1194 Stimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 25

PURPORT

The gate on the western side of the city was known as Asuri because it
was especially meant for the asuras. The word asura refers to those who
are interested in sense gratification, specifically in sex life, to which they
are overly attracted. Thus Purafijana, the living entity, enjoys himself to
his greatest satisfaction by means of the genitals. Consequently he used to
go to the place known as Gramaka. Material sense gratification is also
called gramya, and the place where sex life is indulged in to a great extent
is called Gramaka. When going to Gramaka, Puranjana used to be accom-
panied by his friend Durmada. The word visaya refers to the four bodily
necessities of life—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The word
durmadena may be analyzed in this way: dur means dusta, or sinful, and
mada means madness. Every living entity who is in contact with material
nature is called mada, or mad. It is said: pisdci paile yena mati-cchanna haya/
maya-grasta jivera haya se-bhdva udaya, When a person is haunted, he
becomes practically insane. When one is in an insane condition, he speaks
all kinds of nonsense. Thus to become engaged in sense gratification, one
has to accept a friend who is durmada, or badly affected by the material
disease.

The words dsuri ndma pascad dvah are significant in another sense. The
sunrise is first visible from the eastern side—the Bay of Bengal—and gradually
it progresses toward the west. It is practically experienced that people in
the West are more addicted to sense gratification. Sa Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Himself has certified: pascimera loka saba miidha andcara (Cc. Adi 10.89).
The more one goes to the western side, the more he will find people dis-
interested in spiritual life. He will find them behaving against the Vedic
standards. Because of this, people living in the West are more addicted to
sense gratification. In this Bhagavatam it is confirmed: dsuri nama pascad
dvah. In other words, the population on the westem side is interested in an
asuric civilization, that is, a materialistic way of life. Lord Caitanya conse-
quently wanted this Krsna consciousness movement to be preached on
the western side of the world so that people addicted to sense gratification
might be benefited by His teachings.

TEXT 53

feraferata TATE SAT TA GUST: |
aad am fart aeata aateaa: 143
