68 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 1
amusyah—of that; vanitayah—wife; vinoda-mrgam—just like a
dancing monkey; mam—unto me; dhik—all condemnation; dhik—all
condemnation; iti—thus; garhayam—criticism; cakdra—he did.
TRANSLATION

The King thus began criticizing himself: Alas, how condemned I
have become because of my sense gratification! I have now fallen
into material enjoyment, which is exactly like a covered well. I
have had enough! I am not going to enjoy any more. Just see how I
have become like a dancing monkey in the hands of my wife.
Because of this, I am condemned.

PURPORT

How condemned is the advancement of material knowledge can be un-
derstood from the behavior of Maharaja Priyavrata. He performed such
wonderful acts as creating another sun, which shined during the night,
and creating a chariot so great that its wheels formed vast oceans. These
activities are so great that modern scientists cannot even imagine how
such things can be done. Maharaja Priyavrata acted very wonderfully in
the material field of activities, but because he was dealing in sense
gratification—ruling his kingdom and dancing to the indications of his
beautiful wife—he personally condemned himself. When we think about
this example of Maharaja Priyavrata, we can just consider how degraded
is the modern civilization of materialistic advancement. Modern so-called
scientists and other materialists are very satisfied because they can con-
struct great bridges, roads and machines, but such activities are nothing
comparable to those of Maharaja Priyavrata. If Maharaja Priyavrata
could condemn himself in spite of his wonderful activities, how con-
demned we are in our so-called advancement of material civilization. We
can conclude that such advancement has nothing to do with the problems
of the living entity entangled within this material world. Unfortunately,
modern man does not understand his entanglement and how condemned
he is, nor does he know what kind of body he is going to have in the next
life. From a spiritual point of view, a great kingdom, beautiful wife and
wonderful material activities are all impediments to spiritual advance-
ment. Maharaja Priyavrata had served the great sage Narada sincerely.
