Shloka 25
Rantideva’s Supreme Charity and the Hastī Lineage
Hastināpura and Pañcāla Origins
स कृत्व्यां शुककन्यायां ब्रह्मदत्तमजीजनत् । योगी स गवि भार्यायां विष्वक्सेनमधात् सुतम् ॥ २५ ॥
sa kṛtvyāṁ śuka-kanyāyāṁ brahmadattam ajījanat yogī sa gavi bhāryāyāṁ viṣvaksenam adhāt sutam
King Nīpa begot a son named Brahmadatta through his wife Kṛtvī, the daughter of Śuka. Brahmadatta, a great yogī, then begot a son named Viṣvaksena through his wife Sarasvatī (Gavī).
The Śuka mentioned here is different from the Śukadeva Gosvāmī who spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, is described in great detail in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa. There it is said that Vyāsadeva maintained the daughter of Jābāli as his wife and that after they performed penances together for many years, he placed his seed in her womb. The child remained in the womb of his mother for twelve years, and when the father asked the son to come out, the son replied that he would not come out unless he were completely liberated from the influence of māyā. Vyāsadeva then assured the child that he would not be influenced by māyā, but the child did not believe his father, for the father was still attached to his wife and children. Vyāsadeva then went to Dvārakā and informed the Personality of Godhead about his problem, and the Personality of Godhead, at Vyāsadeva’s request, went to Vyāsadeva’s cottage, where He assured the child in the womb that he would not be influenced by māyā. Thus assured, the child came out, but he immediately went away as a parivrājakācārya. When the father, very much aggrieved, began to follow his saintly boy, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the boy created a duplicate Śukadeva, who later entered family life. Therefore, the śuka-kanyā, or daughter of Śukadeva, mentioned in this verse is the daughter of the duplicate or imitation Śukadeva. The original Śukadeva was a lifelong brahmacārī.
FAQs
They are sons born in the dynasty narration of Canto 9: Brahmadatta is born from Kṛtvī (daughter of Śuka), and Viṣvaksena is born from the wife Gāvī, as Śukadeva Gosvāmī continues the genealogical account.
Canto 9 records royal lineages to show how dharma is carried through saintly kings and families, setting historical and moral context for later divine appearances and teachings within the Purāṇic narrative.
The verse implies that true yoga can be present even within family life—when one lives with discipline and dharma—showing that spiritual identity is based on consciousness and conduct, not merely external renunciation.