SB 10.87.39 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यदि न समुद्धरन्ति यतयो हृदि कामजटा दुरधिगमोऽसतां हृदि गतोऽस्मृतकण्ठमणि: । असुतृपयोगिनामुभयतोऽप्यसुखं भगव- न्ननपगतान्तकादनधिरूढपदाद् भवत: ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā duradhigamo ’satāṁ hṛdi gato ’smṛta-kaṇṭha-maṇiḥ asu-tṛpa-yoginām ubhayato ’py asukhaṁ bhagavann anapagatāntakād anadhirūḍha-padād bhavataḥ

Synonyms

yadi — if ; na samuddharanti — they do not uproot ; yatayaḥ — persons in the renounced order of life ; hṛdi — in their hearts ; kāma — of material desire ; jaṭāḥ — the traces ; duradhigamaḥ — impossible to be realized ; asatām — for the impure ; hṛdi — in the heart ; gataḥ — having entered ; asmṛta — forgotten ; kaṇṭha — on one’s neck ; maṇiḥ — a jewel ; asu — their life airs ; tṛpa — who gratify ; yoginām — for practitioners of yoga ; ubhayataḥ — in both (worlds) ; api — even ; asukham — unhappiness ; bhagavan — O Personality of Godhead ; anapagata — not gone away ; antakāt — from death ; anadhirūḍha — unobtained ; padāt — whose kingdom ; bhavataḥ — from You .

Translation

Members of the renounced order who fail to uproot the last traces of material desire in their hearts remain impure, and thus You do not allow them to understand You. Although You are present within their hearts, for them You are like a jewel worn around the neck of a man who has totally forgotten it is there. O Lord, those who practice yoga only for sense gratification must suffer punishment both in this life and the next: from death, who will not release them, and from You, whose kingdom they cannot reach.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Members of the renounced order who fail to uproot the last traces of material desire in their hearts remain impure, and thus You do not allow them to understand You. Although You are present within their hearts, for them You are like a jewel worn around the neck of a man who has totally forgotten it is there. O Lord, those who pratice yoga only for sense gratification must suffer punishment both in this life and the next: from death, who will not release them, and from You, whose kingdom they cannot reach. KB 10.87.39 “Dear Lord,” the personified Vedas continued, “if saintly persons do not take care to eradicate completely the roots of sinful desires, they cannot experience the Supersoul, although He is sitting side by side with the individual soul. Samādhi, or meditation, means that one has to find the Supersoul within himself. One who is not free from sinful reactions cannot see the Supersoul. If a person has a jeweled locket in his necklace but forgets the jewel, it is almost as though he does not possess it. Similarly, if an individual soul meditates but does not actually perceive the presence of the Supersoul within himself, his meditation is useless.” Persons who have taken to the path of self-realization must therefore be very careful to avoid contamination by the influence of māyā. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that a devotee should be completely free from all sorts of material desires. A devotee should not be affected by the results of karma and jṣāna. One has to simply understand Kṛṣṇa and carry out His desires. That is the pure devotional stage. The personified Vedas continued: “Mystic yogīs who still have contaminated desires for sense gratification are never successful in their attempt, nor can they realize the Supersoul within the individual self. As such, the so-called yogīs and jṣānīs who are simply wasting their time in different types of sense gratification, either by mental speculation or by exhibition of limited mystic powers, will never be liberated from conditioned life and will continue to go through repeated births and deaths. For such persons, both this life and the next life are sources of tribulation. Such sinful persons are already suffering tribulation in this life, and because they are not perfect in self-realization they will be plagued with further tribulation in the next life. Despite all endeavors to attain perfection, such yogīs, contaminated by desires for sense gratification, will continue to suffer in this life and the next.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that if sannyāsīs (persons in the renounced order of life, who have left their homes for self-realization) do not engage themselves in the devotional service of the Lord but become attracted by philanthropic work, such as opening educational institutions, hospitals or even monasteries, churches or temples of demigods, they find only trouble from such engagements, not only in this life but in the next. Sannyāsīs who do not take advantage of this life to realize Kṛṣṇa simply waste their time and energy in activities outside the jurisdiction of the renounced order. A devotee’s attempt to engage his energies in such activities as constructing a Viṣṇu temple, however, is never wasted. Such engagements are called kṛṣṇārthe akhila-ceṣṭā, variegated activities performed to please Kṛṣṇa. A philanthropist’s opening a school building and a devotee’s constructing a temple are not on the same level. Although a philanthropist’s opening an educational institution may be pious activity, it comes under the laws of karma, whereas constructing a temple for Viṣṇu is devotional service. Devotional service is never within the jurisdiction of the law of karma. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate: [Bg. 14.26] “Devotees of the Personality of Godhead transcend all the reactions of the three modes of material nature and are situated on the transcendental platform of Brahman realization.” The devotees are liberated in both this life and the next. Any work done in this material world for Yajṣa (Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa) is considered to be liberated work, but without connection with Acyuta, the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no possibility of stopping the resultant actions of the law of karma. The life of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the life of liberation. The conclusion is that a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, is liberated in both this life and the next, whereas karmīs, jṣānīs and yogīs are never liberated, either in this life or in the next.

Purport

A mere show of renunciation is not sufficient to gain a person entrance into the kingdom of God. One must undergo a thorough change of heart, symptomized by a complete lack of interest in the self-destructive habits of sense gratification, both gross and subtle. Not only must the true sage refrain from even thinking of illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling, but he must also give up his desires for reputation and position. All together these demands add up to a formidable challenge but the fruits of true renunciation in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are well worth a lifetime of endeavor. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.2) confirms the statements of this verse: kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ sa karmabhir jāyate tatra tatra. “Even a thoughtful renunciant, if he maintains any worldly desires will be forced by his karmic reactions to take birth again and again in various circumstances.” Philosophers and yogīs work hard to become free from birth and death, but because they are unwilling to surrender their proud independence, their meditations are devoid of devotion to the Supreme Lord, and thus they fall short of the perfection of renunciation — pure love of God. This pure love is the only goal of a sincere Vaiṣṇava, and therefore he must vigilantly resist the natural temptations of profit, adoration and distinction, and also the impulse to merge into an all consuming impersonal oblivion. As Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11): anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jṣāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā “When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as Kṛṣṇa desires. For those who undergo rigorous yoga discipline only to please their senses, prolonged suffering is inevitable. Hunger, disease, the degeneration of old age, injury from accident, violence from others — these are a few of the limitless varieties of suffering one can experience to varying degrees in this world. And ultimately, death awaits, followed by painful punishment for sinful activities. Especially those who have freely indulged in sensual enjoyments at the cost of others’ lives can expect punishment so severe it is unimaginable. But the greatest pain of material existence is not misfortune in this life or being sent to hell after death: it is the emptiness of having forgotten one’s eternal relationship with the Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī prays: dambha-nyāsa-miṣeṇa vaṣcita-janaṁ bhogaika-cintāturaṁ sammuhyantam ahar-niśaṁ viracitodyoga-klamair ākulam ājṣā-laṅghinam ajṣam ajṣa-janatā-sammānanāsan-madaṁ dīnānātha dayā-nidhāna paramānanda prabho pāhi mām “The hypocrite who cheats himself by a pretense of renunciation thinks only of sense enjoyment and thus suffers constantly. Bewildered day and night, he is overwhelmed by the exhausting endeavors he contrives for himself. This fool disobeys Your laws and is corrupted by greed for respect from other fools. O protector of the fallen, O bestower of mercy, O supremely blissful master, please save that person, myself.”

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Thus in three verses, the fact that the house and material life takes away man’s good qualities has been established. The sages who are mentioned in the verses are of two types: those worshiping the nirguna Brahman, called jnanis; and those worshiping the saguna Brahman, called devotees or bhaktas. If they perform their practices properly (vimadah), they both become successful. However,the results if they behave badly are explained in two verses. "O Lord, if the sannasis, worshipers of the nirguna Brahman, do not uproot the roots of desire situated in the heart, then you are hard to attain, though you are situated in their hearts. Why? Because you become like a forgotten jewel around their necks. Though the jewel is hanging around the neck, because a person forgets about it, it becomes as good as not being there. That is not all. Those yogis who try to satisfy their senses, who make a pretense of yoga, end up with suffering in this life and the next. They describe the misery of this life. They experience suffering in the form of death before it comes, through the pains of getting adoration of others, the pains of accruing wealth, and the pains of deprivation of the objects of enjoyment. Then the suffering of the next life is described. They suffer because they do not attain your svarupa. Conversely, it means that they also suffer from the intense pains of hell given by you (since they don’t get liberation)." The srutis say. Kaman ya kamayate manyamanah sa kamabhir jayate tatra tatra The sannyasi who contemplates enjoyment and enjoys will take birth again and again by those desires. Mundaka Upanisad 3.2.2

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Śrutis who teach bhakti mixed with jñāna and yoga speak. They cannot tolerate even a little devotion to other methods for attaining regular practice of bhakti. If those who cannot control their external senses, even though they are sannyāsīs, cannot uproot all desires for enjoyment in the heart, they only with difficulty concentrate on you (duradhigamaḥ), even though you reside in the minds of these non-devotees who have attained high positions so that they can perfect jñāna. “Though you are most hard to attain, by good fortune you can be attained. If that is the case, who will you be in this position you described?” I am like a jewel worn around the neck but forgotten when the person becomes attached to enjoyment. Yogīs who want to enjoy the senses take to your worship for perfection of yoga, but remain unsatisfied in sense enjoyment and in your worship because they do not become free of suffering and do not become attracted to your lotus feet (padam). By taking to your lotus feet, all previous objects become unattractive. Illustrations from śruti were given previously.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Though expelling great anarthas concerning material attachment, even sannyāsīs fail to uproot completely the desires in the heart. They cannot understand you. Though you are present as antaryāmī in the heart, you cannot be attained, like a jewel forgotten, though worn on the heart. O Lord! That is suitable since they disobey the orders of the supreme Lord. They suffer in two ways. Though taking sannyāsa, they cannot escape death (anapagata antakāt). They fall to hellish suffering. This is because of saṁsāra (bhavataḥ). And they do not attain their enjoyment (anadhirūḍha-padāt). Fearing criticism of others for their strong desires, they suffer from trying to enjoy and from restraining themselves.