Shloka 9
Purañjana Goes Hunting — The Chariot of the Body, Violence of Passion, and Return to Conjugal Bondage
तत्र निर्भिन्नगात्राणां चित्रवाजै: शिलीमुखै: । विप्लवोऽभूद्दु:खितानां दु:सह: करुणात्मनाम् ॥ ९ ॥
tatra nirbhinna-gātrāṇāṁ citra-vājaiḥ śilīmukhaiḥ viplavo ’bhūd duḥkhitānāṁ duḥsahaḥ karuṇātmanām
When King Purañjana was hunting in this way, many animals within the forest lost their lives with great pain, being pierced by the sharp arrowheads. Upon seeing these devastating, ghastly activities performed by the King, all the people who were merciful by nature became very unhappy.
When demoniac persons engage in animal-killing, the demigods, or devotees of the Lord, are very much afflicted by this killing. Demoniac civilizations in this modern age maintain various types of slaughterhouses all over the world. Rascal svāmīs and yogīs encourage foolish persons to go on eating flesh and killing animals and at the same time continue their so-called meditation and mystical practices. All these affairs are ghastly, and a compassionate person, namely a devotee of the Lord, becomes very unhappy to see such a sight. The hunting process is also carried on in a different way, as we have already explained. Hunting women, drinking different types of liquor, becoming intoxicated, killing animals and enjoying sex all serve as the basis of modern civilization. Vaiṣṇavas are unhappy to see such a situation in the world, and therefore they are very busy spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
FAQs
This verse portrays intense turmoil and pain as bodies are pierced by arrows, illustrating how conflict and karmic entanglement produce unbearable distress in material life.
In the Purañjana narrative—an allegory of the conditioned soul—such imagery highlights how the living being experiences repeated upheavals and suffering while absorbed in bodily identification.
It encourages vigilance against choices that escalate conflict and suffering, and it inspires turning toward bhakti and inner discipline to transcend the cycle of distress.