SB 12.4.32 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यथा घनोऽर्कप्रभवोऽर्कदर्शितो ह्यर्कांशभूतस्य च चक्षुषस्तम: । एवं त्वहं ब्रह्मगुणस्तदीक्षितो ब्रह्मांशकस्यात्मन आत्मबन्धन: ॥ ३२ ॥

Verse text

yathā ghano ’rka-prabhavo ’rka-darśito hy arkāṁśa-bhūtasya ca cakṣuṣas tamaḥ evaṁ tv ahaṁ brahma-guṇas tad-īkṣito brahmāṁśakasyātmana ātma-bandhanaḥ

Synonyms

yathā — as ; ghanaḥ — a cloud ; arka — of the sun ; prabhavaḥ — the product ; arka — by the sun ; darśitaḥ — made visible ; hi — indeed ; arka — of the sun ; aṁśa — bhūtasya — which is the partial expansion ; ca — and ; cakṣuṣaḥ — of the eye ; tamaḥ — darkness ; evam — in the same way ; tu — indeed ; aham — false ego ; brahma — guṇaḥ — a quality of the Absolute Truth ; tat — īkṣitaḥ — visible through the agency of that Absolute Truth ; brahma — aṁśakasya — of the partial expansion of the Absolute Truth ; ātmanaḥ — of the jīva soul ; ātma — bandhanaḥ — serving to obstruct perception of the Supreme Soul .

Translation

Although a cloud is a product of the sun and is also made visible by the sun, it nevertheless creates darkness for the viewing eye, which is another partial expansion of the sun. Similarly, material false ego, a particular product of the Absolute Truth made visible by the Absolute Truth, obstructs the individual soul, another partial expansion of the Absolute Truth, from realizing the Absolute Truth.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The cloud is a product of the sun and is revealed by the sun. But the cloud covers the eye, another portion of the sun. The effects of Brahman are revealed by Brahman. Similarly the ahaṅkāra, the effect of Brahman, helps the jīva, a portion of Brahman, to bind himself up. “If everything is Brahman because everything is the effect of Brahman, how can the jīvas, portions of Brahman, be covered by ahaṅkāra, the effect of Brahman, which is illusory? And being covered, how do they become bewildered?” An example is given. The rays of the sun, transformed into clouds, become rain. It is said: agnau prāptāhūtiḥ samyag ādityam upatiṣtḥate ādityāj jāyate vṛṣtir vṛṣter annaṁ tataḥ prajāḥ Oblations to fire go to the sun. From the sun they transform into rain. Rain transforms into food and then into living entities. The product of the sun is a cloud. Thus clouds are manifested by the sun. They cause a covering of the eye (blocking the sun), though the eye is a portion of the sun as well. Similarly ahaṅkāra, an effect of Brahman, binds up the jīva, a portion of Brahman. Ātma-bandhanaḥ means the jīva binds himself.