Study a Verse

• If one remains a victim of the so-called beauty of his wife, his family life is nothing but a dark well.
• If one wants relief from the miserable condition of material life, one must voluntarily give up his lusty relationship with his wife; otherwise there is no question of self-realization.
• Prahlāda Mahārāja therefore recommended that in due time, at least after one’s fiftieth year, one must give up household life and go to the forest.

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

Insatiable desire → Renunciation. Exhausted enjoyment generates insight.

Chapters 18–19 of Canto 9: Yayāti's craving and liberation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 19: King Yayāti Achieves Liberation

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Without great endeavor, those with a poor fund of knowledge cannot give up sense enjoyment, especially in relation to sex, because a beautiful woman bewilders even the most learned man. King Yayāti, however, renounced worldly life and divided his property among his sons.