Devanagari
श्रीयुधिष्ठिर उवाच
गृहस्थ एतां पदवीं विधिना येन चाञ्जसा ।
यायाद्देवऋषे ब्रूहि मादृशो गृहमूढधी: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
gṛhastha etāṁ padavīṁ
vidhinā yena cāṣjasā
yāyād deva-ṛṣe brūhi
mādṛśo gṛha-mūḍha-dhīḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
yudhiṣṭhiraḥ uvāca — Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja said
;
gṛhasthaḥ
—
a person living with his family
;
etām
—
this (the process mentioned in the previous chapter)
;
padavīm
—
position of liberation
;
vidhinā
—
according to the instructions of Vedic scripture
;
yena
—
by which
;
ca
—
also
;
aṣjasā
—
easily
;
yāyāt
—
may get
;
deva
—
ṛṣe — O great sage among the demigods
;
brūhi
—
kindly explain
;
mādṛśaḥ
—
such as me
;
gṛha
—
mūḍha — dhīḥ — completely ignorant of the goal of life .
Translation
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from Nārada Muni: O my lord, O great sage, kindly explain how we who are staying at home without knowledge of the goal of life may also easily attain liberation, according to the instructions of the Vedas.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira said: O great sage! Please explain how we who are staying at home without knowledge of the goal of life may also easily attain liberation, according to the instructions of the Vedas.
Having described the three āśramas of renunciation, Nārada explains in the Fourteenth Chapter the path of the householder engaged in worldly activity according to time and place. Can one attain liberation, the result of the paths of renunciation, by the path of enjoyment, if the path of enjoyment leads to birth and death? The King asks Nārada to begin describing the path of enjoyment for a person qualified as a householder, after having spoken of brahmacārī, vanaprastha and sannyāsī life, all involved in renunciation.
Purport
In the previous chapters the great sage Nārada has explained how a
brahmacārī,
a
vānaprastha
and a
sannyāsī
should act. He first explained the dealings of a
brahmacārī, vānaprastha
and
sannyāsī
because these three
āśramas,
or statuses of life, are extremely important for fulfillment of the goal of life. One should note that in the
brahmacārī-āśrama, vānaprastha-āśrama
and
sannyāsa-āśrama
there is no scope for sex life, whereas sex is allowed in
gṛhastha
life under regulations. Nārada Muni, therefore, first described
brahmacarya, vānaprastha
and
sannyāsa
because he wanted to stress that sex is not at all necessary, although one who absolutely requires it is allowed to enter
gṛhastha
life, or household life, which is also regulated by the
śāstras
and
guru.
Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja could understand all this. Therefore, as a
gṛhastha,
he presented himself as
gṛha-mūḍha-dhīḥ,
one who is completely ignorant of the goal of life. A person who remains a householder in family life is certainly ignorant of life’s goal; he is not very much advanced in intelligence. As soon as possible, one should give up his so-called comfortable life at home and prepare to undergo austerity, or
tapasya.
Tapo divyaṁ putrakā.
According to the instructions given by Ṛṣabhadeva to His sons, we should not create a so-called comfortable situation, but must prepare to undergo austerity. This is how a human being should actually live to fulfill life’s ultimate goal.