ABOUT THE SPEAKERPancaratna Prabhu (ACBSP) first came across ACBS Prabhupada's writing in 1970. He is serving Bhaktivedanta Book Trust as Executive Officer. He became involved with BBT & ISKCON Press in 1972 in New York. In 1976, he took over the development of the BBT in Bengal as his first service with BBT. To read his interview with Friends of the BBT, "CLICK HERE". He also is working on a project "Sambandha Initiative", is focused on developing systematic follow-up with people who receive books from ISKCON distributors or in some other way make a first contact with Krishna consciousness. To address this need Prabhu is looking for volunteers to help. To help, email him. He writes sometimes on his blog to share his writings with anyone interested. He writes almost exclusively about ISKCON and the Hare Krishna Movement Link to Blog. He also writes articles on "ISKCON News" - The News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He lives in Alachua, Florida. He is involved with namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry and has served in many capacities and significant projects across ISKCON. He has started a Facebook group "Prabhupada Initiates", an exclusive group for persons initiated by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.11
sāmudrīḿ devadevoktām
upayeme śatadrutim
yāḿ vīkṣya cāru-sarvāńgīḿ
kiśorīḿ suṣṭhv-alańkṛtām
parikramantīm udvāhe
cakame 'gniḥ śukīm iva
SYNONYMS
sāmudrīm — unto the daughter of the ocean; deva-deva-uktām — being advised by the supreme demigod, Lord Brahmā; upayeme — married; śatadrutim — of the name Śatadruti; yām — whom; vīkṣya — seeing; cāru — very attractive; sarva-ańgīm — all the features of the body; kiśorīm — youthful; suṣṭhu — sufficiently; alańkṛtām — decorated with ornaments; parikramantīm — circumambulating; udvāhe — in the marriage ceremony; cakame — being attracted; agniḥ — the fire-god; śukīm — unto Śukī; iva — like.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Barhiṣat — henceforward known as Prācīnabarhi — was ordered by the supreme demigod Lord Brahmā to marry the daughter of the ocean named Śatadruti. Her bodily features were completely beautiful, and she was very young. She was decorated with the proper garments, and when she came into the marriage arena and began circumambulating it, the fire-god Agni became so attracted to her that he desired her company, exactly as he had formerly desired to enjoy Śukī.
PURPORT
In this verse the word suṣṭhv-alańkṛtām is significant. According to the Vedic system, when a girl is married, she is very profusely and gorgeously decorated with costly saris and jewelry, and during the marriage ceremony the bride circumambulates the bridegroom seven times. After this, the bridegroom and bride look at one another and become attracted for life. When the bridegroom finds the bride very beautiful, the attraction between them immediately becomes very strongly fixed. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, men and women are naturally attracted to one another, and when they are united by marriage that attraction becomes very strong. Being so strongly attracted, the bridegroom attempts to set up a nice homestead and eventually a good field for producing grains. Then children come, then friends and then wealth. In this way the male becomes more and more entangled in the material conceptions of life, and he begins to think, "This is mine," and"it is I who am acting." In this way the illusion of material existence is perpetuated.
The words śukīm iva are also significant, for the fire-god Agni became attracted by the beauty of Śatadruti while she was circumambulating the bridegroom Prācīnabarhi, just as he had previously been attracted to the beauty of Śukī, the wife of Saptarṣi. When the fire-god had been present long ago at the assembly of Saptarṣi, he was attracted by the beauty of Śukī when she was circumambulating in the same way. Agni's wife, named Svāhā, took the form of Śukī and enjoyed sex life with Agni. Not only the fire-god Agni but the heavenly god Indra and sometimes even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva — all very highly situated demigods — are subject to being attracted by sex at any time. The sex drive is so strong in the living entities that the whole material world is running on sex attraction only, and it is due to sex attraction that one remains in the material world and is obliged to accept different types of bodies. The attraction of sex life is more clearly explained in the next verse.
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H.G. Pancaratna Das Prabhu speaks on S.B. 4.24.11
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