Devanagari
मन्मायामोहितधिय: पुरुषा: पुरुषर्षभ ।
श्रेयो वदन्त्यनेकान्तं यथाकर्म यथारुचि ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
man-māyā-mohita-dhiyaḥ
puruṣāḥ puruṣarṣabha
śreyo vadanty anekāntaṁ
yathā-karma yathā-ruci
Synonyms
mat
—
māyā — by My illusory potency
;
mohita
—
bewildered
;
dhiyaḥ
—
those whose intelligence
;
puruṣāḥ
—
people
;
puruṣa
—
ṛṣabha — O best among men
;
śreyaḥ
—
what is good for people
;
vadanti
—
they speak
;
aneka
—
antam — in innumerable ways
;
yathā
—
karma — according to their own activities
;
yathā
—
ruci — according to what pleases them .
Translation
O best among men, the intelligence of human beings is bewildered by My illusory potency, and thus, according to their own activities and whims, they speak in innumerable ways about what is actually good for people.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O best among men! The intelligence of human beings is bewildered by my illusory potency, and thus, according to their own activities and whims, they speak in innumerable ways about what is actually good for people.
Purport
Unlike the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the individual living entity is not omniscient, therefore his activities and pleasures do not represent the whole truth. According to one’s individual way of doing things (
yathā-karma
) and one’s personal preference (
yathā-ruci
), one speaks to others about what is good for them. Everyone thinks, “What is good for me is good for everyone.” Actually, the best thing for everyone is to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus realize one’s eternal nature of bliss and knowledge. Without knowledge of the Absolute Truth, many so-called learned people are whimsically advising other whimsical people who also lack perfect knowledge of the actual goal of life.