Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

<< Canto 5, The Creative Impetus >>
<< 1 - The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata >>

<< VERSE 4 >>

saṁśayo ’yaṁ mahān brahman
dārāgāra-sutādiṣu
saktasya yat siddhir abhūt
kṛṣṇe ca matir acyutā
saṁśayo ’yaṁ mahān brahman
dārāgāra-sutādiṣu
saktasya yat siddhir abhūt
kṛṣṇe ca matir acyutā

WORD BY WORD



TRANSLATION

The King continued: O great brāhmaṇa, this is my great doubt. How was it possible for a person like King Priyavrata, who was so attached to wife, children and home, to achieve the topmost infallible perfection in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

PURPORT

King Parīkṣit wondered how a person so attached to wife, children and home could become so perfectly Kṛṣṇa conscious. Prahlāda Mahārāja has said:

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām


A gṛhavrata, one who has taken a vow to execute family duties, has no chance to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. This is because most gṛhavratas are guided by sense gratification and therefore gradually glide down to the darkest regions of material existence (adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram). How can they possibly become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī to resolve this great doubt.

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