Devanagari
यथा शयान आत्मानं विषयान् फलमेव च ।
अनुभुङ्क्ते ऽप्यसत्यर्थे तथाप्नोत्यबुधो भवम् ॥ ४८ ॥
Verse text
yathā śayāna ātmānaṁ
viṣayān phalam eva ca
anubhuṅkte ’py asaty arthe
tathāpnoty abudho bhavam
Synonyms
yathā
—
as
;
śayānaḥ
—
a sleeping person
;
ātmānam
—
himself
;
viṣayān
—
sense objects
;
phalam
—
the fruits
;
eva
—
indeed
;
ca
—
also
;
anubhuṅkte
—
experiences
;
api
—
even
;
asati arthe
—
in that which is not real
;
tathā
—
so
;
āpnoti
—
undergoes
;
abudhaḥ
—
the unintelligent
;
bhavam
—
material existence .
Translation
As a sleeping person perceives himself, the objects of sense enjoyment and the fruits of his acts within the illusion of a dream, so one who is unintelligent undergoes material existence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
As a sleeping person perceives himself, the objects of sense enjoyment and the fruits of his acts within the illusion of a dream, so one who is unintelligent undergoes material existence.
KB 10.54.48
Lord Balarāma continued: “One’s consciousness in material existence can be compared to sleeping and dreaming. When a man sleeps, he dreams of many nonfactual happenings, and as a result of dreaming he becomes subject to different kinds of distress and happiness. Similarly, when a person is in the dream of material consciousness, he suffers the effects of accepting a body and giving it up again in material existence. Opposite to this material consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In other words, when a man is elevated to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he becomes free from this false conception of life.”
Purport
As stated in
śruti,
asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ:
“The living being has no intimate connection with the material world.” This point is explained in the present verse. A similar statement is found in the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(11.22.56)
:
arthe ’hy avidyamāne ’pi
saṁsṛtir na nivartate
dhyāyato viṣayān asya
svapne ’narthāgamo yathā
“For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
From the sruti statement "asango’ yam purusah" it is understood that the atma is actually not contaminated by the body, and material life exists only because of the conception of body due to ignorance with its inconceivable energy. This is illustrated with an example. Though objects themselves are real, while sleeping a person may experience objects such as countries to be conquered with vast armies, results such as victory, and enjoyment of the results such as sandalwood and women. And sometimes he experiences defeat, bondage, beating and abuse. In this way, the unintelligent person experiences in an unreal way the world of happiness and distress due to association with the body.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
A sleeping person experiences objects and fruits as if in the waking state (anu—bhuṅkte). He experiences himself, seeing himself as a king etc. There is another meaning. “If this is so, why do does Rukmī seem to be absorbed in his nature, even after hearing the truth?” Rukmī, a fool, simply undergoes saṁsāra, just as a sleeping person experiences objects in a dream.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
An example is given to show the falsity of saṁsāra by ātmā’s identification with body under ignorance. A sleeping person, any person, seeing a dream (śayānaḥ), experiences (bhuṅkte) objects and results (happiness and suffering), similar to the waking state (anu) and in the dream sees himself (ātmanam) as a king etc. “If this is so, then everything is real in the dream.” No. They are non-existent. The objects (arthe) are non-existent (asati). The person who does not know about ātmā (abudhaḥ) undergoes saṁsāra (bhavam). From ignorance arises birth and death. It has no real existence.