Text 52
āsurī nāma paścād dvās
tayā yāti purañjanaḥ
grāmakaṁ nāma viṣayaṁ
durmadena samanvitaḥ
āsurī — of the name Āsurī; nāma — called; paścāt — on the western side; dvāḥ — gate; tayā — by which; yāti — used to go; purañjanaḥ — King Purañjana; grāmakam — of the name Grāmaka; nāma — called; viṣayam — the city of sense enjoyment; durmadena — by Durmada; samanvitaḥ — accompanied.
On the western side was a gate named Āsurī. Through that gate King Purañjana used to go to the city of Grāmaka, accompanied by his friend Durmada.
The gate on the western side of the city was known as Āsurī because it was especially meant for the asuras. The word asura refers to those who are interested in sense gratification, specifically in sex life, to which they are overly attracted. Thus Purañjana, the living entity, enjoys himself to his greatest satisfaction by means of the genitals. Consequently he used to go to the place known as Grāmaka. Material sense gratification is also called grāmya, and the place where sex life is indulged in to a great extent is called Grāmaka. When going to Grāmaka, Purañjana used to be accompanied by his friend Durmada. The word viṣaya refers to the four bodily necessities of life — eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The word durmadena may be analyzed in this way: dur means duṣṭa, or “sinful,” and mada means “madness.” Every living entity who is in contact with material nature is called mada, or mad. It is said:
piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya
māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya
(Prema-vivarta)
When a person is haunted, he becomes practically insane. When one is in an insane condition, he speaks all kinds of nonsense. Thus to become engaged in sense gratification, one has to accept a friend who is durmada, or badly affected by the material disease.
The words āsurī nāma paścād dvāḥ are significant in another sense. The sunrise is first visible from the eastern side — the Bay of Bengal — and gradually it progresses toward the west. It is practically experienced that people in the West are more addicted to sense gratification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself has certified, paścimera loka saba mūḍha anācāra (Cc. Ādi 10.89): the more one goes to the western side, the more he will find people disinterested in spiritual life. He will find them behaving against the Vedic standards. Because of this, people living in the West are more addicted to sense gratification. In this Bhāgavatam it is confirmed: āsurī nāma paścād dvāḥ. In other words, the population on the western side is interested in an asuric civilization, that is, a materialistic way of life. Lord Caitanya consequently wanted this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to be preached on the western side of the world so that people addicted to sense gratification might be benefited by His teachings.