Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.25.56

evaḿ karmasu saḿsaktaḥ

kāmātmā vañcito 'budhaḥ

mahiṣī yad yad īheta

tat tad evānvavartata

SYNONYMS

evam — thus; karmasu — in fruitive activities; saḿsaktaḥ — being too much attached; kāma-ātmā — lusty; vañcitaḥ — cheated; abudhaḥ — less intelligent; mahiṣī — the Queen; yat yat — whatsoever; īheta — she would desire; tat tat — all of that; eva — certainly; anvavartata — he followed.

TRANSLATION

Being thus entangled in different types of mental concoction and engaged in fruitive activities, King Purañjana came completely under the control of material intelligence and was thus cheated. Indeed, he used to fulfill all the desires of his wife, the Queen.

PURPORT

When a living entity is in such bewilderment that he is under the control of his wife, or material intelligence, he has to satisfy the intelligence of his so-called wife and act exactly according to her dictates. Various śāstras advise that for material convenience one should keep his wife always satisfied by giving her ornaments and by following her instructions. In this way there will be no trouble in family life. Therefore for one's own social benefit, one is advised to keep his wife satisfied. In this way, when one becomes the servant of his wife, he must act according to the desires of his wife. Thus one becomes more and more entangled. In Bengal it is said that if one becomes an obedient servant of his wife, he loses all reputation. However, the difficulty is that unless one becomes a most obedient servant of his wife, family life becomes disturbed. In the Western countries this disturbance gives rise to the divorce law, and in Eastern countries like India there is separation. Now this disturbance is confirmed by the new introduction of the divorce law in India. Within the heart, the mind is acting, thinking, feeling and willing, and falling under the control of one's wife is the same as falling under the control of material intelligence. Thus one begets children by his wife and becomes entangled in so many activities under the control of mental concoctions.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness