SB 3.12.5
tan babhase svabhuh putran
prajah srjata putrakah
tan naicchan moksa-dharmano
vasudeva-parayanah
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Brahma spoke to his sons after generating them. “My dear sons,” he said, “now generate progeny.” But due to their being attached to Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they aimed at liberation, and therefore they expressed their unwillingness.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
The four sons of Brahma, the Kumaras, declined to become family men even on the request of their great father, Brahma. Those who are serious about gaining release from material bondage should not be entangled in the false relationship of family bondage. People may ask how the Kumaras could refuse the orders of Brahma, who was their father and, above all, the creator of the universe. The reply is that one who is vasudeva-parayana, or seriously engaged in the devotional service of the Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, need not care for any other obligation. It is enjoined in the Bhagavatam (11.5.41):
devarsi-bhutapta-nrnam pitrnam
na kinkaro nayam rni ca rajan
sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam
gato mukundam parihrtya kartam
“Anyone who has completely given up all worldly relationships and has taken absolute shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, who gives us salvation and who alone is fit to be taken shelter of, is no longer a debtor or servant of anyone, including the demigods, forefathers, sages, other living entities, relatives, and members of human society.” Thus there was nothing wrong in the acts of the Kumaras when they refused their great father’s request that they become family men.