Devanagari
तद् यथा वृक्ष उन्मूल: शुष्यत्युद्वर्ततेऽचिरात् ।
एवं नष्टानृत: सद्य आत्मा शुष्येन्न संशय: ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
tad yathā vṛkṣa unmūlaḥ
śuṣyaty udvartate ’cirāt
evaṁ naṣṭānṛtaḥ sadya
ātmā śuṣyen na saṁśayaḥ
Synonyms
tat
—
therefore
;
yathā
—
as
;
vṛkṣaḥ
—
a tree
;
unmūlaḥ
—
being uprooted
;
śuṣyati
—
dries up
;
udvartate
—
falls down
;
acirāt
—
very soon
;
evam
—
in this way
;
naṣṭa
—
lost
;
anṛtaḥ
—
the temporary body
;
sadyaḥ
—
immediately
;
ātmā
—
the body
;
śuṣyet
—
dries up
;
na
—
not
;
saṁśayaḥ
—
any doubt .
Translation
When a tree is uprooted it immediately falls down and begins to dry up. Similarly, if one doesn’t take care of the body, which is supposed to be untruth — in other words, if the untruth is uprooted — the body undoubtedly becomes dry.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When a tree is uprooted it immediately dries up and dies. Similarly, if one does not partake of untruth, the body undoubtedly dies up.
Just as a tree when uprooted dries up and quickly dies, the body which is completely without untruth dries up. Śruti says:
om iti satyaṁ nety anṛtaṁ tad etat-puṣpaṁ phalaṁ vāco yat satyaṁ saheśvaro yaśasvī kalyāṇa-kīrtir bhavitā; puṣpaṁ hi phalaṁ vācaḥ satyaṁ vadaty athaitan-mūlaṁ vāco yad anṛtaṁ yad yathā vṛkṣa āvirmūlaḥ śuṣyati, sa udvartata evam evānṛtaṁ vadann āvirmūlam ātmanāṁ karoti, sa śuṣyati sa udvartate, tasmād anṛtaṁ na vaded dayeta tv etena.
Om indicates truth. Lack of oṁ indicates untruth. The fruits and flowers of the body are truth. The health body makes one powerful, famous and fortunate. It is said that the fruits and flowers are truth, and the root of the body is untruth. Just as a tree with root uncovered dries up and dies, by speaking lies one uproots the body. It dries up and dies. Therefore one should not speak untruth. But one should protect the body by untruth.
Vācaḥ means the body represented by words. Anṛtaṁ vadan means telling lies. Just as by the tree with root uncovered dries up and dies, telling lies uproots the body. For that reason one should not speak untruth, but one should protect the body in difficulties by untruth (dayeta).
Purport
In this regard, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says:
prāpaṣcikatayā buddhyā
hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ
mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo
vairāgyaṁ phalgu kathyate
“One who rejects things without knowledge of their relationship to Kṛṣṇa is incomplete in his renunciation.” (
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
1.2.66) When the body is engaged in the service of the Lord, one should not consider the body material. Sometimes the spiritual body of the spiritual master is misunderstood. But Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī instructs,
prāpaṣcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ.
The body fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service should not be neglected as material. One who does neglect it is false in his renunciation. If the body is not properly maintained, it falls down and dries up like an uprooted tree, from which flowers and fruit can no longer be obtained. The
Vedas
therefore enjoin:
om iti satyaṁ nety anṛtaṁ tad etat-puṣpaṁ phalaṁ vāco yat satyaṁ saheśvaro yaśasvī kalyāṇa-kīrtir bhavitā; puṣpaṁ hi phalaṁ vācaḥ satyaṁ vadaty athaitan-mūlaṁ vāco yad anṛtaṁ yad yathā vṛkṣa āvirmūlaḥ śuṣyati, sa udvartata evam evānṛtaṁ vadann āvirmūlam ātmanāṁ karoti, sa śuṣyati sa udvartate, tasmād anṛtaṁ na vaded dayeta tv etena.
The purport is that activities performed with the help of the body for the satisfaction of the Absolute Truth (
oṁ tat sat
) are never temporary, although performed by the temporary body. Indeed, such activities are everlasting. Therefore, the body should be properly cared for. Because the body is temporary, not permanent, one cannot expose the body to being devoured by a tiger or killed by an enemy. All precautions should be taken to protect the body.