Shloka 5
The Fall of Purañjana and the Supersoul as the Eternal Friend
Purañjana-Upākhyāna Culmination
तस्यां प्रपीड्यमानायामभिमानी पुरञ्जन: । अवापोरुविधांस्तापान् कुटुम्बी ममताकुल: ॥ ५ ॥
tasyāṁ prapīḍyamānāyām abhimānī purañjanaḥ avāporu-vidhāṁs tāpān kuṭumbī mamatākulaḥ
Thus, as the city was being sorely oppressed, the proud King Purañjana—bewildered by family attachment and the sense of “mine”—fell into many kinds of distress under the assault of the Yavana king and Kālakanyā.
When we refer to the body, we include the external gross body with its various limbs, as well as the mind, intelligence and ego. In old age these all become weak when they are attacked by different diseases. The proprietor of the body, the living soul, becomes very sad at not being able to use the field of activities properly. In Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly explained that the living entity is the proprietor of this body ( kṣetra-jña ) and that the body is the field of activities ( kṣetra ). When a field is overgrown with thorns and weeds, it becomes very difficult for the owner to work it. That is the position of the spirit soul when the body itself becomes a burden due to disease. Extra burdens are placed on the body in the form of anxiety and general deterioration of the bodily functions.
FAQs
This verse states that when one is agitated by “mine-ness” and family attachment, one undergoes many kinds of burning miseries—showing mamatā as a direct cause of bondage and distress.
Purañjana is an allegorical figure representing the conditioned soul; he is called proud and family-absorbed to highlight how ego and identification with home and relatives intensify one’s experience of suffering.
Reduce the “mine” mentality by practicing devotion, gratitude, and responsible detachment—doing duties without egoistic ownership—so hardships don’t multiply through anxiety and over-identification.