Devanagari
एतन्मे जन्म लोकेऽस्मिन्मुमुक्षूणां दुराशयात् ।
प्रसंख्यानाय तत्त्वानां सम्मतायात्मदर्शने ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
etan me janma loke ’smin
mumukṣūṇāṁ durāśayāt
prasaṅkhyānāya tattvānāṁ
sammatāyātma-darśane
Synonyms
etat
—
this
;
me
—
My
;
janma
—
birth
;
loke
—
in the world
;
asmin
—
in this
;
mumukṣūṇām
—
by those great sages seeking liberation
;
durāśayāt
—
from unnecessary material desires
;
prasaṅkhyānāya
—
for explaining
;
tattvānām
—
of the truths
;
sammatāya
—
which is highly esteemed
;
ātma
—
darśane — in self-realization .
Translation
My appearance in this world is especially to explain the philosophy of Sāṅkhya, which is highly esteemed for self-realization by those desiring freedom from the entanglement of unnecessary material desires.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Please understand that I have appeared in this world to explain the principles suitable for realizing the self for those desiring liberation from the subtle body.
The Lord explains the reason for his appearance. Please understand my appearance is to explain principles suitable for realizing the self to those desiring liberation from the sinful subtle body (durāśayāt). The verb is in the next verse.
Purport
Here the word
durāśayāt
is very significant.
Dur
refers to trouble or
duḥkha,
miseries.
Āśayāt
means “from the shelter.” We conditioned souls have taken shelter of the material body, which is full of troubles and miseries. Foolish people cannot understand the situation, and this is called ignorance, illusion, or the spell of
māyā.
Human society should very seriously understand that the body itself is the source of all miserable life. Modern civilization is supposed to be making advancement in scientific knowledge, but what is this scientific knowledge? It is based on bodily comforts only, without knowledge that however comfortably one maintains his body, the body is destructible. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
antavanta ime dehāḥ:
these bodies are destined to be destroyed.
Nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ
refers to the living soul, or the living spark, within the body. That soul is eternal, but the body is not eternal. For our activity we must have a body; without a body, without sense organs, there is no activity. But people are not inquiring whether it is possible to have an eternal body. Actually they aspire for an eternal body because even though they engage in sense enjoyment, that sense enjoyment is not eternal. They are therefore in want of something which they can enjoy eternally, but they do not understand how to attain that perfection. Sāṅkhya philosophy, therefore, as stated herein by Kapila-deva, is
tattvānām.
The Sāṅkhya philosophy system is designed to afford understanding of the real truth. What is that real truth? The real truth is knowledge of how to get out of the material body, which is the source of all trouble. Lord Kapila’s incarnation, or descent, is especially meant for this purpose. That is clearly stated here.