श्रीयुधिष्ठिर उवाच
गृहस्थ एतां पदवीं विधिना येन चाञ्जसा ।
यायाद् देवऋषे ब्रूहि मादृशो गृहमूढधीः ॥१॥

Å›rÄ«-yudhiṣṭhira uvÄca
gá¹›hastha etÄá¹ padavÄ«á¹
vidhinÄ yena cÄñjasÄ
yÄyÄd deva-ṛṣe brÅ«hi
mÄdṛśo gá¹›ha-mÅ«á¸ha-dhīḥ

 Å›rÄ«-yudhiṣṭhiraḥ uvÄca - Yudhiṣṭhira MahÄrÄja said; gá¹›hasthaḥ - a person living with his family; etÄm - this (the process mentioned in the previous chapter); padavÄ«m - position of liberation; vidhinÄ - according to the instructions of Vedic scripture; yena - by which; ca - also; añjasÄ - easily; yÄyÄt - may get; deva-ṛṣe - O great sage among the demigods; brÅ«hi - kindly explain; mÄdṛśaḥ - such as me; gá¹›ha-mÅ«á¸ha-dhīḥ - completely ignorant of the goal of life.


Text

MahÄrÄja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from NÄrada Muni: O my lord, O great sage, kindly explain how we who are staying at home without knowledge of the goal of life may also easily attain liberation, according to the instructions of the Vedas.

Purport

In the previous chapters the great sage NÄrada has explained how a brahmacÄrÄ«, a vÄnaprastha and a sannyÄsÄ« should act. He first explained the dealings of a brahmacÄrÄ«, vÄnaprastha and sannyÄsÄ« because these three ÄÅ›ramas, or statuses of life, are extremely important for fulfillment of the goal of life. One should note that in the brahmacÄrÄ«-ÄÅ›rama, vÄnaprastha-ÄÅ›rama and sannyÄsa-ÄÅ›rama there is no scope for sex life, whereas sex is allowed in gá¹›hastha life under regulations. NÄrada Muni, therefore, first described brahmacarya, vÄnaprastha and sannyÄsa because he wanted to stress that sex is not at all necessary, although one who absolutely requires it is allowed to enter gá¹›hastha life, or household life, which is also regulated by the Å›Ästras and guru. Yudhiṣṭhira MahÄrÄja could understand all this. Therefore, as a gá¹›hastha, he presented himself as gá¹›ha-mÅ«á¸ha-dhīḥ, one who is completely ignorant of the goal of life. A person who remains a householder in family life is certainly ignorant of life’s goal; he is not very much advanced in intelligence. As soon as possible, one should give up his so-called comfortable life at home and prepare to undergo austerity, or tapasya. Tapo divyaá¹ putrakÄ. According to the instructions given by Ṛṣabhadeva to His sons, we should not create a so-called comfortable situation, but must prepare to undergo austerity. This is how a human being should actually live to fulfill life’s ultimate goal.