Devanagari
युक्तेष्वेवं प्रमत्तस्य कुटुम्बासक्तचेतस: ।
आससाद स वै कालो योऽप्रिय: प्रिययोषिताम् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
yukteṣv evaṁ pramattasya
kuṭumbāsakta-cetasaḥ
āsasāda sa vai kālo
yo ’priyaḥ priya-yoṣitām
Synonyms
yukteṣu
—
to beneficial activities
;
evam
—
thus
;
pramattasya
—
being inattentive
;
kuṭumba
—
to kith and kin
;
āsakta
—
attached
;
cetasaḥ
—
consciousness
;
āsasāda
—
arrived
;
saḥ
—
that
;
vai
—
certainly
;
kālaḥ
—
time
;
yaḥ
—
which
;
apriyaḥ
—
not very pleasing
;
priya
—
yoṣitām — for persons attached to women .
Translation
Thus King Puraṣjana, being attached to fruitive activities [karma-kāṇḍīya] as well as kith and kin, and being obsessed with polluted consciousness, eventually arrived at that point not very much liked by those who are overly attached to material things.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Inattentive to beneficial acts and absorbed in family life, he reached old age, which is disliked by the women.
He was inattentive to things beneficial for him, like bhakti and detachment. Kālaḥ means old age. It is disliked by the women, since it is unfavorable for enjoyment.
Purport
In this verse the words
priya-yoṣitām
and
apriyaḥ
are very significant. The word
yoṣit
means “woman,” and
priya
means “dear” or “pleasing.” Death is not very much welcome for those who are too much attached to material enjoyment, which culminates in sex. There is an instructive story in this connection: Once when a saintly person was passing on his way, he met a prince, the son of a king, and he blessed him, saying, “My dear prince, may you live forever.” The sage next met a saintly person and said to him, “You may either live or die.” Eventually the sage met a
brahmacārī
devotee, and he blessed him, saying, “My dear devotee, you may die immediately.” Finally the sage met a hunter, and he blessed him, saying, “Neither live nor die.” The point is that those who are very sensual and are engaged in sense gratification do not wish to die. Generally a prince has enough money to enjoy his senses; therefore the great sage said that he should live forever, for as long as he lived he could enjoy life, but after his death he would go to hell. Since the
brahmacārī
devotee was leading a life of severe austerities and penances in order to be promoted back to Godhead, the sage said that he should die immediately so that he need not continue to labor hard and could instead go back home, back to Godhead. A saintly person may either live or die, for during his life he is engaged in serving the Lord and after his death he also serves the Lord. Thus this life and the next are the same for a saintly devotee, for in both he serves the Lord. Since the hunter lives a very ghastly life due to killing animals, and since he will go to hell when he dies, he is advised to neither live nor die.
King Puraṣjana finally arrived at the point of old age. In old age the senses lose their strength, and although an old man desires to enjoy his senses, and especially sex life, he is very miserable because his instruments of enjoyment no longer function. Such sensualists are never prepared for death. They simply want to live on and on and extend their life by so-called scientific advancement. Some foolish Russian scientists also claim that they are going to make man immortal through scientific advancement. Under the leadership of such crazy fellows, civilization is going on. Cruel death, however, comes and takes all of them away despite their desire to live forever. This type of mentality was exhibited by Hiraṇyakaśipu, but when the time was ripe, the Lord personally killed him within a second.