Devanagari
श्रीबादरायणिरुवाच
कर्मणा कर्मनिर्हारो न ह्यात्यन्तिक इष्यते ।
अविद्वदधिकारित्वात्प्रायश्चित्तं विमर्शनम् ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvāca
karmaṇā karma-nirhāro
na hy ātyantika iṣyate
avidvad-adhikāritvāt
prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam
Synonyms
śrī
—
bādarāyaṇiḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, replied
;
karmaṇā
—
by fruitive activities
;
karma
—
nirhāraḥ — counteraction of fruitive activities
;
na
—
not
;
hi
—
indeed
;
ātyantikaḥ
—
final
;
iṣyate
—
becomes possible
;
avidvat
—
adhikāritvāt — from being without knowledge
;
prāyaścittam
—
real atonement
;
vimarśanam
—
full knowledge of Vedānta .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively. Persons who subject themselves to the rules and regulations of atonement are not at all intelligent. Indeed, they are in the mode of darkness. Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one’s desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously. Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedānta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva said: Completely counteracting sin is not at all possible by performing atonement, for it is done out of ignorance. Real atonement is attaining jṣāna.
By presenting a conclusion, Śukadeva again tests Parīkṣit who has passed the test. By atonement (karmanā) there cannot be complete (ātyantika) destruction of the sin (karma), but quick relief, because of the condition of the jīva who is qualified by ignorance. Sin appears repeatedly because of the presence of the seed of sin, ignorance. The chief atonement is jṣāna (vimarśanam), since jṣāna removes ignorance. By presenting the opinion of the jṣānīs, Śukadeva again tests Parīkṣit.
Purport
The
guru,
Śukadeva Gosvāmī, has examined Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and it appears that the King has passed one phase of the examination by rejecting the process of atonement because it involves fruitive activities. Now Śukadeva Gosvāmī is suggesting the platform of speculative knowledge. Progressing from
karma-kāṇḍa
to
jṣāna-kāṇḍa,
he is proposing,
prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam:
“Real atonement is full knowledge.”
Vimarśana
refers to the cultivation of speculative knowledge. In
Bhagavad-gītā,
karmīs,
who are lacking in knowledge, are compared to asses. Kṛṣṇa says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.15)
:
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jṣānā
āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” Thus
karmīs
who engage in sinful acts and who do not know the true objective of life are called
mūḍhas,
asses.
Vimarśana,
however, is also explained in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
, where Kṛṣṇa says,
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ:
the purpose of Vedic study is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one studies Vedānta but merely advances somewhat in speculative knowledge and does not understand the Supreme Lord, one remains the same
mūḍha.
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.19)
, one attains real knowledge when he understands Kṛṣṇa and surrenders unto Him (
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jṣānavān māṁ prapadyate
). To become learned and free from material contamination, therefore, one should try to understand Kṛṣṇa, for thus one is immediately liberated from all pious and impious activities and their reactions.