TEXT 39
sa bala eva puruso
matamaham anuvratah
adharmamsodbhavam mrtyum
tenabhavad adharmikah
SYNONYMS
sahthat; balahchild; evacertainly; purusahmale; mata-mahammaternal grandfather; anuvrataha follower of; adharmaof irreligion; amsafrom a portion; udbhavamwho appeared; mrtyumdeath; tenaby this; abhavathe became; adharmikahirreligious.
TRANSLATION
That boy was born partially in the dynasty of irreligion. His grandfather was death personified, and the boy grew up as his follower; he became a greatly irreligious person.
PURPORT
The childs mother, Sunitha, was the daughter of death personified. Generally the daughter receives the qualifications of her father, and the son acquires those of the mother. So, according to the axiomatic truth that things equal to the same thing are equal to one another, the child born of King Anga became the follower of his maternal grandfather. According to smrti-sastra, a child generally follows the principles of his maternal uncles house. Naranam matula-karma means that a child generally follows the qualities of his maternal family. If the maternal family is very corrupt or sinful, the child, even though born of a good father, becomes a victim of the maternal family. According to Vedic civilization, therefore, before the marriage takes place an account is taken of both the boys and girls families. If according to astrological calculation the combination is perfect, then marriage takes place. Sometimes, however, there is a mistake, and family life becomes frustrating.
It appears that King Anga did not get a very good wife in Sunitha because she was the daughter of death personified. Sometimes the Lord arranges an unfortunate wife for His devotee so that gradually, due to family circumstances, the devotee becomes detached from his wife and home and makes progress in devotional life. It appears that by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, King Anga, although a pious devotee, got an unfortunate wife like Sunitha and later on a bad child like Vena. But the result was that he got complete freedom from the entanglement of family life and left home to go back to Godhead.

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