Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 14 Verse 38

Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 14: Pregnancy of Diti in the Evening

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.14.38

kaśyapa uvāca

aprāyatyād ātmanas te

doṣān mauhūrtikād uta

man-nideśāticāreṇa

devānāḿ cātihelanāt

SYNONYMS

kaśyapaḥ uvāca — the learned brāhmaṇa Kaśyapa said; aprāyatyāt — because of the pollution; ātmanaḥ — of the mind; te — your; doṣāt — because of defilement; mauhūrtikāt — in terms of the moment; uta — also; mat — my; nideśa — direction; aticāreṇa — being too neglectful; devānām — of the demigods; ca — also; atihelanāt — being too apathetic.

TRANSLATION

The learned Kaśyapa said: Because of your mind's being polluted, because of defilement of the particular time, because of your negligence of my directions, and because of your being apathetic to the demigods, everything was inauspicious.

PURPORT

The conditions for having good progeny in society are that the husband should be disciplined in religious and regulative principles and the wife should be faithful to the husband. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.11) it is said that sexual intercourse according to religious principles is a representation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Before engaging in sexual intercourse, both the husband and the wife must consider their mental condition, the particular time, the husband's direction, and obedience to the demigods. According to Vedic society, there is a suitable auspicious time for sex life, which is called the time for garbhādhāna. Diti neglected all the principles of scriptural injunction, and therefore, although she was very anxious for auspicious children, she was informed that her children would not be worthy to be the sons of a brāhmaṇa. There is a clear indication herein that a brāhmaṇa's son is not always a brāhmaṇa. Personalities like Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu were actually born of brāhmaṇas, but they were not accepted as brāhmaṇas because their fathers did not follow the regulative principles for their birth. Such children are called demons, or Rākṣasas. There were only one or two Rākṣasas in the previous ages due to negligence of the disciplinary methods, but during the age of Kali there is no discipline in sex life. How, then, can one expect good children? Certainly unwanted children cannot be a source of happiness in society, but through the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement they can be raised to the human standard by chanting the holy name of God. That is the unique contribution of Lord Caitanya to human society.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness