Shloka 26
Pṛthu Mahārāja’s Renunciation, Austerities, Departure, and the Glory of Hearing His History
सैषा नूनं व्रजत्यूर्ध्वमनु वैन्यं पतिं सती । पश्यतास्मानतीत्यार्चिर्दुर्विभाव्येन कर्मणा ॥ २६ ॥
saiṣā nūnaṁ vrajaty ūrdhvam anu vainyaṁ patiṁ satī paśyatāsmān atītyārcir durvibhāvyena karmaṇā
وتابعت زوجات الديڤات: «انظرن! إن أَرْچي هذه، المرأة العفيفة، بقوة أعمالها الصالحة التي لا تُدرك، ما تزال تتبع زوجها ڤاينيا بريثو صعودًا إلى العلا، حتى تجاوزت مدى أبصارنا».
Both Pṛthu Mahārāja’s airplane and the airplane carrying Queen Arci were passing out of the vision of the ladies of the higher planetary systems. These ladies were simply astonished to see how Pṛthu Mahārāja and his wife achieved such an exalted position. Although they were the wives of the denizens of the higher planetary system and Pṛthu Mahārāja was an inhabitant of an inferior planetary system (the earth), the King, along with his wife, passed beyond the realms of the demigods and went upward to Vaikuṇṭhaloka. The word ūrdhvam, “upward,” is significant here, for the ladies speaking were from the higher planetary systems, which include the moon, sun and Venus, up to Brahmaloka, or the highest planet. Beyond Brahmaloka is the spiritual sky, and in that spiritual sky there are innumerable Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Thus the word ūrdhvam indicates that the Vaikuṇṭha planets are beyond or above these material planets, and it was to these Vaikuṇṭha planets that Pṛthu Mahārāja and his wife were going. This also indicates that when Pṛthu Mahārāja and his wife, Arci, abandoned their material bodies in the material fire, they immediately developed their spiritual bodies and entered into spiritual airplanes, which could penetrate the material elements and reach the spiritual sky. Since they were carried by two separate airplanes, it may be concluded that even after being burned in the funeral pyre they remained separate, individual persons. In other words, they never lost their identity or became void, as imagined by the impersonalists.
FAQs
This verse portrays Queen Arci as satī—steadfast in virtue and devotion—who follows King Pṛthu’s path upward, indicating spiritual alignment and shared destiny rooted in dharma and devotion.
Because her transition is swift and extraordinary—like a flame surpassing onlookers—suggesting a spiritually potent act arising from deep austerity, purity, and devotion beyond ordinary perception.
Cultivate fidelity to dharma and devotion within relationships—supporting one another’s spiritual growth—so that life’s duties become a pathway toward higher consciousness rather than mere worldly attachment.