SB 6.14.12

Devanāgarī

रूपौदार्यवयोजन्मविद्यैश्वर्यश्रियादिभि: । सम्पन्नस्य गुणै: सर्वैश्चिन्ता बन्ध्यापतेरभूत् ॥ १२ ॥

Text

rūpaudārya-vayo-janma- vidyaiśvarya-śriyādibhiḥ sampannasya guṇaiḥ sarvaiś cintā bandhyā-pater abhūt

Synonyms

rūpa—with beauty;audārya—magnanimity;vayaḥ—youth;janma—aristocratic birth;vidyā—education;aiśvarya—opulence;śriya-ādibhiḥ—wealth and so on;sampannasya—endowed;guṇaiḥ—with good qualities;sarvaiḥ—all;cintā—anxiety;bandhyā-pateḥ—of Citraketu, the husband of so many sterile wives;abhūt—there was.

Translation

Citraketu, the husband of these millions of wives, was endowed with a beautiful form, magnanimity and youth. He was born in a high family, he had a complete education, and he was wealthy and opulent. Nevertheless, in spite of being endowed with all these assets, he was full of anxiety because he did not have a son.

Purport

It appears that the King first married one wife, but she could not bear a child. Then he married a second, a third, a fourth and so on, but none of the wives could bear children. In spite of the material assets of janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī — birth in an aristocratic family with full opulence, wealth, education and beauty — he was very much aggrieved because in spite of having so many wives, he had no son. Certainly his grief was natural. Gṛhastha life does not mean having a wife and no children. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says, putra-hīnaṁ gṛhaṁ śūnyam: if a family man has no son, his home is no better than a desert. The King was certainly most unhappy that he could not get a son, and this is why he had married so many times. Kṣatriyas especially are allowed to marry more than one wife, and this King did so. Nonetheless, he had no issue.

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