Study a Verse

• According to the Vedic system, one within the institution of varṇa and āśrama must leave his family life after he reaches fifty years of age (pañcāśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet).
• Thus Sudyumna followed the prescribed regulations of varṇāśrama by leaving the kingdom and going to the forest to complete his spiritual life.
• Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Ninth Canto, First Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “King Sudyumna Becomes a Woman.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Change → Acceptance. The instability of worldly identities is a recurring premise.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 9: Dynastic origins and domestic transformations. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 1: King Sudyumna Becomes a Woman

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Thus he regained his kingdom and had three sons, named Utkala, Gaya and Vimala, who were all very religious. Thereafter, he entrusted his kingdom to Purūravā and took the order of vānaprastha life.