Shloka 10
Nārada Instructs Prācīnabarhiṣat: The Purañjana Narrative Begins
City of Nine Gates
आसीत्पुरञ्जनो नाम राजा राजन् बृहच्छ्रवा: । तस्याविज्ञातनामासीत्सखाविज्ञातचेष्टित: ॥ १० ॥
āsīt purañjano nāma rājā rājan bṛhac-chravāḥ tasyāvijñāta-nāmāsīt sakhāvijñāta-ceṣṭitaḥ
أيها الملك، في سالف الزمان كان هناك ملك يُدعى بورَنجَنا، ذائع الصيت بعظيم أعماله. وكان له صديق اسمه أويجْناتَة «المجهول»، لا يدرك أحد أفعاله.
Every living entity is purañjana. The word puram means “within this body, within this form,” and jana means “living entity.” Thus everyone is purañjana. Every living entity is supposed to be the king of his body because the living entity is given full freedom to use his body as he likes. He usually engages his body for sense gratification, because one who is in the bodily conception of life feels that the ultimate goal of life is to serve the senses. This is the process of karma-kāṇḍa. One who has no inner knowledge, who does not know that he is actually the spirit soul living within the body, who is simply enamored by the dictation of the senses, is called a materialist. A materialistic person interested in sense gratification can be called a purañjana. Because such a materialistic person utilizes his senses according to his whims, he may also be called a king. An irresponsible king takes the royal position to be his personal property and misuses his treasury for sense gratification.
FAQs
In Canto 4, Chapter 25, King Purañjana is introduced as a famous ruler whose story is told in an allegorical way to explain the conditioned soul’s entanglement in material life.
It means “a friend of unknown name,” indicating a mysterious companion whose identity and motives are not clearly understood within the narrative’s allegorical framing.
It encourages introspection about the unseen influences shaping one’s choices—prompting a seeker to become conscious, accountable, and spiritually directed rather than led by unknown impulses.