Devanagari
फलश्रुतिरियं नृणां न श्रेयो रोचनं परम् ।
श्रेयोविवक्षया प्रोक्तं यथा भैषज्यरोचनम् ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
phala-śrutir iyaṁ nṝṇāṁ
na śreyo rocanaṁ param
śreyo-vivakṣayā proktaṁ
yathā bhaiṣajya-rocanam
Synonyms
phala
—
śrutiḥ — the statements of scripture promising rewards
;
iyam
—
these
;
nṝṇām
—
for men
;
na
—
are not
;
śreyaḥ
—
the highest good
;
rocanam
—
enticement
;
param
—
merely
;
śreyaḥ
—
the ultimate good
;
vivakṣayā
—
with the idea of saying
;
proktam
—
spoken
;
yathā
—
just as
;
bhaiṣajya
—
for taking medicine
;
rocanam
—
inducement .
Translation
Those statements of scripture promising fruitive rewards do not prescribe the ultimate good for men but are merely enticements for executing beneficial religious duties, like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The rewards promised in scripture are not the ultimate benefit for man but are merely enticements for liberating him. They are like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine.
“How can one deviate from one’s interest by hearing results like Svarga in the Vedas?” The results described in the scriptures for performing karmas are not beneficial for man. Nārada says:
śreyas tvaṁ katamad rājan karmaṇātmana īhase
duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate
O King! What benefit do you want for yourself by doing these karmas? It is not possible to destroy suffering and attain happiness by performance of karma.
Purport
In the previous verse Lord Kṛṣṇa stated that persons absorbed in sense gratification certainly deviate from the real purpose of human life. But since the
Vedas
themselves promise heavenly sense gratification as the result of sacrifice and austerity, how can such promotion to heaven be considered a deviation from the goal of life? The Lord here explains that the fruitive rewards offered in religious scriptures are merely inducements, like candy that is used to induce a child to take medicine. It is actually the medicine that is beneficial, and not the candy. Similarly, in fruitive sacrifices it is the worship of Lord Viṣṇu that is beneficial, not the fruitive reward itself. According to
Bhagavad-gītā,
those professing fruitive rewards to be the ultimate goal of religious scripture are certainly less intelligent fools inimical to the purpose of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord desires that all conditioned souls be purified and come back home, back to Godhead, for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge. One who opposes the Lord’s purpose in the name of religiosity is certainly bewildered about the purpose of life.