Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 5 - Chapter 1 - Verse 4


Sanskrit:

संशयोऽयं महान् ब्रह्मन् दारागारसुतादिषु ।सक्तस्य यत्सिद्धिरभूत्कृष्णे च मतिरच्युता ॥ ४ ॥

ITRANS:

saṁśayo ’yaṁ mahān brahmandārāgāra-sutādiṣusaktasya yat siddhir abhūtkṛṣṇe ca matir acyutā

Translation:

The King continued: O great brāhmaṇa, this is my great doubt. How was it possible for a person like King Priyavrata, who was so attached to wife, children and home, to achieve the topmost infallible perfection in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Purport:

King Parīkṣit wondered how a person so attached to wife, children and home could become so perfectly Kṛṣṇa conscious. Prahlāda Mahārāja has said: A gṛhavrata, one who has taken a vow to execute family duties, has no chance to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. This is because most gṛhavratas are guided by sense gratification and therefore gradually glide down to the darkest regions of material existence (adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisram). How can they possibly become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Gosvāmī to resolve this great doubt.