Text 27]
Dhṛtarāṣṭra Quits Home
693
TRANSLATION
He is called undisturbed who goes to an unknown, remote place and, freed from all obligations, quits his material body when it has become useless.
PURPORT
Narottama Dāsa Thākur, a great devotee and  ācārya  of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sect, has sung: “My Lord, I have simply wasted my life. Having obtained the human body, I have neglected to worship Your Lordship, and therefore willingly I have drunk poison.” In other words, the human body is especially meant for cultivating knowledge of devotional service of the Lord, without which life becomes full of anxieties and miserable conditions. Therefore, one who has spoiled his life without such cultural activities is advised to leave home without knowledge of friends and relatives and, being thus freed from all obligations of family, society, country, etc., give up the body at some unknown destination so that others may not know where and how he has met his death.  Dhīra  means one who is not disturbed, even when there is sufficient provocation. One cannot give up a comfortable family life due to his affectionate relation with wife and children. Self-realization is obstructed by such undue affection for family, and if anyone is at all able to forget such a relation, he is called the undisturbed, or  dhīra . This is, however, the path of renunciation based on a frustrated life, but stabilization of such renunciation is possible only by association with bona fide saints and self-realized souls by which one can be engaged in the loving devotional service of the Lord. Sincere surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is possible by awakening the transcendental sense of service, made possible by association of pure devotees of the Lord. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was lucky enough to have a brother whose very association was a source of liberation for his frustrated life.
TEXT 27
यः स्वकात्परतो वेह जातनिर्वेद आत्मवान् । हृदि कृत्वा हरिं गेहात्प्रबजेत्स नरोत्तमः ॥२७॥
yaḥ svakāt parato veha jāta-nirveda ātmavān hṛdi kṛtvā hariṁ gehāt pravrajet sa narottamaḥ