Shloka 50
The Fall of Purañjana and the Supersoul as the Eternal Friend
Purañjana-Upākhyāna Culmination
चितिं दारुमयीं चित्वा तस्यां पत्यु: कलेवरम् । आदीप्य चानुमरणे विलपन्ती मनो दधे ॥ ५० ॥
citiṁ dārumayīṁ citvā tasyāṁ patyuḥ kalevaram ādīpya cānumaraṇe vilapantī mano dadhe
پھر اس نے لکڑیوں کی چتا تیار کی اور اس پر شوہر کا جسد رکھا۔ چتا کو آگ لگا کر وہ سخت نوحہ کرتی ہوئی شوہر کے ساتھ آگ میں داخل ہو کر جان دینے کا ارادہ باندھنے لگی۔
It is the long-standing tradition of the Vedic system that a faithful wife dies along with her husband. This is called saha-maraṇa. In India this system was prevalent even to the date of British occupation. At that time, however, a wife who did not wish to die with her husband was sometimes forced to do so by her relatives. Formerly that was not the case — the wife used to enter the fire voluntarily. The British government stopped this practice, considering it inhuman. However, from the early history of India we find that when Mahārāja Pāṇḍu died, he was survived by two wives — Mādrī and Kuntī. The question was whether both should die or one should die. After the death of Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, his wives settled that one should remain and the other should go. Mādrī would perish with her husband in the fire, and Kuntī would remain to take charge of the five Pāṇḍava children. Even as late as 1936 we saw a devoted wife voluntarily enter the fire of her husband.
FAQs
This verse shows how intense attachment and lamentation can bind the mind to bodily relationships, shaping one’s consciousness at death rather than turning it toward the Supreme.
In the narrative, overwhelmed by grief and identification with her husband, she fixed her mind on dying after him—illustrating the Bhagavatam’s theme that material attachment drives drastic actions and future destiny.
Cultivate remembrance of God and inner detachment while honoring relationships—so that in crisis or loss, the mind turns toward devotion rather than being consumed by despair.