SB 6.16.39

SB 6.16.39

Devanagari

कामधियस्त्वयि रचिता न परम रोहन्ति यथा करम्भबीजानि । ज्ञानात्मन्यगुणमये गुणगणतोऽस्य द्वन्द्वजालानि ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

kāma-dhiyas tvayi racitā na parama rohanti yathā karambha-bījāni jṣānātmany aguṇamaye guṇa-gaṇato ’sya dvandva-jālāni

Synonyms

kāma dhiyaḥ — desires for sense gratification ; tvayi in You ; racitāḥ performed ; na not ; parama O Supreme Personality of Godhead ; rohanti do grow (produce other bodies) ; yathā just as ; karambha bījāni — sterilized or fried seeds ; jṣāna ātmani — in You, whose existence is in full knowledge ; aguṇa maye — who is not affected by the material qualities ; guṇa gaṇataḥ — from the material qualities ; asya of a person ; dvandva jālāni — the networks of duality .

Translation

O Supreme Lord, if persons obsessed with material desires for sense gratification through material opulence worship You, who are the source of all knowledge and are transcendental to material qualities, they are not subject to material rebirth, just as sterilized or fried seeds do not produce plants. Living entities are subjected to the repetition of birth and death because they are conditioned by material nature, but since You are transcendental, one who is inclined to associate with You in transcendence escapes the conditions of material nature.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O Supreme Lord! Desires for material pleasure, directed to you, who are composed of spiritual knowledge and are different from the material guṇas, do not produce further material bodies, just as roasted seeds do not grow. The networks of duality causing rebirth arise from the material guṇas. This verse shows the excellence of the devotee by kaimutika-nyāya. If desires for kingdom or other things are placed in you, then they will not result in getting another birth, just as roasted seeds do not sprout. This is because those objects take on good qualities. But if the desires are placed elsewhere (in other objects of worship), they sprout up. They are not like roasted seeds. You are pure spiritual knowledge (jṣānātmani) devoid of material objects (aguṇa-maye). Just as an object which falls in a well of juice becomes juicy, when those material desires enter you, they become spiritual. How then can they be a cause of continued saṁsāra? The nets of duality arising from the guṇas are causes of saṁsāra.

Purport

This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9) , wherein the Lord says: janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” If one simply engages in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to understand Kṛṣṇa, he surely becomes immune to the process of repeated birth and death. As clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: such a person, simply by engaging in Kṛṣṇa consciousness or understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, becomes quite fit to return home, back to Godhead. Even those who are obsessed with material desires may also come to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead so steadily that they go back to Godhead. The fact is that if one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, although he may have many material desires, he becomes increasingly attracted to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa through associating with the Supreme Lord by chanting His holy name. The Supreme Lord and His holy name are identical. Thus he becomes uninterested in attachment to material enjoyment. The perfection of life is to be uninterested in material enjoyment and interested in Kṛṣṇa. If one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness somehow or other, even for material gain, the result is that he will be liberated. Kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehāt. Whether for the satisfaction of material desires, because of the influence of envy, because of fear, because of affection or because of any other reason, if one comes to Kṛṣṇa, his life is successful.