178 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 6
PURPORT
In the Vedic age a man was sometimes called upon to beget sons in the
womb of a lesser man’s wife for the sake of better progeny. In such an
instance, the woman is compared to an agricultural field. A person
possessing an agricultural field may employ another person to produce
food grains from it, but because the grains are produced fiom the land,
they are considered the property of the owner of the land. Similarly, a
woman was sometimes allowed to be impregnated by someone other than
her husband, but the sons born of her would then become her husband’s
sons. Such sons were called ksetra-jata. Because Rathitara had no sons,
he took advantage of this method.
TEXT 3
a PS
Ua AAIEM FARA: GATT: |
eéirmt samt: aattar feaTAT 1 3 I
ete ksetra-prasitd vai
punas tv Grigirasah smrtah
rathitaranam pravarah
ksetropeta dvi-jatayah
ete—the sons begotten by Angira; hksetra-prasiitah—became the
children of Rathitara and belonged to his family (because they were born
from the womb of his wife); vai—indeed; punah—again; tu—but;
Grgirasah—of the dynasty of Angiré; smrtah—they were called;
rathitardnadm—of all the sons of Rathitara; pravarah—the chief; ksetra-
upetah —because of being born of the ksetra (field); dvi-jatayah—called
brahmana (being a mixture of braéhmana and ksatriya).
TRANSLATION
Having been born from the womb of Rathitara’s wife, all these
sons were known as the dynasty of Rathitara, but because they
were born from the semen of Angira, they were also known as the
dynasty of Angira. Among all the progeny of Rathitara, these sons
were the most prominent because, owing to their birth, they were
considered brahmanas.
