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ije—he worshiped; ca—also; kratubhih—by sacrifices; ghoraih—ghastly; diksitah—inspired; pasu-marakaih—wherein poor animals are killed; devan—the demigods; pitrn—forefathers; bhuta-patin—great leaders of human society; nana—various; kamah—having desires; yatha—like; bhavan—you.

The great sage Narada continued: My dear King Pracinabarhisat, like you King Puranjana also became implicated in so many desires. Thus he worshiped demigods, forefathers and social leaders with various sacrifices which were all very ghastly because they were inspired by the desire to kill animals.

In this verse the great sage Narada discloses that the character of Puranjana was being described to give lessons to King Pracinabarhisat. Actually the entire description was figuratively describing the activities of King Pracinabarhisat. In this verse Narada frankly says “like you” (yatha bhavan), which indicates that King Puranjana is none other than King Pracinabarhisat himself. Being a great Vaisnava, Narada Muni wanted to stop animal-killing in sacrifices. He knew that if he tried to stop the King from performing sacrifices, the King would not hear him. Therefore he is describing the life of Puranjana. But in this verse he first discloses the intention, although not fully, by saying “like you.” Generally the karmis, who are attached to increasing descendants, have to perform so many sacrifices and worship so many demigods for future generations, as well as to satisfy so many leaders, politicians, philosophers and scientists to make things go on properly for future generations. The so-called scientists are very eager to see that future generations will live very comfortably, and as such they are trying to find different means of generating energy to drive locomotives, cars, airplanes and so on. Now they are exhausting the petroleum supply. These activities are described in the Bhagavad-gita (2.41):

vyavasayatmika buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-sakha hy anantas ca
buddhayo ’vyavasayinam

“Those who are on the spiritual path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.”

Actually, those who are in knowledge of everything are determined to execute Krsna consciousness, but those who are rascals (mudhah), sinners (duskrtinah) and the lowest of mankind (naradhamah), who are bereft of all intelligence (mayayapahrta jnanah) and who take shelter of the demoniac way of life (asuram bhavam asritah), are disinterested in Krsna consciousness. As such they become implicated and take on so many activities. Most of these activities center around the killing of animals. Modern civilization is centered around animal-killing. Karmis are advertising that without eating meat, their vitamin value or vitality will be reduced; so to keep oneself fit to work hard, one must eat meat, and to digest meat, one must drink liquor, and to keep the balance of drinking wine and eating meat, one must have sufficient sexual intercourse to keep fit to work very hard like an ass.

There are two ways of animal-killing. One way is in the name of religious sacrifices. All the religions of the world—except the Buddhists—have a program for killing animals in places of worship. According to Vedic civilization, the animal-eaters are recommended to sacrifice a goat in the temple of Kali under certain restrictive rules and regulations and eat the flesh. Similarly, they are recommended to drink wine by worshiping the goddess Candika. The purpose is restriction. People have given up all this restriction. Now they are regularly opening wine distilleries and slaughterhouses and indulging in drinking alcohol and eating flesh. A Vaisnava acarya like Narada Muni knows very well that persons engaged in such animal-killing in the name of religion are certainly becoming involved in the cycle of birth and death, forgetting the real aim of life: to go home, back to Godhead.

Thus the great sage Narada, while instructing Srimad-Bhagavatam to Vyasa Muni, condemned the karma-kanda (fruitive) activities mentioned in the Vedas. Narada told Vyasa:

jugupsitam dharma-krte ’nusasatah
svabhava-raktasya mahan vyatikramah
yad vakyato dharma ititarah sthito
na manyate tasya nivaranam janah

“The people in general are naturally inclined to enjoy, and you have encouraged them in that way in the name of religion. This is verily condemned and is quite unreasonable. Because they are guided under your instructions, they will accept such activities in the name of religion and will hardly care for prohibitions.” (Bhag. 1.5.15)

Srila Narada Muni chastised Vyasadeva for compiling so many Vedic supplementary scriptures, which are all intended for guiding the people in general. Narada Muni condemned these scriptures because they do not mention direct devotional service. Under Narada’s instructions, direct worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, was set forth by Vyasadeva. The conclusion is that neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, nor His devotee ever sanctions animal-killing in the name of religion. Indeed, Krsna incarnated Himself as Lord Buddha to put an end to animal-killing in the name of religion. Animal sacrifice under the name of religion is conducted by the influence of tamo-guna (the mode of ignorance), as indicated in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (18.31–32):

yaya dharmam adharmam ca
karyam cakaryam eva ca
ayathavat prajanati
buddhih sa partha rajasi

adharmam dharmam iti ya
manyate tamasavrta
sarvarthan viparitams ca
buddhih sa partha tamasi

“That understanding which cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious, between action that should be done and action that should not be done—that imperfect understanding, O son of Prtha, is in the mode of passion. That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Partha, is in the mode of ignorance.”

Those who are involved in the mode of ignorance manufacture religious systems for killing animals. Actually dharma is transcendental. As Lord Sri Krsna teaches, we must give up all other systems of religion and simply surrender unto Him (sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66]). Thus the Lord and His devotees and representatives teach the transcendental dharma, which does not allow animal-killing at all. At the present moment it is the greatest misfortune that in India many so-called missionary workers are spreading irreligion in the name of religion. They claim an ordinary human being to be God and recommend meat-eating for everyone, including so-called sannyasis.

SB4.27.12

TEXT 12

yuktesv evam pramattasya

kutumbasakta-cetasah

asasada sa vai kalo

yo ’priyah priya-yositam

yuktesu—to beneficial activities; evam—thus; pramattasya—being inattentive; kutumba—to kith and kin; asakta—attached; cetasah—consciousness; asasada—arrived; sah—that; vai—certainly; kalah—time; yah—which; apriyah—not very pleasing; priya-yositam—for persons attached to women.

Thus King Puranjana, being attached to fruitive activities [karma-kandiya] 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.

In this verse the words priya-yositam and apriyah are very significant. The word yosit 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 brahmacari 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 brahmacari 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 Puranjana 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 Hiranyakasipu, but when the time was ripe, the Lord personally killed him within a second.

SB4.27.13

TEXT 13

candavega iti khyato

gandharvadhipatir nrpa

gandharvas tasya balinah

sasty-uttara-sata-trayam

candavegah—Candavega; iti—thus; khyatah—celebrated; gandharva—belonging to the Gandharvaloka; adhipatih—king; nrpa—O King; gandharvah—other Gandharvas; tasya—his; balinah—very powerful soldiers; sasti—sixty; uttara—surpassing; sata—hundred; trayam—three.

O King! In Gandharvaloka there is a king named Candavega. Under him there are 360 very powerful Gandharva soldiers.

Time is figuratively described here as Candavega. Since time and tide wait for no man, time is herein called Candavega, which means “very swiftly passing away.” As time passes, it is calculated in terms of years. One year contains 360 days, and the soldiers of Candavega herein mentioned represent these days. Time passes swiftly; Candavega’s powerful soldiers of Gandharvaloka very swiftly carry away all the days of our life. As the sun rises and sets, it snatches away the balance of our life-span. Thus as each day passes, each one of us loses some of life’s duration. It is therefore said that the duration of one’s life cannot be saved. But if one is engaged in devotional service, his time cannot be taken away by the sun. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.3.17), ayur harati vai pumsam udyann astam ca yann asau. The conclusion is that if one wants to make himself immortal, he should give up sense gratification. By engaging oneself in devotional service, one can gradually enter into the eternal kingdom of God.

Mirages and other illusory things are sometimes called Gandharvas. Our losing our life-span is taken as advancement of age. This imperceptible passing away of the days of life is figuratively referred to in this verse as Gandharvas. As explained in later verses, such Gandharvas are both male and female. This indicates that both men and women lose their life-span imperceptibly by the force of time, which is herein described as Candavega.

SB4.27.14

TEXT 14

gandharvyas tadrsir asya

maithunyas ca sitasitah

parivrttya vilumpanti

sarva-kama-vinirmitam

gandharvyah—Gandharvis; tadrsih—similarly; asya—of Candavega; maithunyah—companions for sexual intercourse; ca—also; sita—white; asitah—black; parivrttya—by surrounding; vilumpanti—they plundered; sarva-kama—all kinds of desirable objects; vinirmitam—manufactured.

Along with Candavega were as many female Gandharvis as there were soldiers, and all of them repetitively plundered all the paraphernalia for sense enjoyment.

The days have been compared to the soldiers of Candavega. Night is generally a time for sex enjoyment. Days are considered to be white, and nights are considered to be black, or, from another point of view, there are two kinds of nights—black nights and white nights. All these days and nights combine to pass away our span of life and everything we manufacture for sense gratification. Material activity means manufacturing things for sense gratification. Scientists are conducting research to find out how we can satisfy our senses more and more elaborately. In this Kali-yuga, the demoniac mentality is employed in manufacturing various machines to facilitate the process of sense gratification. There are so many machines for ordinary household activities. There are machines for washing dishes, cleansing the floor, shaving, clipping hair—today everything is done by machine. All these facilities for sense gratification are described in this verse as sarva-kama-vinirmitam. The time factor, however, is so strong that not only is our span of life being expended, but all the machines and facilities for sense gratification are deteriorating. Therefore in this verse the word vilumpanti (“plundering”) is used. Everything is being plundered from the very beginning of our lives.

This plundering of our possessions and life-span begins with the day of our birth. One day will come when death will finish everything, and the living entity will have to enter another body to begin another chapter of life and again begin the cycle of material sense gratification. Prahlada Maharaja describes this process as punah punas carvita-carvananam (Bhag. 7.5.30). Materialistic life means chewing the chewed again and again. The central point of material life is sense gratification. In different types of bodies, the living entity enjoys various senses, and through creating various types of facilities, he chews the chewed. Whether we squeeze sugar out of the sugarcane with our teeth or a machine, the result is the same—sugarcane juice. We may discover many ways to squeeze the juice out of the sugarcane, but the result is the same.

hartum arebhire tatra

pratyasedhat prajagarah

te—all of them; candavega—of Candavega; anucarah—followers; puranjana—of King Puranjana; puram—city; yada—when; hartum—to plunder; arebhire—began; tatra—there; pratyasedhat—defended; prajagarah—the big serpent.

When King Gandharva-raja [Candavega] and his followers began to plunder the city of Puranjana, a snake with five hoods began to defend the city.

When one is sleeping, the life air remains active in different dreams. The five hoods of the snake indicate that the life air is surrounded by five kinds of air, known as prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana. When the body is inactive, the prana, or the life air, is active. Up to the age of fifty one can actively work for sense gratification, but after the fiftieth year one’s energy decreases, although one can with great strain work for two or three more years—perhaps up to the fifty-fifth year. Thus the fifty-fifth year is generally taken by government regulations as the final year for retirement. The energy, which is fatigued after fifty years, is figuratively described herein as a serpent with five hoods.

SB4.27.16

TEXT 16

sa saptabhih satair eko

vimsatya ca satam samah

puranjana-puradhyakso

gandharvair yuyudhe bali

sah—he; saptabhih—with seven; sataih—hundred; ekah—alone; vimsatya—with twenty; ca—also; satam—hundred; samah—years; puranjana—of King Puranjana; pura-adhyaksah—superintendent of the city; gandharvaih—with the Gandharvas; yuyudhe—fought; bali—very valiant.

The five-hooded serpent, the superintendent and protector of the city of King Puranjana, fought with the Gandharvas for one hundred years. He fought alone, with all of them, although they numbered 720.

The 360 days and 360 nights combine to become the 720 soldiers of Candavega (time). One has to fight these soldiers throughout one’s lifespan, beginning with birth and ending with death. This fight is called the struggle for existence. Despite this struggle, however, the living entity does not die. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (2.20), the living entity is eternal:

na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato ’yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” Actually the living entity does not take birth nor does he die, but he has to fight with the stringent laws of material nature throughout the entire span of his lifetime. He must also face different kinds of miserable conditions. Despite all this, the living entity, due to illusion, thinks that he is well situated in sense gratification.

SB4.27.17

TEXT 17

ksiyamane sva-sambandhe

ekasmin bahubhir yudha

cintam param jagamartah

sa-rastra-pura-bandhavah