually is, one can fully understand it by studying this narration.
The word striyÄ, meaning “along with the wife,†is significant. The male and female living together constitute the sum and substance of material existence. The attraction between male and female in this material world is very strong. In all species of life the attraction between male and female is the basic principle of existence. The same principle of intermingling is also in human society, but is in a regulative form. Material existence means living together as male and female and being attracted by one another. However, when one fully understands spiritual life, his attraction for the opposite sex is completely vanquished. By such attraction one becomes overly attached to this material world. It is a hard knot within the heart:
puá¹saḥ striyÄ mithunÄ«-bhÄvam etaá¹
tayor mitho há¹›daya-granthim Ähuḥ
ato gá¹›ha-ká¹£etra-sutÄpta-vittair
janasya moho ’yam ahaṠmameti
(BhÄg. 5.5.8)
Everyone comes to this material world attracted to sense gratification, and the hard knot of sense gratification is the attraction between male and female. By this attraction one becomes overly attached to the material world in terms of gá¹›ha-ká¹£etra-suta-Äpta-vitta — that is, home, land, children, friends, money and so forth. Thus one becomes entangled in the bodily conception of “I†and “mine.†However, if one understands the story of King Purañjana and understands how, by sexual attraction, Purañjana became a female in his next life, one will also understand the process of transmigration.
SPECIAL NOTE: According to Vijayadhvaja TÄ«rtha, who belongs to the MadhvÄcÄrya sampradÄya, the first two of the following verses appear after verse 45 of this chapter, and the remaining two verses appear after verse 79.
