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The Activities of Mahārāja Āgnīdhra
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exhausting the effects of his pious acts. As confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā  (9.21),  kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokam viśanti : persons who perform pious acts are transferred to higher planets, but when the effects of their pious acts are over, they are again transferred to earth.
Since Mahārāja Priyavrata was a great devotee, how could he have begotten a son who desired to be transferred to Pitṛloka? Lord Kṛṣṇa says,  pitṛn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ : persons who desire to go to Pitṛloka are transferred there. Similarly,  yānti mad-yājino pi mām : persons who desire to be transferred to the spiritual planets, Vaikuṇṭhalokas, can also go there. Since Mahārāja Āgnīdhra was the son of a Vaiṣṇava, he should have desired to be transferred to the spiritual world, Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Why, then, did he desire to be transferred to Pitṛloka? In answer to this, Gosvāmī Giridhara, one of the  Bhāgavatam  commentators, remarks that Āgnīdhra was born when Mahārāja Priyavrata was infatuated by lusty desires. This may be accepted as a fact because sons are begotten with different mentalities according to the time of their conception. According to the Vedic system, therefore, before a child is conceived, the  garbhādhāna-saṁskāra  is performed. This ceremony molds the mentality of the father in such a way that when he plants his seed in the womb of his wife, he will beget a child whose mind will be completely saturated with a devotional attitude. At the present moment, however, there are no such  garbhādhāna-saṁskāras , and therefore people generally have a lusty attitude when they beget children. Especially in this age of Kali, there are no  garbhādhāna  ceremonies; everyone enjoys sex with his wife like a cat or dog. Therefore according to śāstric injunctions, almost all the people of this age belong to the  śūdra  category. Of course, although Mahārāja Āgnīdhra had a desire to be transferred to Pitṛloka, this does not mean that his mentality was that of a  śūdra ; he was a  kṣatriya .
Mahārāja Āgnīdhra desired to be transferred to Pitṛloka, and therefore he needed a wife because anyone desiring to be transferred to Pitṛloka must leave behind a good son to offer yearly  piṇḍa , or  prasāda  from Lord Viṣṇu. To have a good son, Mahārāja Āgnīdhra wanted a wife from a family of demigods. Therefore he went to Mandara Hill, where the women of the demigods generally come, to worship Lord Brahmā. In  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.12) it is said,  kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ : materialists who want quick results in the material world