104 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch. 20

tasmat putra iti proktah
svayam eva svayambhuva

Because a son delivers his father from punishment in the hell called put,
the son is called putra. According to this principle, when there is a dis-
agreement between the father and mother, it is the father, not the
mother, who is delivered by the son. But if the wife is faithful and firmly
adherent to her husband, when the father is delivered the mother is also
delivered. Consequently, there is no such thing as divorce in the Vedic
literature. A wife is always trained to be chaste and faithful to her hus-
band, for this helps her achieve deliverance from any abominable
material condition. This verse clearly says, putro nayati naradeva yama-
ksayat: “The son saves his father from the custody of Yamaraja.” It
never says, putro nayati mataram: “The son saves his mother.” The
seed-giving father is delivered, not the storekeeper mother. Conse-
quently, husband and wife should not separate under any condition, for
if they have a child whom they raise to be a Vaisnava, he can save both
the father and mother from the custody of Yamaraja and punishment in
hellish life.
TEXT 23

frraara ashi amadt Aerem: |
afen ara ae ettqaat afl 1R3i

pitary uparate so ‘pi
cakravarti mahd-yasah

mahimé giyate tasya
harer arisa-bhuvo bhuvi

putari—after his father; uparate—passed away; sah—the King’s son;
api—also; cakravarti—the emperor; mahd-yasah—very famous;
mahima—glories; giyate—are glorified; tasya—his; hareh—of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead; arnsa-bhuvah—a partial representa-
tion; bhuvi—upon this earth.

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: When Maharaja Dusmanta passed away
from this earth, his son became the emperor of the world, the
