SB 4.26.15 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

न तथैतर्हि रोचन्ते गृहेषु गृहसम्पद: । यदि न स्याद्गृहे माता पत्नी वा पतिदेवता । व्यङ्गे रथ इव प्राज्ञ: को नामासीत दीनवत् ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

na tathaitarhi rocante gṛheṣu gṛha-sampadaḥ yadi na syād gṛhe mātā patnī vā pati-devatā vyaṅge ratha iva prājṣaḥ ko nāmāsīta dīnavat

Synonyms

na — not ; tathā — like before ; etarhi — at this moment ; rocante — become pleasing ; gṛheṣu — at home ; gṛha — sampadaḥ — all household paraphernalia ; yadi — if ; na — not ; syāt — there is ; gṛhe — at home ; mātā — mother ; patnī — wife ; vā — or ; pati — devatā — devoted to the husband ; vyaṅge — without wheels ; rathe — in a chariot ; iva — like ; prājṣaḥ — learned man ; kaḥ — who is that ; nāma — indeed ; āsīta — would sit ; dīna — vat — like a poverty-stricken creature .

Translation

King Puraṣjana said: I do not understand why my household paraphernalia does not attract me as before. I think that if there is neither a mother nor devoted wife at home, the home is like a chariot without wheels. Where is the fool who will sit down on such an unworkable chariot?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Now the wealth of the house is not attractive. If there is no mother or wife in the house, what learned man would remain there? It is like a chariot without wheels. Now (etarhi), without her, the house is not pleasing. The women of the house are the actions of the antaḥkaraṇa in their previous condition, inclined to dharma. They suddenly appeared. Seeing them, he considered “If the actions of my intelligence remain steady, destroying my present impressions of sin, they can deliver me.” Thus he asks how they are. “But you should become happy by enjoying material objects. What is the use of dharma?” The first line of the verse answers: now, the forbidden objects do not give pleasure. The mother is bhakti to Viṣṇu. The wife is intelligence endowed with dharma. Vyaṅge means without wheels.

Purport

The great politician Cāṇakya Paṇḍita said: mātā yasya gṛhe nāsti bhāryā cāpriya-vādinī araṇyaṁ tena gantavyaṁ yathāraṇyaṁ tathā gṛham “If a person has neither a mother nor a pleasing wife at home, he should leave home and go to the forest, because for him there is no difference between the forest and home.” The real mātā, or mother, is devotional service to the Lord, and the real patnī, or devoted wife, is a wife who helps her husband execute religious principles in devotional service. These two things are required for a happy home. Actually, a woman is supposed to be the energy of the man. Historically, in the background of every great man there is either a mother or a wife. One’s household life is very successful if he has both a good wife and mother. In such a case, everything about household affairs and all the paraphernalia in the house becomes very pleasing. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had both a good mother and pleasing wife, and He was very happy at home. Nonetheless, for the benefit of the whole human race, He took sannyāsa and left both His mother and wife. In other words, it is essential that one have both a good mother and wife in order to become perfectly happy at home. Otherwise home life has no meaning. Unless one is religiously guided by intelligence and renders devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his home can never become very pleasing to a saintly person. In other words, if a man has a good mother or a good wife, there is no need of his taking sannyāsa — that is, unless it is absolutely necessary, as it was for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.