CHAPTER EIGHT
Dhruva Maharaja Leaves Home for the Forest

TEXT 1

aaa sara
AAR ARTA WYCAISSIRAAA: | -
aa TE ARAN TATA: II 2 I

maitreya uvaca
sanakadya ndradaé ca
rbhur hamso ’runir yatih
naite grhan brahma-suta
hy dvasann irdhva-retasah

maitreyah uvdca—Maitreya said; sanaka-ad yah—those headed by Sanaka;
naradah—Narada; ca—and; rbhuh—Rbhu; harhsah—Hamsa; arunih—Aruni;
yatih—Y ati; na—not; ete—all these; grhan—at home; brahma-sutah—sons of
Brahma; hi—certainly; dvasan—did live; uirdhva-retasah—unadulterated
celibates.

TRANSLATION
The great sage Maitreya said: The four great Kumara sages headed by
Sanaka, as well as Narada, Rbhu, Hamsa, Aruni and Yati, all sons of

Brahma, did not live at home, but became adrdhva-reta or naisthika-
brahmaciris, unadulterated celibates.

PURPORT

The system of brahmacarya has been current since the birth of Brahma.
A section of the population, especially male, did not marry at all. Instead
of allowing their semina to be driven downwards, they used to lift the

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