Chapter 20 · Class prep
A printable handout for teaching this chapter. For each verse with Personal Guidance, you'll see Prabhupāda's translation, the essence, two or three practical applications, and a discussion prompt. Press ⌘P / Ctrl P to print as a handout.
BG 20.1
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, descendant of Mahārāja Bharata, I shall now describe the dynasty of Pūru, in which you were born, in which many saintly kings appeared, and from which many dynasties of brāhmaṇas began.
Essence. Śukadeva opens the Pūru dynasty — Parīkṣit's own line — full of saintly kings and brāhmaṇa-producing branches. Hearing one's own family in scripture is uniquely transformative; we should know where our own line is referenced.
BG 20.2
King Janamejaya was born of this dynasty of Pūru. Janamejaya’s son was Pracinvān, and his son was Pravīra. Thereafter, Pravīra’s son was Manusyu, and from Manusyu came the son named Cārupada.
Essence. Janamejaya, Pracinvān, Pravīra, Manusyu, Cārupada — the line continues. Each name once held a life that mattered, now distilled to a single line. We are not exempt from that distillation.
BG 20.3
The son of Cārupada was Sudyu, and the son of Sudyu was Bahugava. Bahugava’s son was Saṁyāti. From Saṁyāti came a son named Ahaṁyāti, from whom Raudrāśva was born.
Essence. Sudyu, Bahugava, Saṁyāti, Ahaṁyāti, Raudrāśva — the dynasty continues, each generation carrying duties forward. There is sober beauty in being simply one link in a long chain that does its job.
BG 20.4-5
Raudrāśva had ten sons, named Ṛteyu, Kakṣeyu, Sthaṇḍileyu, Kṛteyuka, Jaleyu, Sannateyu, Dharmeyu, Satyeyu, Vrateyu and Vaneyu. Of these ten sons, Vaneyu was the youngest. As the ten senses, which are products of the universal life, act under the control of life, these ten sons of Raudrāśva acted under Raudrāśva’s full control. All of them were born of the Apsarā named Ghṛtācī.
Essence. Raudrāśva's ten sons act under his control as the ten senses act under life. The family is a small cosmos; sense control of the household and sense control of the body follow the same principle.
BG 20.6
Ṛteyu had a son named Rantināva, who had three sons, named Sumati, Dhruva and Apratiratha. Apratiratha had only one son, whose name was Kaṇva.
Essence. From Rantināva come Sumati, Dhruva, and Apratiratha — and Apratiratha has only one son, Kaṇva. Sometimes a single son carries the whole future of a branch; numerical fertility is not the measure of significance.
BG 20.7
The son of Kaṇva was Medhātithi, whose sons, all brāhmaṇas, were headed by Praskanna. The son of Rantināva named Sumati had a son named Rebhi. Mahārāja Duṣmanta is well known as the son of Rebhi.
Essence. Kaṇva's son Medhātithi has brāhmaṇa sons headed by Praskanna; Sumati's son Rebhi fathers Duṣmanta. The Bhāgavatam quietly tracks both lines — the brāhmaṇa branch and the kṣatriya branch — without confusion.
BG 20.8-9
Once when King Duṣmanta went to the forest to hunt and was very much fatigued, he approached the residence of Kaṇva Muni. There he saw a most beautiful woman who looked exactly like the goddess of fortune and who sat there illuminating the entire āśrama by her effulgence. The King was naturally attracted by her beauty, and therefore he approached her, accompanied by some of his soldiers, and spoke to her.
Essence. Tired from hunting, Duṣmanta arrives at Kaṇva's āśrama and sees Śakuntalā, radiant as Lakṣmī. Encounters in spiritual āśramas, especially when one arrives tired and unguarded, carry risk and possibility together.
BG 20.10
Seeing the beautiful woman, the King was very much enlivened, and the fatigue of his hunting excursion was relieved. He was of course very much attracted because of lusty desires, and thus he inquired from her as follows, in a joking mood.
Essence. Lust quickly relieves the king's hunting fatigue. The very fact that one fatigue dissolves on meeting another sense object should alert us — fatigue's true cure was elsewhere.
BG 20.11
O beautiful lotus-eyed woman, who are you? Whose daughter are you? What purpose do you have in this solitary forest? Why are you staying here?
Essence. He asks who she is, whose daughter she is, and why she is alone in the forest. The interrogation looks like respect; it is partly that, partly an inquiry whose answers will be used by desire.
BG 20.12
O most beautiful one, it appears to my mind that you must be the daughter of a kṣatriya. Because I belong to the Pūru dynasty, my mind never endeavors to enjoy anything irreligiously.
Essence. Duṣmanta suspects she is a kṣatriya's daughter and reassures himself that, as a Pūru, he would never do anything irreligious. We tell ourselves we are incapable of certain wrongdoing the moment we are most about to do it.
BG 20.13
Śakuntalā said: I am the daughter of Viśvāmitra. My mother, Menakā, left me in the forest. O hero, the most powerful saint Kaṇva Muni knows all about this. Now let me know, how may I serve you?
Essence. Śakuntalā is the daughter of Viśvāmitra, abandoned by Menakā, raised by Kaṇva. Many great souls have parents on three layers — biological, abandoning, and adoptive — and they are no less great for it.
BG 20.14
O King with eyes like the petals of a lotus, kindly come sit down and accept whatever reception we can offer. We have a supply of nīvārā rice that you may kindly take. And if you so desire, stay here without hesitation.
Essence. Śakuntalā offers him nīvārā rice and the option to stay — perfect hospitality, perhaps with subtler intent. Pure hospitality often opens unexpected doors; we should be careful which doors we let our hospitality open.
BG 20.15
King Duṣmanta replied: O Śakuntalā, with beautiful eyebrows, you have taken your birth in the family of the great saint Viśvāmitra, and your reception is quite worthy of your family. Aside from this, the daughters of a king generally select their own husbands.
Essence. Duṣmanta points out that as Viśvāmitra's daughter she may select her own husband — and angles the conversation toward that conclusion. Conversations between potential partners are often more strategic than they appear; we should not pretend otherwise.
BG 20.16
When Śakuntalā responded to Mahārāja Duṣmanta’s proposal with silence, the agreement was complete. Then the King, who knew the laws of marriage, immediately married her by chanting the Vedic praṇava [oṁkāra], in accordance with the marriage ceremony as performed among the Gandharvas.
Essence. Her silence is taken as consent and Duṣmanta marries her by chanting praṇava in the Gandharva style. Even formal-sounding marriages can be hurried, lightly-witnessed, and based on a single silence — and they still bind.
BG 20.17
King Duṣmanta, who never discharged semen without a result, placed his semen at night in the womb of his Queen, Śakuntalā, and in the morning he returned to his palace. Thereafter, in due course of time, Śakuntalā gave birth to a son.
Essence. By morning, conception has occurred; by morning, Duṣmanta is gone. The asymmetry is plain — the king returns to his palace, the woman remains in the forest, the consequences asymmetrically distributed.
BG 20.18
In the forest, Kaṇva Muni performed all the ritualistic ceremonies concerning the newborn child. Later, the boy became so powerful that he would capture a lion and play with it.
Essence. In the forest, Kaṇva performs the rites and the boy grows so strong he plays with lions. Children abandoned by absent fathers can still be raised splendidly — but not without a Kaṇva.
BG 20.19
Śakuntalā, the best of beautiful women, along with her son, whose strength was insurmountable and who was a partial expansion of the Supreme Godhead, approached her husband, Duṣmanta.
Essence. Śakuntalā brings the son — a partial expansion of the Godhead — to her husband Duṣmanta. Devotional persistence eventually presents the truth to the very person who tried to forget it.
BG 20.20
When the King refused to accept his wife and son, who were both irreproachable, an unembodied voice spoke from the sky as an omen and was heard by everyone present.
Essence. Duṣmanta refuses to recognize his own wife and son — until an unembodied voice from the sky intervenes. The very Lord sometimes has to publicly correct us before we will acknowledge what we already know.
BG 20.21
The voice said: O Mahārāja Duṣmanta, a son actually belongs to his father, whereas the mother is only a container, like the skin of a bellows. According to Vedic injunctions, the father is born as the son. Therefore, maintain your own son and do not insult Śakuntalā.
Essence. The voice declares that the son belongs to the father — the mother is the container, but the seed comes from the father. Whatever we make of the biology, the spiritual point is non-abandonment: the father must maintain his son.
BG 20.22
O King Duṣmanta, he who discharges semen is the actual father, and his son saves him from the custody of Yamarāja. You are the actual procreator of this child. Indeed, Śakuntalā is speaking the truth.
Essence. A son saves the father from Yamarāja's custody — and Duṣmanta is the actual procreator. Even in our own self-interest, abandoning our offspring removes an eventual protection — and the Lord notes it.
BG 20.23
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Mahārāja Duṣmanta passed away from this earth, his son became the emperor of the world, the proprietor of the seven islands. He is referred to as a partial representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this world.
Essence. When Duṣmanta dies, his son becomes the emperor of the world and a partial representation of the Lord. Children we almost did not acknowledge can become the very protectors of our line — and of the world.
BG 20.24-26
Mahārāja Bharata, the son of Duṣmanta, had the mark of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s disc on the palm of his right hand, and he had the mark of a lotus whorl on the soles of his feet. By worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead with a grand ritualistic ceremony, he became the emperor and master of the entire world. Then, under the priesthood of Māmateya, Bhṛgu Muni, he performed fifty-five horse sacrifices on the bank of the Ganges, beginning from its mouth and ending at its source, and seventy-eight horse sacrifices on the bank of the Yamunā, beginning from the confluence at Prayāga and ending at the source. He established the sacrificial fire on an excellent site, and he distributed great wealth to the brāhmaṇas. Indeed, he distributed so many cows that each of thousands of brāhmaṇas had one badva [13,084] as his share.
Essence. Bharata bears the disc of Kṛṣṇa on his palm and lotus on his sole; he performs scores of horse sacrifices on Gaṅgā and Yamunā, giving each brāhmaṇa thirteen thousand cows. Real wealth, in scripture, is what is given away — not what is heaped.
BG 20.27
Bharata, the son of Mahārāja Duṣmanta, bound thirty-three hundred horses for those sacrifices, and thus he astonished all other kings. He surpassed even the opulence of the demigods, for he achieved the supreme spiritual master, Hari.
Essence. Bharata surpasses even the demigods because he attained Hari, the supreme spiritual master. Acquisition of Kṛṣṇa is itself the gain that makes all other gains look trivial.
BG 20.28
When Mahārāja Bharata performed the sacrifice known as Maṣṇāra [or a sacrifice in the place known as Maṣṇāra], he gave in charity fourteen lakhs of excellent elephants with white tusks and black bodies, completely covered with golden ornaments.
Essence. At the Maṣṇāra sacrifice, Bharata gives away fourteen lakh elephants — white tusks, black bodies, golden ornaments. Even our most lavish modern gifts are pale compared to what scripture treats as routine devotional spending.
BG 20.29
As one cannot approach the heavenly planets simply by the strength of his arms (for who can touch the heavenly planets with his hands?), one cannot imitate the wonderful activities of Mahārāja Bharata. No one could perform such activities in the past, nor will anyone be able to do so in the future.
Essence. As no one can touch heaven with their hands, no one can imitate Bharata's deeds — past or future. Some standards are not for matching but for orienting us toward what was possible when devotion was at full strength.
BG 20.30
When Mahārāja Bharata was on tour, he defeated or killed all the Kirātas, Hūṇas, Yavanas, Pauṇḍras, Kaṅkas, Khaśas, Śakas and the kings who were opposed to the Vedic principles of brahminical culture.
Essence. Bharata defeats Kirātas, Hūṇas, Yavanas, and other anti-Vedic kings. Spiritual emperors do not just perform sacrifices — they actively restrain forces opposed to brahminical culture.
BG 20.31
Formerly, after conquering the demigods, all the demons had taken shelter in the lower planetary system known as Rasātala and had brought all the wives and daughters of the demigods there also. Mahārāja Bharata, however, rescued all those women, along with their associates, from the clutches of the demons, and he returned them to the demigods.
Essence. Bharata rescues the demigods' wives and daughters from the demons in Rasātala. Recovery of those who have been carried off to the lower regions by demonic forces is a real responsibility of leadership.
BG 20.32
Mahārāja Bharata provided all necessities for his subjects, both on this earth and in the heavenly planets, for twenty-seven thousand years. He circulated his orders and distributed his soldiers in all directions.
Essence. For twenty-seven thousand years Bharata provides necessities for his subjects on earth and in heaven. Long, sustained provisioning — not flashy interventions — is the bulk of true leadership.
BG 20.33
As the ruler of the entire universe, Emperor Bharata had the opulences of a great kingdom and unconquerable soldiers. His sons and family had seemed to him to be his entire life. But finally he thought of all this as an impediment to spiritual advancement, and therefore he ceased from enjoying it.
Essence. At last, Bharata sees opulence, sons, and family as impediments to spiritual advancement and stops enjoying them. There is a kind of family-attachment that, however lovely, eventually has to be released for the soul's progress.
BG 20.34
O King Parīkṣit, Mahārāja Bharata had three pleasing wives, who were daughters of the King of Vidarbha. When all three of them bore children who did not resemble the King, these wives thought that he would consider them unfaithful queens and reject them, and therefore they killed their own sons.
Essence. Bharata's three wives, fearing rejection because their sons did not resemble him, killed their own children. Fear of a partner's reaction can drive mothers to monstrous acts — fear is a fertile field for atrocity.
BG 20.35
The King, his attempt for progeny frustrated in this way, performed a sacrifice named marut-stoma to get a son. The demigods known as the Maruts, being fully satisfied with him, then presented him a son named Bharadvāja.
Essence. After this catastrophe, Bharata performs marut-stoma and the Maruts give him a son. The Lord can supply through unexpected channels what biology and ordinary expectations have failed to deliver.
BG 20.36
When the demigod named Bṛhaspati was attracted by his brother’s wife, Mamatā, who at that time was pregnant, he desired to have sexual relations with her. The son within her womb forbade this, but Bṛhaspati cursed him and forcibly discharged semen into the womb of Mamatā.
Essence. Even Bṛhaspati, priest of the demigods, becomes lusty for his brother's pregnant wife and curses the resisting child. The sex impulse can overpower even the highest learning — no qualification grants exemption.
BG 20.37
Mamatā very much feared being forsaken by her husband for giving birth to an illegitimate son, and therefore she considered giving up the child. But then the demigods solved the problem by enunciating a name for the child.
Essence. Fearing rejection by her husband, Mamatā considers giving up the child — and the demigods solve it by giving the child a name. Sometimes a community providing identity to an otherwise abandoned child can save them.
BG 20.38
Bṛhaspati said to Mamatā, “You foolish woman, although this child was born from the wife of one man through the semen discharged by another, you should maintain him.” Upon hearing this, Mamatā replied, “O Bṛhaspati, you maintain him!” After speaking in this way, Bṛhaspati and Mamatā both left. Thus the child was known as Bharadvāja.
Essence. Both parents shove the child away — Bṛhaspati to Mamatā, Mamatā back to Bṛhaspati — and the child is left as 'Bharadvāja,' 'maintain him.' Even high-souled people can leave a child orphaned by their own quarrel.
BG 20.39
Although encouraged by the demigods to maintain the child, Mamatā considered him useless because of his illicit birth, and therefore she left him. Consequently, the demigods known as the Maruts maintained the child, and when Mahārāja Bharata was disappointed for want of a child, this child was given to him as his son.
Essence. Mamatā considers him useless for his illicit birth and abandons him; the Maruts maintain him until Bharata adopts him. Even rejected children, if maintained by the right caretakers, end up given to emperors as sons.