Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 37
Nārada Instructs Prācīnabarhiṣat: The Purañjana Narrative Begins
City of Nine Gates
इमां त्वमधितिष्ठस्व पुरीं नवमुखीं विभो । मयोपनीतान् गृह्णान: कामभोगान् शतं समा: ॥ ३७ ॥
imāṁ tvam adhitiṣṭhasva purīṁ nava-mukhīṁ vibho mayopanītān gṛhṇānaḥ kāma-bhogān śataṁ samāḥ
Tuanku yang terkasih, aku baru saja mengatur kota sembilan gerbang ini untukmu agar engkau dapat menikmati segala jenis kepuasan indra. Engkau boleh tinggal di sini selama seratus tahun, dan segala sesuatu untuk kepuasan indramu akan disediakan.
Dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣānāṁ dārāḥ samprāpti-hetavaḥ: the wife is the cause of all kinds of success in religion, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately salvation. When one accepts a wife, it is to be understood that he is being helped in his progressive march toward liberation. In the beginning of life a person is trained as a brahmacārī and is then allowed to marry a suitable girl and become a householder. If one is thoroughly trained in household life, he finds all facilities for human life — eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Everything is there if it is executed according to regulative principles.
FAQs
In the Purañjana allegory, the “city of nine gates” refers to the human body with nine openings, through which the living being engages the world and becomes entangled in sense experience.
It symbolizes a full human lifespan devoted to kāma-bhoga—showing how one may spend life absorbed in enjoyment and thus remain bound to material existence.
Recognize how the body and its “gates” pull the mind outward; redirect the same senses toward devotion—hearing, chanting, and serving—so life is not wasted only in consumption and pleasure-seeking.