Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 34: Satyavatī, Viśvāmitra’s Elder Sister
Text 1.34.9
दिव्या पुण्योदका रम्या हिमवन्तमुपाश्रिता।
लोकस्य हितकामार्थं प्रवृत्ता भगिनी मम॥
divyā puṇyodakā ramyā himavantam upāśritā
lokasya hita-kāmārthaṁ pravṛttā bhaginī mama
divyā = a glorious; puṇya-udakā = pious river; ramyā = pleasant; himavantam = the Himalayas; upāśritā = starting from; lokasya hita-kāma-artham = in order to bless people with benediction for this life and the next; pravṛttā = assumed the form of; bhaginī = elder sister; mama = mine.
My elder sister assumed the form of a glorious, pleasant, pious river starting from the Himalayas in order to bless people with benedictions for this life and the next.
It is for this purpose that from Svarga she assumed the form of a river and took shelter of the Himalayas.
NOTE. This consideration of benefitting oneself or others in this life and the next life is characteristic of the regulated culture of Vedic dharma. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this in his purport to Bhagavad-gītā 6.40 thus: “Humanity may be divided into two sections, namely, the regulated and the nonregulated. Those who are engaged simply in bestial sense gratifications without knowledge of their next life or spiritual salvation belong to the nonregulated section. And those who follow the principles of prescribed duties in the scriptures are classified amongst the regulated section. The nonregulated section, both civilized and noncivilized, educated and noneducated, strong and weak, are full of animal propensities. Their activities are never auspicious, because while enjoying the animal propensities of eating, sleeping, defending and mating, they perpetually remain in material existence, which is always miserable. On the other hand, those who are regulated by scriptural injunctions, and who thus rise gradually to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, certainly progress in life.”