Canto & Chapters
The Creative Impetus (26 Chapters)
Chapter 141v
The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata
Chapter 223v
The Activities of Mahārāja Āgnīdhra
Chapter 319v
Ṛṣabhadeva’s Appearance in the Womb of Merudevī, the Wife of King Nābhi
Chapter 418v
The Characteristics of Ṛṣabhadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Chapter 531v
Lord Ṛṣabhadeva’s Teachings to His Sons
Chapter 619v
The Activities of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva
Chapter 714v
The Activities of King Bharata
Chapter 831v
A Description of the Character of Bharata Mahārāja
Chapter 918v
The Supreme Character of Jaḍa Bharata
Chapter 1025v
The Discussion Between Jaḍa Bharata and Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa
Chapter 1116v
Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa
Chapter 1215v
Conversation Between Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata
Chapter 1326v
Further Talks Between King Rahūgaṇa and Jaḍa Bharata
Chapter 1446v
The Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment
Chapter 1515v
The Glories of the Descendants of King Priyavrata
Chapter 1627v
A Description of Jambūdvīpa
Chapter 1723v
The Descent of the River Ganges
Chapter 1839v
The Prayers Offered to the Lord by the Residents of Jambūdvīpa
Chapter 1929v
A Description of the Island of Jambūdvīpa
Chapter 2045v
Studying the Structure of the Universe
Chapter 2118v
The Movements of the Sun
Chapter 2217v
The Orbits of the Planets
Chapter 239v
The Śiśumāra Planetary Systems
Chapter 2431v
The Subterranean Heavenly Planets
Chapter 2515v
The Glories of Lord Ananta
Chapter 2640v
A Description of the Hellish Planets
Canto 5, Chapter 1

The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata

Verse 38 (SB 5.1.38)
SB 5.1.38 • मूल श्लोक

परदेवताप्रसादाधिगतात्मप्रत्यवमर्शेनानुप्रवृत्तेभ्य: पुत्रेभ्य इमां यथादायं विभज्य भुक्तभोगां च महिषीं मृतकमिव सह महाविभूतिमपहाय स्वयं निहितनिर्वेदो हृदि गृहीतहरिविहारानुभावो भगवतो नारदस्य पदवीं पुनरेवानुससार ॥ ३८ ॥

Transliteration

para-devatā-prasādādhigatātma-pratyavamarśenānupravṛttebhyaḥ putrebhya imāṁ yathā-dāyaṁ vibhajya bhukta-bhogāṁ ca mahiṣīṁ mṛtakam iva saha mahā-vibhūtim apahāya svayaṁ nihita-nirvedo hṛdi gṛhīta-hari-vihārānubhāvo bhagavato nāradasya padavīṁ punar evānusasāra.

Synonyms (Word-for-Word)

para-devatā — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prasāda — by the mercy; adhigata — obtained; ātma-pratyavamarśena — by self-realization; anupravṛttebhyaḥ — who exactly follow his path; putrebhyaḥ — unto his sons; imām — this earth; yathā-dāyam — exactly according to the inheritance; vibhajya — dividing; bhukta-bhogām — whom he enjoyed in so many ways; ca — also; mahiṣīm — the Queen; mṛtakam iva — exactly like a dead body; saha — with; mahā-vibhūtim — great opulence; apahāya — giving up; svayam — himself; nihita — perfectly taken to; nirvedaḥ — renunciation; hṛdi — in the heart; gṛhīta — accepted; hari — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vihāra — pastimes; anubhāvaḥ — in such an attitude; bhagavataḥ — of the great saintly person; nāradasya — of Saint Nārada; padavīm — position; punaḥ — again; eva — certainly; anusasāra — began to follow.

Translation

“By the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahārāja Priyavrata reawakened to his senses. He divided all his earthly possessions among his obedient sons. He gave up everything, including his wife, with whom he had enjoyed so much sense gratification, and his great and opulent kingdom, and he completely renounced all attachment. His heart, having been cleansed, became a place of pastimes for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he was able to return to the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual life, and resume the position he had attained by the grace of the great saint Nārada.”

Bhaktivedanta Purport

By Śrīla Prabhupāda
As enunciated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikṣāṣṭaka, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam: as soon as one’s heart is cleansed, the blazing fire of material existence is immediately extinguished. Our hearts are meant for the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that one should be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, thinking of Kṛṣṇa, as He Himself advises (man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru). This should be our only business. One whose heart is not clean cannot think of the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord, but if one can once again place the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his heart, he very easily becomes qualified to renounce material attachment. Māyāvādī philosophers, yogīs and jñānīs try to give up this material world simply by saying, brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā: “This world is false. There is no use of it. Let us take to Brahman.” Such theoretical knowledge will not help us. If we believe that Brahman is the real truth, we have to place within our hearts the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as Mahārāja Ambarīṣa did (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ). One has to fix the lotus feet of the Lord within his heart. Then he gets the strength to be freed from material entanglement. Mahārāja Priyavrata was able to give up his opulent kingdom, and he also gave up the association of his beautiful wife as if she were a dead body. However beautiful one’s wife and however attractive her bodily features, one is no longer interested in her when her body is dead. We praise a beautiful woman for her body, but that same body, when bereft of a spirit soul, is no longer interesting to any lusty man. Mahārāja Priyavrata was so strong, by the grace of the Lord, that even though his beautiful wife was alive, he could give up her association exactly like one who is forced to give up the association of a dead wife. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁkavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmayemama janmani janmanīśvarebhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi “O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.” For one who desires to advance in spiritual life, attachment to material opulence and attachment to a beautiful wife are two great impediments. Such attachments are condemned even more than suicide. Therefore anyone desiring to cross beyond material nescience must, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, be freed from attachment to women and money. When Mahārāja Priyavrata became completely free from these attachments, he could again peacefully follow the principles instructed by the great sage Nārada.