Devanagari
लोको विकर्मनिरत: कुशले प्रमत्त:
कर्मण्ययं त्वदुदिते भवदर्चने स्वे ।
यस्तावदस्य बलवानिह जीविताशां
सद्यश्छिनत्त्यनिमिषाय नमोऽस्तु तस्मै ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
loko vikarma-nirataḥ kuśale pramattaḥ
karmaṇy ayaṁ tvad-udite bhavad-arcane sve
yas tāvad asya balavān iha jīvitāśāṁ
sadyaś chinatty animiṣāya namo ’stu tasmai
Synonyms
lokaḥ
—
people in general
;
vikarma
—
work without sense
;
nirataḥ
—
engaged in
;
kuśale
—
in beneficial activity
;
pramattaḥ
—
negligent
;
karmaṇi
—
in activity
;
ayam
—
this
;
tvat
—
by You
;
udite
—
enunciated
;
bhavat
—
of You
;
arcane
—
in worship
;
sve
—
their own
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
tāvat
—
as long as
;
asya
—
of the people in general
;
balavān
—
very strong
;
iha
—
this
;
jīvita
—
āśām — struggle for existence
;
sadyaḥ
—
directly
;
chinatti
—
is cut to pieces
;
animiṣāya
—
by the eternal time
;
namaḥ
—
my obeisances
;
astu
—
let there be
;
tasmai
—
unto Him .
Translation
People in general all engage in foolish acts, not in the really beneficial activities enunciated directly by You for their guidance. As long as their tendency for foolish work remains powerful, all their plans in the struggle for existence will be cut to pieces. I therefore offer my obeisances unto Him who acts as eternal time.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
People engaged in material work do not heed the auspicious actions of your worship, found in Paṣcarātra scriptures made by you, and authorized by you as the correct form of worship. I offer my respects to the Lord who as powerful time quickly destroys the aspiration to live for these non-devotees.
Having spoken of the Lord as the universal form, Brahmā now offers respect to the Lord as the form of time which controls the universe. Men are inattentive (pramattaḥ) to auspicious action, worship of you. But some people say that the Lord is worshipped by karma and jṣāna, since it is said:
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ
Worshiping the Lord by karmas, a man achieves success. BG 18.46
jṣānino jṣāna-yajṣena yajanti jṣāna-vigraham:
The jṣānīs worship you by the sacrifice of knowledge. SB 10.40.6
In answer to this Brahmā says, “This worship is declared as your real worship.”
ye vai bhagavatā proktā upāyā hy ātma-labdhaye
aṣjaḥ puṁsām aviduṣāṁ viddhi bhāgavatān hi tān
Even ignorant living entities can very easily come to know the Supreme Lord if they adopt those means prescribed by the Supreme Lord. The process recommended by the Lord is to be known as bhāgavata-dharma. SB 11.2.34
Mokṣa-dharma says paṣcarātrasya kṛtsnasya vaktā tu bhagavān svayam: the speaker of Paṣcarātra is the Lord himself. This is indicated by sve. Sve means “made by yourself.” Time affects those other than the devotees. Time quickly kills the aspirations for life of non-devotees (asya), what to speak of their desires for enjoyment.
Purport
People in general are all engaged in senseless work. They are systematically unmindful of the real beneficial work, which is the devotional service of the Lord, technically called the
arcanā
regulations. The
arcanā
regulations are directly instructed by the Lord in the
Nārada-paṣcarātra
and are strictly followed by the intelligent men, who know well that the highest perfectional goal of life is to reach Lord Viṣṇu, who is the root of the tree called the cosmic manifestation. Also, in the
Bhāgavatam
and in
Bhagavad-gītā
such regulative activities are clearly mentioned. Foolish people do not know that their self-interest is in realization of Viṣṇu. The
Bhāgavatam
(7.5.30-32) says:
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te ’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiṣcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat
“Persons who are determined to totally rot in false, material happiness cannot become Kṛṣṇa-minded either by instructions from teachers, by self-realization or by parliamentary discussions. They are dragged by the unbridled senses into the darkest region of ignorance, and thus they madly engage in what is called ‘chewing the chewed.’
“Because of their foolish activities, they are unaware that the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve Viṣṇu, the Lord of the cosmic manifestation, and so their struggle for existence is in the wrong direction of material civilization, which is under the external energy. They are led by similar foolish persons, just as one blind man is led by another blind man and both fall in the ditch.
“Such foolish men cannot be attracted towards the activities of the Supreme Powerful, who is actually the neutralizing measure for their foolish activities, unless and until they have the good sense to be guided by the great souls who are completely freed from material attachment.”
In
Bhagavad-gītā
the Lord asks everyone to give up all other occupational duties and absolutely engage in
arcanā
activities, or in pleasing the Lord. But almost no one is attracted to such
arcanā
activity. Everyone is more or less attracted by activities which are conditions of rebellion against the Supreme Lord. The systems of
jṣāna
and
yoga
are also indirectly rebellious acts against the Lord. There is no auspicious activity except
arcanā
of the Lord.
Jṣāna
and
yoga
are sometimes accepted within the purview of
arcanā
when the ultimate aim is Viṣṇu, and not otherwise. The conclusion is that only the devotees of the Lord are bona fide human beings eligible for salvation. Others are vainly struggling for existence without any actual benefit.