Text 1] Ideal Family Life 141

$ri-yudhisthirah uvéca—Yudhisthira Maharaja said; grhasthah—a
person living with his family; etam—this (the process mentioned in the
previous chapter); padavim—position of liberation; vidhinad—according
to the instructions of Vedic scripture; yena—by which; ca—also;
anjasa—easily; y@yat—may get; deva-rse—O great sage among the
demigods; briihi—kindly explain; madrsah—such as me; grha-miidha-
dhih—completely ignorant of the goal of life.

TRANSLATION

Maharaja Yudhisthira inquired from Narada Muni: O my lord, O
great sage, kindly explain how we who are staying at home without
knowledge of the goal of life may also easily attain liberation, ac-
cording to the instructions of the Vedas.

PURPORT

In the previous chapters the great sage Narada has explained how a
brahmacari, a vanaprastha and a sannyasi should act. He first explained
the dealings of a brahmacari, vanaprastha and sannyasi because these
three dSramas, or statuses of life, are extremely important for fulfillment
of the goal of life. One should note that in the brahmacari-dsrama,
vinaprastha-dsrama and sannydsa-dsrama there is no scope for sex life,
whereas sex is allowed in grhastha life under regulations. Narada Muni,
therefore, first described brahmacarya, vanaprastha and sannyasa be-
cause he wanted to stress that sex is not at all necessary, although one
who absolutely requires it is allowed to enter grhastha life, or household
life, which is also regulated by the sdastras and guru. Yudhisthira
Maharaja could understand all this. Therefore, as a grhastha, he pre-
sented himself as grha-miidha-dhih, one who is completely ignorant of
the goal of life. A person who remains a householder in family life is cer-
tainly ignorant of life’s goal; he is not very much advanced in intelli-
gence. As soon as possible, one should give up his so-called comfortable
life at home and prepare to undergo austerity, or tapasya. Tapo divyam
putraka. According to the instructions given by Rsabhadeva to His sons,
we should not create a so-called comfortable situation, but must prepare
to undergo austerity. This is how a human being should actually live to
fulfill life’s ultimate goal.
