FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.30.48

ते च ब्रह्मण आदेशान्मारिषामुपयेमिरे । यस्यां महदवज्ञानादजन्यजनयोनिज: ॥ ४८ ॥
te ca brahmaṇa ādeśān
[te cha brahmana aadeshaan]
māriṣām upayemire
[maarishaam upayemire]
yasyāṁ mahad-avajñānād
[yasyaam mahad-avajnaanaad]
ajany ajana-yonijaḥ
[ajany ajana-yonijah]
te — all the Pracetās ca — also brahmaṇaḥ — of Lord Brahmā ādeśāt — by the order māriṣām — Māriṣā upayemire — married yasyām — in whom mahat — to a great personality avajñānāt — on account of disrespect ajani — took birth ajana-yoni-jaḥ — the son of Lord Brahmā, Dakṣa.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
te ca brahmaṇa ādeśān
te
all the Pracetās
ca
also
brahmaṇaḥ
of Lord Brahmā
ādeśāt
by the order
māriṣām upayemire
māriṣām
Māriṣā
upayemire
married
yasyāṁ mahad-avajñānād
yasyām
in whom
mahat
to a great personality
avajñānāt
on account of disrespect
ajany ajana-yonijaḥ
ajani
took birth
ajana-yoni-jaḥ
the son of Lord Brahmā, Dakṣa.
Following the order of Lord Brahmā, all the Pracetās accepted the girl as their wife. From the womb of this girl, the son of Lord Brahmā named Dakṣa took birth. Dakṣa had to take birth from the womb of Māriṣā due to his disobeying and disrespecting Lord Mahādeva [Śiva]. Consequently he had to give up his body twice.

In this connection the word mahad-avajñānāt is significant. King Dakṣa was the son of Lord Brahmā; therefore in a previous birth he was a brāhmaṇa. But because of his behaving like a non- brāhmaṇa ( abrāhmaṇa ) by insulting or disrespecting Lord Mahādeva, he had to take birth within the semen of a kṣatriya — that is to say, he became the son of the Pracetās. Not only that, but because of his disrespecting Lord Śiva, he had to undergo the tribulation of taking birth from within the womb of a woman. In the Dakṣa-yajña arena, he was once killed by Lord Śiva’s servant, Vīrabhadra. Because that was not sufficient, he again took birth, from the womb of Māriṣā. At the end of the Dakṣa-yajña and the disastrous incidents there, Dakṣa offered his prayer to Lord Śiva. Although he had to give up his body and take birth from the womb of a woman impregnated by the semen of a kṣatriya, he received all opulence by the grace of Lord Śiva. These are the subtle laws of material nature. Unfortunately, people in this modern age do not know how these laws are working. Having no knowledge of the eternity of the spirit soul and its transmigration, the population of the present age is in the greatest ignorance. Because of this, it is said in Bhāgavatam (1.1.10) , mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ: the total population in this Age of Kali-yuga is very bad, lazy, unfortunate and disturbed by material conditions.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
By the order of Brahmā, all the Pracetās married their daughter named Māriṣā, in whom Dakṣa later took birth because of offense to Śiva. Māriṣā was the child raised by the trees. Ajana-yonijaḥ is Dakṣa. Dakṣa was born from Brahmā but because of great offense to Śiva, took birth (ajani) from Māriṣā, in a kṣatriyas line (by the Pracetās). Because of being born from kṣatriya blood, he had to experience the suffering of being born from a womb. It should be understood that he died twice—once by the hand of Vīrabhadra and later by time.
All the Pracetās married her; from her womb came Dakṣa, born again because of disobedience to Śiva. Even disobedience to great souls eventually requires returning through someone's womb; karma binds across lives.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose 'disobedience' in my past may be the karmic seed of a current rebirth into a hard situation?
  • Where am I still working out an old offense I haven't named?
📝 My note

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