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Text 12

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

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.

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.

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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