Text 46
putreṇa jayate lokān
iti satyavatī śrutiḥ
brahma-daṇḍa-hataḥ pāpo
yad veno ’tyatarat tamaḥ
putreṇa — by the son; jayate — one becomes victorious; lokān — all the heavenly planets; iti — thus; satya-vatī — becomes true; śrutiḥ — the Vedas; brahma-daṇḍa — by the curse of brāhmaṇas; hataḥ — killed; pāpaḥ — the most sinful; yat — as; venaḥ — the father of Mahārāja Pṛthu; ati — great; atarat — became delivered; tamaḥ — from the darkness of hellish life.
They all declared that the Vedic conclusion that one can conquer the heavenly planets by the action of a putra, or son, was fulfilled, for the most sinful Vena, who had been killed by the curse of the brāhmaṇas, was now delivered from the darkest region of hellish life by his son, Mahārāja Pṛthu.
According to the Vedic version, there is a hellish planet called Put, and one who delivers a person from there is called putra. The purpose of marriage, therefore, is to have a putra, or son who is able to deliver his father, even if the father falls down to the hellish condition of Put. Mahārāja Pṛthu’s father, Vena, was a most sinful person and was therefore cursed to death by the brāhmaṇas. Now all the great saintly persons, sages and brāhmaṇas present in the meeting, after hearing from Mahārāja Pṛthu about his great mission in life, became convinced that the statement of the Vedas had been fully proved. The purpose of accepting a wife in religious marriage, as sanctioned in the Vedas, is to have a putra, a son qualified to deliver his father from the darkest region of hellish life. Marriage is not intended for sense gratification but for getting a son fully qualified to deliver his father. But if a son is raised to become an unqualified demon, how can he deliver his father from hellish life? It is therefore the duty of a father to become a Vaiṣṇava and raise his children to become Vaiṣṇavas; then even if by chance the father falls into a hellish life in his next birth, such a son can deliver him, as Mahārāja Pṛthu delivered his father.