Lord Provides Us With Imperishable Knowledge

2010-11-04
Srimad Bhagavatam 09.06.01-02 - Lord Provides Us With Imperishable Knowledge (download mp3)
by Dayal Chandra Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net




 SB 9.6.1
sri-suka uvaca
virupah ketumaƱ chambhur
ambarisa-sutas trayah
virupat prsadasvo 'bhut
tat-putras tu rathitarah

Translation:
Sukadeva Gosvami said: O Maharaja Pariksit, Ambarisa had three sons, named Virupa, Ketuman and Sambhu. From Virupa came a son named Prsadasva, and from Prsadasva came a son named Rathitara.

SB 9.6.2
rathitarasyaprajasya
bharyayam tantave 'rthitah
angira janayam asa
brahma-varcasvinah sutan

Translation:
Rathitara had no sons, and therefore he requested the great sage Angira to beget sons for him. Because of this request, Angira begot sons in the womb of Rathitara's wife. All these sons were born with brahminical prowess.

Purport:
In the Vedic age a man was sometimes called upon to beget sons in the womb of a lesser man's wife for the sake of better progeny. In such an instance, the woman is compared to an agricultural field. A person possessing an agricultural field may employ another person to produce food grains from it, but because the grains are produced from the land, they are considered the property of the owner of the land. Similarly, a woman was sometimes allowed to be impregnated by someone other than her husband, but the sons born of her would then become her husband's sons. Such sons were called ksetra jata. Because Rathitara had no sons, he took advantage of this method.