Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 19
Yayāti’s Renunciation: The Allegory of the He-Goat and She-Goat
तस्मादेतामहं त्यक्त्वा ब्रह्मण्यध्याय मानसम् । निर्द्वन्द्वो निरहङ्कारश्चरिष्यामि मृगै: सह ॥ १९ ॥
tasmād etām ahaṁ tyaktvā brahmaṇy adhyāya mānasam nirdvandvo nirahaṅkāraś cariṣyāmi mṛgaiḥ saha
ດັ່ງນັ້ນ ບັດນີ້ຂ້ອຍຈະລະຄວາມປາຖະນາເຫຼົ່ານີ້ທັງໝົດ ແລະຕັ້ງໃຈພິຈາລະນາໃນພຣະຜູ້ເປັນເຈົ້າສູງສຸດ (ປຣະມາຕະມັນ). ປາດສະຈາກຄູ່ຕໍ່ຕ້ານ ແລະໄຮ້ອະຫັງການ ຂ້ອຍຈະເດີນທາງໃນປ່າກັບສັດທັງຫຼາຍ.
To go to the forest and live there with the animals, meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the only means by which to give up lusty desires. Unless one gives up such desires, one’s mind cannot be freed from material contamination. Therefore, if one is at all interested in being freed from the bondage of repeated birth, death, old age and disease, after a certain age one must go to the forest. Pañcāśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet . After fifty years of age, one should voluntarily give up family life and go to the forest. The best forest is Vṛndāvana, where one need not live with the animals but can associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who never leaves Vṛndāvana. Cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Vṛndāvana is the best means of being liberated from material bondage, for in Vṛndāvana one can automatically meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. Vṛndāvana has many temples, and in one or more of these temples one may see the form of the Supreme Lord as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma and meditate upon this form. As expressed here by the words brahmaṇy adhyāya, one should concentrate one’s mind upon the Supreme Lord, Parabrahman. This Parabrahman is Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā ( paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān ). Kṛṣṇa and His abode, Vṛndāvana, are not different. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanam. Vṛndāvana is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, if one somehow or other gets the opportunity to live in Vṛndāvana, and if one is not a pretender but simply lives in Vṛndāvana and concentrates his mind upon Kṛṣṇa, one is liberated from material bondage. One’s mind is not purified, however, even in Vṛndāvana, if one is agitated by lusty desires. One should not live in Vṛndāvana and commit offenses, for a life of offenses in Vṛndāvana is no better than the lives of the monkeys and hogs there. Many monkeys and hogs live in Vṛndāvana, and they are concerned with their sexual desires. Men who have gone to Vṛndāvana but who still hanker for sex should immediately leave Vṛndāvana and stop their grievous offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord. There are many misguided men who live in Vṛndāvana to satisfy their sexual desires, but they are certainly no better than the monkeys and hogs. Those who are under the control of māyā, and specifically under the control of lusty desires, are called māyā-mṛga. Indeed, everyone in the conditional stage of material life is a māyā-mṛga. It is said, māyā-mṛgaṁ dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa to show His causeless mercy to the māyā-mṛgas, the people of this material world, who suffer because of lusty desires. One should follow the principles of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and always think of Kṛṣṇa in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then one will be eligible to live in Vṛndāvana, and his life will be successful.
FAQs
This verse teaches that freedom from dualities comes through inner renunciation—giving up attachment and mentally absorbing oneself in Brahman, while dropping the false ego.
Yayāti expresses his decision to withdraw from royal life and worldly entanglement, choosing a simple, forest-like existence to cultivate detachment and spiritual absorption.
Practice humility and non-possessiveness: reduce identity-based pride, simplify desires, and regularly re-center the mind on the Divine rather than on status, control, or consumption.