आत्मतुल्यनामानि यथाभागं जम्बूद्वीपवर्षाणि बुभुजुः ॥२१॥
ÄgnÄ«dhra-sutÄs te mÄtur anugrahÄd autpattikenaiva saá¹hanana-balopetÄḥ pitrÄ vibhaktÄ Ätma-tulya-nÄmÄni yathÄ-bhÄgaá¹ jambÅ«dvÄ«pa-vará¹£Äṇi bubhujuḥ
ÄgnÄ«dhra-sutÄḥ - the sons of MahÄrÄja Ä€gnÄ«dhra; te - they; mÄtuḥ - of the mother; anugrahÄt - by the mercy or by drinking the breast milk; autpattikena - naturally; eva - certainly; saá¹hanana - well-built body; bala - strength; upetÄḥ - obtained; pitrÄ - by the father; vibhaktÄḥ - divided; Ätma-tulya - following their own; nÄmÄni - possessing names; yathÄ-bhÄgam - divided properly; jambÅ«dvÄ«pa-vará¹£Äṇi - different parts of JambÅ«dvÄ«pa (probably Asia and Europe combined together); bubhujuḥ - ruled.
Because of drinking the breast milk of their mother, the nine sons of Āgnīdhra naturally had strong, well-built bodies. Their father gave them each a kingdom in a different part of Jambūdvīpa. The kingdoms were named according to the names of the sons. Thus the sons of Āgnīdhra ruled the kingdoms they received from their father.
The ÄcÄryas specifically mention that in this verse the words mÄtuḥ anugrahÄt (“by the mercy of their motherâ€) refer to the breast milk of their mother. In India it is a common belief that if a baby is fed his mother’s milk for at least six months, his body will be very strong. Besides that, it is mentioned herein that all the sons of Ä€gnÄ«dhra were endowed with the nature of their mother. Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (1.40) also declares, strÄ«á¹£u duá¹£á¹Äsu vÄrṣṇeya jÄyate varṇa-saá¹…karaḥ: when women are polluted, varṇa-saá¹…kara, unqualified children, are generated, and when the varṇa-saá¹…kara population increases, the entire world becomes hellish. Therefore, according to Manu-saá¹hitÄ, a woman needs a great deal of protection in order to remain pure and chaste so that her children can be fully engaged for the benefit of human society.
