Shloka 56
Nārada Instructs Prācīnabarhiṣat: The Purañjana Narrative Begins
City of Nine Gates
एवं कर्मसु संसक्त: कामात्मा वञ्चितोऽबुध: । महिषी यद्यदीहेत तत्तदेवान्ववर्तत ॥ ५६ ॥
evaṁ karmasu saṁsaktaḥ kāmātmā vañcito ’budhaḥ mahiṣī yad yad īheta tat tad evānvavartata
Thus entangled in actions and driven by desire, the unwise King Purañjana was cheated under the sway of material intelligence. Whatever the Queen desired, he would follow and fulfill.
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.
FAQs
This verse states that attachment to fruitive work, when driven by lust, makes one foolish and cheated by illusion, causing one to act under the pull of desire rather than true spiritual intelligence.
In the Purañjana allegory, the king represents the conditioned soul and the queen represents the mind/intelligence colored by desire; the point is that the soul becomes a follower of material desire and thus remains bound.
Reduce compulsive, results-driven action by cultivating sādhana—hearing and chanting, mindful discipline, and choosing actions aligned with dharma—so the mind serves the soul’s spiritual aim rather than impulsive wants.