Skandham-5. Chapter-2. Slokam-2. :

Skandham-5.


Chapter-2.


Slokam-2.




Desiring to get a perfect son and become an inhabitant of Pitruloka, Mahraja
Agnidhra once worshiped Lord Brahma, the master of those in charge of
material creation. He went to a valley of Mandara Hill, where the damsels of
the heavenly planets come down to stroll. There he collected garden flowers and
other necessary paraphernalia and then engaged in severe austerities and
worship.


The King became pitrulokam-kama, or desirous of being transferred to the
planet named Pitrulokam. Pitrulokam is mentioned in Bhagavad-geeta (yanti
deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]). To go to this planet, one
needs very good sons who can make offerings to Lord Vishnu and then offer the
remnants to their forefathers. The purpose of the Sraddha ceremony is to
please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, so that after pleasing
Him one may offer prasadam to one's forefathers and in this way make them
happy. The inhabitants of Pitrulokam are generally men of the karma-kandiya, or
fruitive activities category, who have been transferred there because of their
pious activities. They can stay there as long as their descendants offer them
Vishnu-prasadam. Everyone in heavenly planets such as Pitrulokam, however, must
return to earth after exhausting the effects of his pious acts. As confirmed in
Bhagavad-geeta (9.21), krishna  punye martya-lokam visanti: persons who perform
pious acts are transferred to higher planets, but when the effects of their pious
acts are over, they are again transferred to earth.



Since Maharaja Priyavrata was a great devotee, how could he have begotten
a son who desired to be transferred to Pitrulokam? Lord Krishna says, pitrn yanti
pitr-vratah: persons who desire to go to Pitrulokam are transferred there.


Similarly, yanti mad-yajino pi mam: [Bg. 9.25] persons who desire to be
transferred to the spiritual planets, Vaikundalokam, can also go there. Since
Maharaja Agnidhra was the son of a Vaishnava, he should have desired to be
transferred to the spiritual world, Vaikundalokam. Why, then, did he desire to
be transferred to Pitrulokam? In answer to this, Rishi Giridhara, one of the
Bhagavatam commentators, remarks that Agnidhra was born when Maharaja
Priyavrata was infatuated by lusty desires. This may be accepted as a fact
because sons are begotten with different mentalities according to the time of
their conception. According to the Vedic system, therefore, before a child is
conceived, the garbhadhanam-samskaram is performed. This ceremony molds the
mentality of the father in such a way that when he plants his seed in the womb
of his wife, he will beget a child whose mind will be completely saturated with
a devotional attitude. At the present moment, however, there are no such
garbhadhanam-samskaram, and therefore people generally have a lusty attitude
when they beget children. Especially in this age of Kali ( yugam), there are no
garbhadhanam ceremonies; everyone enjoys sex with his wife like a cat or dog.



Therefore according to Sastric injunctions, almost all the people of this age
belong to the Sudra category. Of course, although Maharaja Agnidhra had a
desire to be transferred to Pitrulokam, this does not mean that his mentality was
that of a Sudra; he was a kshatriya.



Maharaja Agnidhra desired to be transferred to Pitrulokam, and therefore he
needed a wife because anyone desiring to be transferred to Pitrulokam must leave
behind a good son to offer yearly pindam, or prasadam  from Lord Vishnu. To have a
good son, Maharaja Agnidhra wanted a wife from a family of demigods.



Therefore he went to Mandara Hill. where the women of the demigods
generally come, to worship Lord Brahma. In Bhagavad-geeta (4.12) it is said,
kankshantah karmanam siddhim yajanta iha devatah: materialists who want
quick results in the material world worship demigods. This is also confirmed in
Srimad-Bhagavatam. Sri-Isvarya-prajepsavah: those who desire beautiful wives,
substantial wealth and many sons worship the demigods, but an intelligent
devotee, instead of being entangled by the happiness of this material world in
the form of a beautiful wife, material opulence and children, desires to be
immediately transferred back home, back to Godhead. Thus he worships the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu.