Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 25: The Descriptions of the Characteristics of King Purañjana |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.38
kaḿ nu tvad-anyaḿ ramaye
hy arati-jñam akovidam
asamparāyābhimukham
aśvastana-vidaḿ paśum
SYNONYMS
kam — unto whom; nu — then; tvat — than you; anyam — other; ramaye — I shall allow to enjoy; hi — certainly; arati-jñam — without knowledge of sex enjoyment; akovidam — therefore almost foolish; asamparāya — without knowledge of the next life; abhimukham — looking forward; aśvastana-vidam — one who does not know what is happening next; paśum — like animals.
TRANSLATION
How can I expect to unite with others, who are neither conversant about sex nor capable of knowing how to enjoy life while living or after death? Such foolish persons are like animals because they do not know the process of sense enjoyment in this life and after death.
PURPORT
Since there are 8,400,000 species of life, there are also many different living conditions. In the lower grades of life (in plant and tree life) there is no system for sexual intercourse. In the upper grades (in the life of birds and bees) there is sex, but the insects and animals do not know how to actually enjoy sex life. In the human form of life, however, there is full knowledge of how to enjoy sex. Indeed, there are many so-called philosophers who give directions on how to enjoy sex life. There is even a science called kāma-śāstra, which is the science of sex. In human life there are also such divisions as brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. There is no sex life except in the gṛhastha, or householder, āśrama. The brahmacārī is not allowed any sex, a vānaprastha voluntarily refrains from sex, and the sannyāsī is completely renounced. The karmīs do not practice brahmacarya, vānaprastha or sannyāsa life, for they are very much interested in gṛhastha life. In other words, a human being is very much materially inclined. Indeed, all living entities are materially inclined. They prefer gṛhastha life because there is a concession for sex. The karmīs think the other statuses of life are worse than animal life, for animals also have sex, whereas the brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sannyāsī completely give up sex. The karmīs, therefore, abhor these orders of spiritual life.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness