Shloka 33
The Appearance of Lord Viṣṇu (Kṛṣṇa) and the Divine Exchange with Yoga-māyā
युवां वै ब्रह्मणादिष्टौ प्रजासर्गे यदा तत: । सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं तेपाथे परमं तप: ॥ ३३ ॥
yuvāṁ vai brahmaṇādiṣṭau prajā-sarge yadā tataḥ sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ tepāthe paramaṁ tapaḥ
When Lord Brahmā ordered you both to create progeny, you first restrained the host of senses and performed the supreme austerity.
Here is an instruction about how to use one’s senses to create progeny. According to Vedic principles, before creating progeny one must fully control the senses. This control takes place through the garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. In India there is great agitation for birth control in various mechanical ways, but birth cannot be mechanically controlled. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (13.9), janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam: birth, death, old age and disease are certainly the primary distresses of the material world. People are trying to control birth, but they are not able to control death; and if one cannot control death, one cannot control birth either. In other words, artificially controlling birth is not any more feasible than artificially controlling death.
FAQs
This verse teaches that before undertaking great responsibilities, one should restrain the senses and perform sincere austerity; self-control is presented as a foundation for higher spiritual and dharmic work.
In the Krishna-birth chapter, Śukadeva highlights the principle that divine purposes unfold through purity and discipline—showing that even cosmic duties begin with sense-restraint and tapasya under higher guidance.
Practice regulated habits—moderation in food, speech, and media; daily sādhanā like japa and study—so responsibilities are carried out with clarity, steadiness, and devotion rather than impulse.