8
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 8, Ch. 1]
TRANSLATION
O best of the Kurus, I have already described [in the Third Canto] the activities of Kapila, the son of Devahūti. Now I shall describe the activities of Yajñapati, the son of Ākūti.
TEXT 7
विरक्तः कामभोगेषु शतरूपापतिः प्रश्नः । विसृज्य राज्यं तपसे सभार्यो वनमाविशत् ॥ ७ ॥
viraktaḥ kāma-bhogeṣu śatarūpā-patiḥ prabhuḥ viṣṛjya rājyaṁ tapase sabhāryo vanam āviśat
viraktaḥ —without attachment;  kāma-bhogeṣu —in sense gratification (in  gṛhastha  life);  śatarūpā-patiḥ —the husband of Śatarūpā, namely Svāyambhuva Manu;  prabhuḥ —who was the master or king of the world;  viṣṛjya —after renouncing totally;  rājyam —his kingdom;  tapase —for practicing austerities;  sa-bhāryaḥ —with his wife;  vanam —the forest;  āviśat —entered.
TRANSLATION
Svāyambhuva Manu, the husband of Śatarūpā, was by nature not at all attached to enjoyment of the senses. Thus he gave up his kingdom of sense enjoyment and entered the forest with his wife to practice austerities.
PURPORT
As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.2),  evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ : “The supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way.” All the Manus were perfect kings. They were  rājarṣis . In other words, although they held posts as kings of the world, they were as good as great saints. Svāyambhuva Manu, for example, was the emperor of the world, yet he had no desire for sense gratification. This is the meaning of monarchy. The king of the country or the emperor of the empire must be so trained that by nature he renounces sense gratification. It is not that