Shloka 11
Purañjana Goes Hunting — The Chariot of the Body, Violence of Passion, and Return to Conjugal Bondage
तत: क्षुत्तृट्परिश्रान्तो निवृत्तो गृहमेयिवान् । कृतस्नानोचिताहार: संविवेश गतक्लम: ॥ ११ ॥
tataḥ kṣut-tṛṭ-pariśrānto nivṛtto gṛham eyivān kṛta-snānocitāhāraḥ saṁviveśa gata-klamaḥ
After this, the King, very much fatigued, hungry and thirsty, returned to his royal palace. After returning, he took a bath and had an appropriate dinner. Then he took rest and thus became freed from all restlessness.
A materialistic person works throughout the whole week very, very hard. He is always asking, “Where is money? Where is money?” Then, at the end of the week, he wants to retire from these activities and go to some secluded place to rest. King Purañjana returned to his home because he was very much fatigued from hunting animals in the forest. In this way his conscience came to stop him from committing further sinful activities and make him return home. In Bhagavad-gītā materialistic persons are described as duṣkṛtinaḥ, which indicates those who are always engaged in sinful activities. When a person comes to his senses and understands how he is engaging in sinful activities, he returns to his conscience, which is herein figuratively described as the palace. Generally a materialistic person is infected by the material modes of passion and ignorance. The results of passion and ignorance are lust and greed. In the life of a materialist, activity means working in lust and greed. However, when he comes to his senses, he wants to retire. According to Vedic civilization, such retirement is positively recommended, and this portion of life is called vānaprastha. Retirement is absolutely necessary for a materialist who wants to become free from the activities of a sinful life.
FAQs
This verse shows the living being’s recurring bodily demands—hunger, thirst, fatigue—and how one becomes absorbed in maintaining the body, a key point in the allegory about material identification.
To illustrate ordinary material life: after sense activity one seeks relief through bodily routines, highlighting how the conditioned soul cycles through work, consumption, and rest.
Maintain the body responsibly (food, hygiene, rest) but remember you are not the body—use renewed energy for dharma and bhakti rather than deeper sense-centered living.