Shloka 9
Purañjana Captivated by Lust; Time (Caṇḍavega) and Old Age (Kālakanyā) Begin the Siege
पुत्राणां चाभवन्पुत्रा एकैकस्य शतं शतम् । यैर्वै पौरञ्जनो वंश: पञ्चालेषु समेधित: ॥ ९ ॥
putrāṇāṁ cābhavan putrā ekaikasya śataṁ śatam yair vai paurañjano vaṁśaḥ pañcāleṣu samedhitaḥ
पुत्राणां च एकैकस्य शतं शतं पुत्रा अभवन्; तैः पौरञ्जनो वंशः पञ्चालेषु समेधितः।
We must remember that Purañjana is the living entity, and the city Pañcāla is the body. The body is the field of activity for the living entity, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā: kṣetra-kṣetrajña. There are two constituents: one is the living entity ( kṣetra-jña ), and the other is the body of the living entity ( kṣetra ). Any living entity can know that he is covered by the body if he only contemplates the body a little bit. Just with a little contemplation he can come to understand that the body is his possession. One can understand this by practical experience and by the authority of the śāstras. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.13) it is said, dehino ’smin yathā dehe: the proprietor of the body, the soul, is within the body. The body is taken as the pañcāla-deśa, or the field of activities wherein the living entity can enjoy the senses in their relationship to the five sense objects, namely gandha, rasa, rūpa, sparśa and śabda — that is, sense objects made out of earth, water, fire, air and sky. Within this material world, covered by the material body of subtle and gross matter, every living entity creates actions and reactions, which are herein known allegorically as sons and grandsons. There are two kinds of actions and reactions — namely pious and impious. In this way our material existence becomes coated by different actions and reactions. In this regard, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura states:
FAQs
This verse states that Purañjana’s sons each produced a hundred sons, by which his dynasty became greatly expanded among the Pañcālas.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating this history to King Parīkṣit as part of the Purañjana allegory in the Fourth Canto.
Worldly prosperity and expanding family lines can grow immensely, yet the Bhagavatam uses such growth to remind the reader not to lose sight of the soul’s real welfare—devotion and liberation beyond material entanglement.