Text 39] The Characteristics of King Purafijana 1181

TRANSLATION

The woman continued: In this material world, a householder’s life brings
all kinds of happiness in religion, economic development, sense gratifica-
tion and in the begetting of children, sons and grandsons. After that, one
may desire liberation as well as material reputation. The householder can
appreciate the results of sacrifices, which enable him to gain promotion to
superior planetary systems. All this material happiness is practically un-
known to the transcendentalists. They cannot even imagine such happiness.

PURPORT

According to Vedic instructions, there are two paths for human activi-
ties. One is called pravurtti-marga, and the other is called nivrtti-marga. The
basic principle for either of these paths is religious life. In animal life there
is only praurtti-mdarga. Pravrtti-marga means sense enjoyment, and nivurtti-
marga means spiritual advancement. In the life of animals and demons,
there is no conception of nivrtti-marga, nor is there any actual conception
of pravrtti-marga. Pravrtti-marga maintains that even though one has the
propensity for sense gratification, he can gratify his senses according to the
directions of the Vedic injunctions. For example, everyone has the pro-
pensity for sex life, but in demoniac civilization sex is enjoyed without
restriction. According to Vedic culture, sex is enjoyed under Vedic instruc-
tions. Thus the Vedas give direction to civilized human beings to enable
them to satisfy their propensities for sense gratification.

In the nivrtti-marga, however, on the path of transcendental realization,
sex is completely forbidden. The social orders are divided into four parts—
brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannydsa—and only in the house-
holder life can the praurtti-marga be encouraged or accepted according to
Vedic instructions. In the orders of brahmacarya, vanaprastha and sannyasa,
there are no facilities for sex.

In this verse the woman is advocating praurtti-marga only and is dis-
couraging the path of nivrtti-marga. She clearly says that the yatis, the
transcendentalists who are concerned only with spiritual life (kaivalya),
cannot imagine the happiness of praurtti-mdrga. In other words, the man
who follows the Vedic principles enjoys the materialistic way of life not
only by becoming happy in this life, but also in the next life by being
promoted to the heavenly planets. In this life such a person gets all kinds
of material opulences, such as sons and grandsons, because he is always
engaged in various religious functions. The material distresses are birth, old
age, disease and death, but those who are interested in praurtti-marga hold
