574 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 13

amsa—from a portion; udbhavam—who appeared; mrtyum—death; tena—
by this; abhavat—he became; adharmikah—irreligious.

TRANSLATION

That boy was born partially in the dynasty of irreligion. His grandfather
was death personified, and the boy grew up as his follower; he became a
greatly irreligious person.

PURPORT

The child’s mother, Sunitha, was the daughter of death personified.
Generally the daughter receives the qualifications of her father, and the son
acquires those of the mother. So, according to the axiomatic truth that
things equal to the same thing are equal to one another, the child born of
King Anga became the follower of his maternal grandfather. According to
smrti-gastra, a child generally follows the principles of his maternal uncle’s
house. Naranam matula-karma means that a child generally follows the
qualities of his maternal family. If the maternal family is very corrupt or
sinful, the child, even though born of a good father, becomes a victim of
the maternal family. According to Vedic civilization, therefore, before the
marriage takes place an account is taken of both the boy’s and girl’s
families. lf according to astrological calculation the combination is perfect,
then marriage takes place. Sometimes, however, there is a mistake, and
family life becomes frustrating.

It appears that King Anga did not get a very good wife in Sunitha
because she was the daughter of death personified. Sometimes the Lord
arranges an unfortunate wife for His devotee so that gradually, due to
family circumstances, the devotee becomes detached from his wife and
home and makes progress in devotional life. It appears that by the arrange-
ment of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, King Anga, although a pious
devotee, got an unfortunate wife like Sunitha and later on a bad child like
Vena. But the result was that he got complete freedom from the entangle-
ment of family life and left home to go back to Godhead.

TEXT 40

aq WANT aa aTTaT: |
SrA Slay Aaa ATTA ol
