Devanagari
देशत: कालतो योऽसाववस्थात: स्वतोऽन्यत: ।
अविलुप्तावबोधात्मा स युज्येताजया कथम् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
deśataḥ kālato yo ’sāv
avasthātaḥ svato ’nyataḥ
aviluptāvabodhātmā
sa yujyetājayā katham
Synonyms
deśataḥ
—
circumstantial
;
kālataḥ
—
by the influence of time
;
yaḥ
—
one who
;
asau
—
the living entity
;
avasthātaḥ
—
by situation
;
svataḥ
—
by dream
;
anyataḥ
—
by others
;
avilupta
—
extinct
;
avabodha
—
consciousness
;
ātmā
—
pure self
;
saḥ
—
he
;
yujyeta
—
engaged
;
ajayā
—
with nescience
;
katham
—
how is it so .
Translation
The pure soul is pure consciousness and is never out of consciousness, either due to circumstances, time, situations, dreams or other causes. How then does he become engaged in nescience?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
How can the jīva who knowledge cannot be destroyed by place, time, condition, nature or other cause become associated with ignorance?
Another question arises. How can the jīva be bewildered by māyā? How can the jīva whose awareness cannot be destroyed by place and time become associated with ignorance (ajayā)? How does the jīva lose knowledge in the association of ignorance? The jīva becomes affected by place, just as a seed sown in barren earth does not grow. The jīva is influenced by time, just as lightning is affected by time. It is affected by conditions, just as memory is affected by conditions. It is influenced by its nature, such as sleep is. It is influenced by other objects just as a pot is affected by other objects. Because the jīva is a spiritual object, its knowledge should not become lost. How is the jīva’s knowledge destroyed by ignorance?
Purport
The consciousness of the living being is always present and never changes under any circumstances, as above mentioned. When a living man moves from one place to another, he is conscious that he has changed his position. He is always present — in the past, present and future — like electricity. One can remember incidents from his past and can conjecture about his future also on the basis of past experience. He never forgets his personal identity, even though he is placed in awkward circumstances. How then can the living entity become forgetful of his real identity as pure spirit soul and identify with matter unless influenced by something beyond himself? The conclusion is that the living entity is influenced by the
avidyā
potency, as confirmed in both the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
and the beginning of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The living entity is mentioned in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.5)
as
parā prakṛti,
and in the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
he is mentioned as the
parā śakti.
He is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord as potency and not as the potent. The potent can exhibit many potencies, but the potency cannot equal the potent at any stage. One potency may be overcome by another potency, but to the potent, all potencies are under control. The
jīva
potency, or the
kṣetrajṣa-śakti
of the Lord, has the tendency to be overpowered by the external potency,
avidyā-karma-saṁjṣā,
and in this way he is placed in the awkward circumstances of material existence. The living entity cannot be forgetful of his real identity unless influenced by the
avidyā
potency. Because the living entity is prone to the influence of the
avidyā
potency, he can never equal the supreme potent.