SB 1.3.13 (1962)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 13
Astame merudevyam tu naver jatah urukramah Darshayan vartma dhiranam sarva ashrama namaskritam
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Astame-in the eighth of the incarnations, merudevyam tu-in the womb of Merudevi the wife of, naver-king Navi, jatah-took birth, urukramah-the all powerful Lord, darshayan-by showing, vartma-the way, dhiranam-of the perfect beings, sarva-all, ashrama-orders of life, namaskritam-honoured by.
TRANSLATION
In the eighth of the line of incarnations the Lord advented Himself as the (king Rishava) son of king Navi and his wife Merudevi. In this incarnation the Lord showed the path of perfection which is followed by those who have fully controlled the senses and who are honoured by all the orders of life.
PURPORT
Society of the human being is naturally divided into eight by orders and status of life. They are the four divisions of occupation and four division of cultural advancement. The intelligent class of men, the administrative class of men, the productive class of men and the labourer class of men are the four divisions of occupation. And the student life, the householder's life, retired life and renounced order of life are four status of cultural advancement towards the path of spiritual realisation. Out of these the renounced order of life or the order of Sanyas is considered the highest of all and a Sanyasi is constitutionally the Spiritual Master for all orders and divisions of social status. In the Sanyas-order also there are four stages of upliftment in the matter of perfection. Such stages are called the Kutichak, Vahudak, Paribrajakacharya, and the Paramhansa. The paramhansa stage of life is the highest stage of perfection. This order of life is respected by all others. Maharaj Rishava the son of King Navi and Merudevi, was an incarnation of the Lord and He instructed His sons to follow the path of perfection by Tapasya which sanctifies one's existence and thus one attains to the stage of spiritual happiness which is eternal and ever increasing. Every living being is searching after happiness but none of them know it where eternal and unlimited happiness is obtainable. Foolish men seek after material sense pleasures as substitute for real happiness but such foolish men forget that temporary so-called happiness derived out of sense pleasures, is also enjoyed by the dogs and hogs. No animal, birds or beast is bereft of this sense pleasure. In every species of life except the human form of life, such happiness of sense pleasures is immensely obtainable. The human form of life is therefore, not meant for such cheap happiness. The human life is meant for attaining eternal and unlimited happiness by spiritual realisation. This spiritual realisation is obtained by Tapasya or under going voluntarily the path of penance and abstinence from material pleasures. Those who have been trained up for abstinence in the material pleasures, are called the Dheera or the men undisturbed by incitement of the senses. These Dheeras only can accept the orders of Sanyas and they can only gradually rise up to the status of the Paramhansa which post is adored by all members of the society. King Rishava propagated for this mission and at last stage He became completely aloof from the material bodily needs which is a rare stage not to be imitated by foolish men but that is to be worshipped by all stages of social orders.