The Allegory of King Purañjana and the Attack by Candavega
Maitreya continued his narrative by introducing one of the most profound and allegorical teachings in the entire Bhagavatam—the story of King Purañjana. This narrative is not a simple historical account but is rather an elaborate allegory designed to reveal the deepest truths about the nature of the embodied soul, the material body, and the spiritual journey toward liberation. The story uses vivid characters and dramatic events to symbolize the complex relationship between the eternal soul and the temporary material body, and how the soul becomes entangled in material existence through identification with the body and attachment to sensory pleasures.
King Purañjana represents the individual soul who has forgotten his spiritual identity and has become absorbed in material existence. In the narrative, Purañjana discovered a magnificent city with nine gates—this city represents the human body with its nine openings (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, and two lower outlets). The city appeared attractive and comfortable, perfectly designed to provide all manner of sensory pleasures. Purañjana became completely absorbed in enjoying this city, spending his time exploring its various quarters, experiencing different sensations, and pursuing various material desires. He became so identified with the city that he forgot his original spiritual nature and believed himself to be inseparable from this material dwelling.
In the city, Purañjana met a beautiful queen named Purañjanī, who represents the mind—the internal faculty through which the soul experiences material existence and through which all desires and attachments are mediated. Purañjana became completely captivated by Purañjanī, spending all his time and energy trying to please her and fulfill her endless desires and whims. He built elaborate palaces for her, provided her with every luxury, and organized constant entertainment and amusement. Through his attachment to Purañjanī, Purañjana became increasingly entangled in material consciousness, his spiritual awareness becoming progressively more obscured as he became absorbed in material pursuits and sensory gratifications.
The narrative then describes how a fearsome figure named Candavega, accompanied by an army of 360 warriors, attacked the city of Purañjana. Candavega represents the passage of time, and his 360 warriors represent the days of the year that progressively consume the duration of material life. This attack symbolizes how time inexorably destroys the material body, causing aging, disease, and ultimately death. Despite all of Purañjana's efforts to defend his city and protect his comfortable existence, he was powerless against the relentless assault of Candavega and his forces. The beautiful city that had seemed so permanent and substantial began to deteriorate and decay under the constant attack of time.
Accompanying Candavega was a mysterious female figure called Kālakanyā (the daughter of time), who represents old age and the progressive deterioration of the body's capacities. Wherever Kālakanyā went, everything became withered, weakened, and depleted. The once-vibrant city of Purañjana, which had been full of life and vitality, gradually became decrepit and uninhabitable under her influence. Purañjana watched in horror as everything he had built and everything he had identified with was progressively destroyed. His attachment to the city and to Purañjanī made this deterioration extraordinarily painful, as he could not accept the inevitable loss of everything he had become attached to.
This chapter teaches the profound truth that the material body is temporary and is constantly being consumed by the passage of time, and that all identification with the body and attachment to material pleasures ultimately leads to suffering when the inevitable deterioration and death occur. The soul, represented by Purañjana, forgets its eternal spiritual nature and becomes absorbed in temporary material existence, creating the conditions for inevitable suffering. The only escape from this cycle is to reawaken spiritual consciousness and remember one's eternal identity beyond the temporary material body. This allegorical narrative prepares the ground for deeper teachings about how the soul can transcend material entanglement and achieve liberation.