Devanagari
जनस्तु हेतु: सुखदु:खयोश्चेत्
किमात्मनश्चात्र हि भौमयोस्तत् ।
जिह्वां क्वचित् सन्दशति स्वदद्भि-
स्तद्वेदनायां कतमाय कुप्येत् ॥ ५० ॥
Verse text
janas tu hetuḥ sukha-duḥkhayoś cet
kim ātmanaś cātra hi bhaumayos tat
jihvāṁ kvacit sandaśati sva-dadbhis
tad-vedanāyāṁ katamāya kupyet
Synonyms
janaḥ
—
these people
;
tu
—
but
;
hetuḥ
—
the cause
;
sukha
—
duḥkhayoḥ — of my happiness and distress
;
cet
—
if
;
kim
—
what
;
ātmanaḥ
—
for the self
;
ca
—
and
;
atra
—
in this conception
;
hi
—
indeed
;
bhaumayoḥ
—
they pertain to the material bodies
;
tat
—
that (status of being the performer and the sufferer)
;
jihvām
—
the tongue
;
kvacit
—
sometimes
;
sandaśati
—
is bitten
;
sva
—
by one’s own
;
dadbhiḥ
—
teeth
;
tat
—
of that
;
vedanāyām
—
in the distress
;
katamāya
—
with whom
;
kupyet
—
can one get angry .
Translation
If you say that these people are the cause of my happiness and distress, then where is the place of the soul in such a conception? This happiness and distress pertain not to the soul but to the interactions of material bodies. If someone bites his tongue with his own teeth, at whom can he become angry in his suffering?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
If you say that people are the cause of my happiness and distress, then where is the place for the soul in such a conception? Happiness and distress pertain not to the soul but simply to the interactions of two material bodies. If someone bites his tongue with his own teeth, at whom can he become angry when he suffers?
Having stated that the mind is the cause of happiness and distress, now six things previously mentioned in verse 42, which are not causes, are explained in six verses. If one person gives happiness or suffering to another person, in that theory where is the jīva? The jīva has no place at all because the cause of happiness and suffering and the experiencer of happiness and suffering are two bodies, transformations of earth, not the jīva. It is illogical to assume some vague cause different from the body as the cause (for instance devatās of the senses) for causing or experiencing pain. (This is the false logic.)
Is the jīva aware of the suffering? When the jīva experiences suffering, who should be his object of anger? Should he become angry at the teeth or at the tongue? Just as one should not become angry with the teeth, the cause of pain, or the tongue, the experiencer of pain, one should not become angry at others who cause suffering, or at oneself, the sufferer. One should tolerate suffering, which arises from jīva’s identity with the mind. One should attribute fault to nothing except the mind. This should be understood in the following verses also.
Purport
Although bodily pleasure and pain are felt by the soul, one must tolerate such duality, understanding it to be a creation of one’s own material mind. If one accidentally bites his own tongue or lip, he cannot become angry and pull out his own teeth. Similarly, all living beings are individual parts and parcels of God, and thus nondifferent from each other. All of them are meant to serve the Supreme Lord in spiritual equality. If the living beings give up their master’s service and instead quarrel among themselves, they will be forced to suffer by the laws of nature. If the conditioned souls establish artificial relationships of affection based on the material body and having nothing to do with God, then time itself will destroy such relationships, and they will be subjected to further suffering. But if the individual living entities understand each other to be of the same family, all having connection with the Supreme Lord, their mutual friendship will develop. Thus one should not exhibit anger that will be harmful to oneself and others. Although the
brāhmaṇa
was receiving kind offerings of charity from some people and being harassed and beaten by others, he denied that these people were the ultimate cause of his happiness and distress, for he was fixed on the platform of self-realization beyond the material body and mind.