Narada then informed King Prachinabarhi,
“I narrated this story of Puranjana to you for the purpose of self-realization, and it is meant for indirectly understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
King Prachinabarhi replied,
“My dear lord, I could not fully appreciate the purport of the allegorical story of King Puranjana. For persons like us, who are overly attached to fruitive activities, it is very difficult to realize the meaning of such instructions.”
Narada then explained,
“You should understand that Puranjana (the living entity) transmigrates according to his own work, to different types of bodies that may be one-legged (ghosts), two-legged, three-legged (old men, who walk with the help of a cane), four-legged, many-legged or legless (serpents). The unknown friend of the living entity is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the conditioned soul wants to enjoy the modes of nature in their entirety (when he wishes to enjoy the gratification of all the senses) he prefers the human or demigod form.
The word pramada refers to material intelligence (ignorance) because when one takes shelter of such intelligence, he identifies himself with the material body and then enjoys and suffers a life of sense gratification. The ten senses are male friends of Puranjani, and their engagements are considered to be their girl friends. The serpent is the life-air, acting within the five circulatory processes. (The living entity is merged within the life-air, which functions in a five-fold way for circulation.)
The eleventh commander (the mind) is the leader of the senses (In conditional existence, one gives power of attorney to his mind, just as one may let the affairs of his estate be executed by a manager. According to training, the mind can be one’s friend or enemy. If one gets a good manager, his estate will be maintained nicely, but if the manager is a thief, everything will be spoiled.) and the Panchala kingdom is the atmosphere in which the five sense objects are enjoyed. Within the Panchala kingdom is the city of the body, having nine gates.”
This is a section of the book “A Sidelong Glance”.
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