962
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 22]
begotten;  pañca —five in number;  arciṣi —in his wife, Arci;  ātma —own;  sammatān —according to his desire.
TRANSLATION
Being situated in the liberated position of devotional service, Pṛthu Mahārāja not only performed all fruitive activities but also begot five sons by his wife Arci. Indeed, all his sons were begotten according to his own desire.
PURPORT
As a householder, Pṛthu Mahārāja had five sons by his wife Arci, and all these sons were begotten as he desired them. They were not born whimsically or by accident. How one can beget children according to one's own desire is practically unknown in the present age (Kali-yuga). In this regard the secret of success depends on the parents' acceptance of the various purificatory methods known as  saṁskāras . The first  saṁskāra , the  garbhādhāna-saṁskāra  or child-begetting  saṁskāra , is compulsory, especially for the higher castes, the  brāhmaṇas  and the  kṣatriyas . As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā , sex life which is not against religious principles is Kṛṣṇa. Himself, and according to religious principles when one wants to beget a child he must perform the  garbhādhāna-saṁskāra  before having sex. The mental state of the father and mother before sex will certainly affect the mentality of the child to be begotten. A child who is begotten out of lust may not turn out as the parents desire. As stated in the  śāstras ,  yathā yonir yathā bījam .  Yathā yoniḥ  indicates the mother, and  yathā bījam  indicates the father. If the mental state of the parents is prepared before they have sex, the child which they will beget will certainly reflect their mental condition. It is therefore understood by the words  ātma-sammatān  that both Pṛthu Mahārāja and Arci underwent the  garbhādhāna  purificatory process before begetting children, and thus they begot all their sons according to their desires and purified mental states. Pṛthu Mahārāja did not beget his children out of lust, nor was he attracted to his wife for sense gratificatory purposes. He begot the children as a  gṛhastha  for the future administration of his government all over the world.
TEXT 54
विजिताऽवं धूत्रकेशं हर्यक्षं द्रविणं वृकम् । सर्वेषां लोकपालानां दशारैकः पृथुर्गुणान् ॥५४॥