Devanagari
एष आत्मपथोऽव्यक्तो नष्ट: कालेन भूयसा ।
तं प्रवर्तयितुं देहमिमं विद्धि मया भृतम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
eṣa ātma-patho ’vyakto
naṣṭaḥ kālena bhūyasā
taṁ pravartayituṁ deham
imaṁ viddhi mayā bhṛtam
Synonyms
eṣaḥ
—
this
;
ātma
—
pathaḥ — path of self-realization
;
avyaktaḥ
—
difficult to be known
;
naṣṭaḥ
—
lost
;
kālena bhūyasā
—
in the course of time
;
tam
—
this
;
pravartayitum
—
to introduce again
;
deham
—
body
;
imam
—
this
;
viddhi
—
please know
;
mayā
—
by Me
;
bhṛtam
—
assumed .
Translation
This path of self-realization, which is difficult to understand, has now been lost in the course of time. Please know that I have assumed this body of Kapila to introduce and explain this philosophy to human society again.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Understand that this path, difficult to know, was lost in time. I have taken this form to introduce this knowledge again.
Avyaktaḥ means subtle. Though the Lord and his body are non-different, spiritual intelligence introduces difference even where there is non-difference. Thus the Lord says “I have taken this body.” This is a customary expression. It is like the following statement (which also cannot be taken literally.)
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti nirguṇasya guṇās trayaḥ
sthiti-sarga-nirodheṣu gṛhītā māyayā vibhoḥ
The three guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas, belonging to the Lord without guṇas, are accepted by the māyā of the Lord for creation, maintenance and destruction. SB 2.5.18
Purport
It is not true that Sāṅkhya philosophy is a new system of philosophy introduced by Kapila as material philosophers introduce new kinds of mental speculative thought to supersede that of another philosopher. On the material platform, everyone, especially the mental speculator, tries to be more prominent than others. The field of activity of the speculators is the mind. There is no limit to the different ways in which one can agitate the mind, and thus one can put forward an unlimited number of theories. Sāṅkhya philosophy is not like that; it is not mental speculation. It is factual, but at the time of Kapila it was lost.
In due course of time, a particular type of knowledge may be lost or may be covered for the time being; that is the nature of this material world. A similar statement was made by Lord Kṛṣṇa in
Bhagavad-gītā.
Sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ:
“In course of time the
yoga
system as stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
was lost.” It was coming in
paramparā,
in disciplic succession, but due to the passage of time it was lost. The time factor is so pressing that in the course of time everything within this material world is spoiled or lost. The
yoga
system of
Bhagavad-gītā
was lost before the meeting of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Therefore Kṛṣṇa again enunciated the same ancient
yoga
system to Arjuna, who could actually understand
Bhagavad-gītā.
Similarly, Kapila also said that the system of Sāṅkhya philosophy was not exactly being introduced by Him; it was already current, but in course of time it was mysteriously lost, and therefore He appeared to reintroduce it. That is the purpose of the incarnation of Godhead.
Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata.
Dharma
means the real occupation of the living entity. When there is a discrepancy in the eternal occupation of the living entity, the Lord comes and introduces the real occupation of life. Any so-called religious system that is not in the line of devotional service is called
adharma-saṁsthāpana.
When people forget their eternal relationship with God and engage in something other than devotional service, their engagement is called irreligion. How one can get out of the miserable condition of material life is stated in Sāṅkhya philosophy, and the Lord Himself is explaining this sublime system.