Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 10
Purañjana Goes Hunting — The Chariot of the Body, Violence of Passion, and Return to Conjugal Bondage
शशान् वराहान् महिषान् गवयान् रुरुशल्यकान् । मेध्यानन्यांश्च विविधान् विनिघ्नन् श्रममध्यगात् ॥ १० ॥
śaśān varāhān mahiṣān gavayān ruru-śalyakān medhyān anyāṁś ca vividhān vinighnan śramam adhyagāt
اس طرح بادشاہ پورنجن نے بہت سے جانوروں کو ہلاک کیا، جن میں خرگوش، سؤر، بھینس، جنگلی ہرن، سیہہ اور دیگر شکاری جانور شامل تھے۔ مارتے مارتے بادشاہ بہت تھک گیا۔
A person in the mode of ignorance commits many sinful activities. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that a man becomes sinful out of ignorance only. The resultant effect of sinful life is suffering. Those who are not in knowledge, who commit violations of the standard laws, are subject to be punished under criminal laws. Similarly, the laws of nature are very stringent. If a child touches fire without knowing the effect, he must be burned, even though he is only a child. If a child violates the law of nature, there is no compassion. Only through ignorance does a person violate the laws of nature, and when he comes to knowledge he does not commit any more sinful acts.
FAQs
This verse portrays hunting as a strenuous, binding activity: the killer becomes fatigued, indicating the draining nature of sense-driven violence and karmic entanglement.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the actor within the allegory of King Purañjana—symbolizing the conditioned soul absorbed in outward pursuits—engaging in hunting and becoming exhausted.
Relentless pursuit of sense pleasure and harm to other beings leads to inner fatigue and further bondage; redirecting energy toward sādhana and compassion brings clarity and freedom.