Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 - Chapter 21

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 16 Sanskrit: क्व‍‍चिद् गुणोऽपि दोष: स्याद् दोषोऽपि विधिना गुण: ।गुणदोषार्थनियमस्तद्भ‍िदामेव बाधते ॥ १६ ॥ ITRANS: kvacid guṇo ’pi doṣaḥ syāddoṣo ’pi vidhinā guṇaḥguṇa-doṣārtha-niyamastad-bhidām eva bādhate Translation: Sometimes piety becomes sin, and sometimes what is ordinarily sin becomes piety on the strength of Vedic injunctions. Such special rules in effect eradicate the clear distinction between piety and sin. Purport: The Lord clearly explains here that material piety and sin are always relative considerations....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 17 Sanskrit: समानकर्माचरणं पतितानां न पातकम् ।औत्पत्तिको गुण: सङ्गो न शयान: पतत्यध: ॥ १७ ॥ ITRANS: samāna-karmācaraṇaṁpatitānāṁ na pātakamautpattiko guṇaḥ saṅgona śayānaḥ pataty adhaḥ Translation: The same activities that would degrade an elevated person do not cause falldown for those who are already fallen. Indeed, one who is lying on the ground cannot possibly fall further. The material association that is dictated by one’s own nature is considered a good quality....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 18 Sanskrit: यतो यतो निवर्तेत विमुच्येत ततस्तत: ।एष धर्मो नृणां क्षेम: शोकमोहभयापह: ॥ १८ ॥ ITRANS: yato yato nivartetavimucyeta tatas tataḥeṣa dharmo nṛṇāṁ kṣemaḥśoka-moha-bhayāpahaḥ Translation: By refraining from a particular sinful or materialistic activity, one becomes freed from its bondage. Such renunciation is the basis of religious and auspicious life for human beings and drives away all suffering, illusion and fear. Purport: In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya 6....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 19 Sanskrit: विषयेषु गुणाध्यासात् पुंस: सङ्गस्ततो भवेत् ।सङ्गात्तत्र भवेत् काम: कामादेव कलिर्नृणाम् ॥ १९ ॥ ITRANS: viṣayeṣu guṇādhyāsātpuṁsaḥ saṅgas tato bhavetsaṅgāt tatra bhavet kāmaḥkāmād eva kalir nṛṇām Translation: One who accepts material sense objects as desirable certainly becomes attached to them. From such attachment lust arises, and this lust creates quarrel among men. Purport: The actual goal of human life should not be material sense gratification, for it is the basis of conflict in human society....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 20 Sanskrit: कलेर्दुर्विषह: क्रोधस्तमस्तमनुवर्तते ।तमसा ग्रस्यते पुंसश्चेतना व्यापिनी द्रुतम् ॥ २० ॥ ITRANS: kaler durviṣahaḥ krodhastamas tam anuvartatetamasā grasyate puṁsaścetanā vyāpinī drutam Translation: From quarrel arises intolerable anger, followed by the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance quickly overtakes a man’s broad intelligence. Purport: The desire for material association arises from one’s propensity to deny that everything is God’s energy. Falsely imagining material sense objects to be separate from the Supreme Lord, one desires to enjoy them; such desire gives rise to conflict and quarrel in human society....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 21 Sanskrit: तया विरहित: साधो जन्तु: शून्याय कल्पते ।ततोऽस्य स्वार्थविभ्रंशो मूर्च्छितस्य मृतस्य च ॥ २१ ॥ ITRANS: tayā virahitaḥ sādhojantuḥ śūnyāya kalpatetato ’sya svārtha-vibhraṁśomūrcchitasya mṛtasya ca Translation: O saintly Uddhava, a person bereft of real intelligence is considered to have lost everything. Deviated from the actual purpose of his life, he becomes dull, just like a dead person. Purport: Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so vital and essential that one who has deviated from this progressive path of self-realization is considered to be virtually unconscious, or like a dead person....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 22 Sanskrit: विषयाभिनिवेशेन नात्मानं वेद नापरम् ।वृक्षजीविकया जीवन् व्यर्थं भस्त्र‍ोव य: श्वसन् ॥ २२ ॥ ITRANS: viṣayābhiniveśenanātmānaṁ veda nāparamvṛkṣa jīvikayā jīvanvyarthaṁ bhastreva yaḥ śvasan Translation: Because of absorption in sense gratification, one cannot recognize himself or others. Living uselessly in ignorance like a tree, one is merely breathing just like a bellows. Purport: Just as trees, having no means of defending themselves, are always being cut down, similarly, the conditioned souls are constantly being cut down by the cruel laws of nature, which impose innumerable miseries culminating in sudden death....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 23 Sanskrit: फलश्रुतिरियं नृणां न श्रेयो रोचनं परम् ।श्रेयोविवक्षया प्रोक्तं यथा भैषज्यरोचनम् ॥ २३ ॥ ITRANS: phala-śrutir iyaṁ nṝṇāṁna śreyo rocanaṁ paramśreyo-vivakṣayā proktaṁyathā bhaiṣajya-rocanam Translation: Those statements of scripture promising fruitive rewards do not prescribe the ultimate good for men but are merely enticements for executing beneficial religious duties, like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 24 Sanskrit: उत्पत्त्यैव हि कामेषु प्राणेषु स्वजनेषु च ।आसक्तमनसो मर्त्या आत्मनोऽनर्थहेतुषु ॥ २४ ॥ ITRANS: utpattyaiva hi kāmeṣuprāṇeṣu sva-janeṣu caāsakta-manaso martyāātmano ’nartha-hetuṣu Translation: Simply by material birth, human beings become attached within their minds to personal sense gratification, long duration of life, sense activities, bodily strength, sexual potency and friends and family. Their minds are thus absorbed in that which defeats their actual self-interest....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 25 Sanskrit: न तानविदुष: स्वार्थं भ्राम्यतो वृजिनाध्वनि ।कथं युञ्ज्यात् पुनस्तेषु तांस्तमो विशतो बुध: ॥ २५ ॥ ITRANS: natān aviduṣaḥ svārthaṁbhrāmyato vṛjinādhvanikathaṁ yuñjyāt punas teṣutāṁs tamo viśato budhaḥ Translation: Those ignorant of their real self-interest are wandering on the path of material existence, gradually heading toward darkness. Why would the Vedas further encourage them in sense gratification if they, although foolish, submissively pay heed to Vedic injunctions?...

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 26 Sanskrit: एवं व्यवसितं केचिदविज्ञाय कुबुद्धय: ।फलश्रुतिं कुसुमितां न वेदज्ञा वदन्ति हि ॥ २६ ॥ ITRANS: evaṁ vyavasitaṁ kecidavijñāya kubuddhayaḥphala-śrutiṁ kusumitāṁna veda-jñā vadanti hi Translation: Persons with perverted intelligence do not understand this actual purpose of Vedic knowledge and instead propagate as the highest Vedic truth the flowery statements of the Vedas that promise material rewards. Those in actual knowledge of the Vedas never speak in that way....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 27 Sanskrit: कामिन: कृपणा लुब्धा: पुष्पेषु फलबुद्धय: ।अग्निमुग्धा धूमतान्ता: स्वं लोकं न विदन्ति ते ॥ २७ ॥ ITRANS: kāminaḥ kṛpaṇā lubdhāḥpuṣpeṣu phala-buddhayaḥagni-mugdhā dhūma-tāntāḥsvaṁ lokaṁ na vidanti te Translation: Those who are full of lust, avarice and greed mistake mere flowers to be the actual fruit of life. Bewildered by the glare of fire and suffocated by its smoke, they cannot recognize their own true identity....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 28 Sanskrit: न ते मामङ्ग जानन्ति हृदिस्थं य इदं यत: ।उक्थशस्‍‍‍‍‍त्रा ह्यसुतृपो यथा नीहारचक्षुष: ॥ २८ ॥ ITRANS: na te mām aṅga jānantihṛdi-sthaṁ ya idaṁ yataḥuktha-śastrā hy asu-tṛpoyathā nīhāra-cakṣuṣaḥ Translation: My dear Uddhava, persons dedicated to sense gratification obtained through honoring the Vedic rituals cannot understand that I am situated in everyone’s heart and that the entire universe is nondifferent from Me and emanates from Me....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 29-30 Sanskrit: ते मे मतमविज्ञाय परोक्षं विषयात्मका: ।हिंसायां यदि राग: स्याद् यज्ञ एव न चोदना ॥ २९ ॥हिंसाविहारा ह्यालब्धै: पशुभि: स्वसुखेच्छया ।यजन्ते देवता यज्ञै: पितृभूतपतीन् खला: ॥ ३० ॥ ITRANS: te me matam avijñāyaparokṣaṁ viṣayātmakāḥhiṁsāyāṁ yadi rāgaḥ syādyajña eva na codanā Translation: Those who are sworn to sense gratification cannot understand the confidential conclusion of Vedic knowledge as explained by Me. Taking pleasure in violence, they cruelly slaughter innocent animals in sacrifice for their own sense gratification and thus worship demigods, forefathers and leaders among ghostly creatures....

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 31 Sanskrit: स्वप्नोपमममुं लोकमसन्तं श्रवणप्रियम् ।आशिषो हृदि सङ्कल्प्य त्यजन्त्यर्थान् यथा वणिक् ॥ ३१ ॥ ITRANS: svapnopamam amuṁ lokamasantaṁ śravaṇa-priyamāśiṣo hṛdi saṅkalpyatyajanty arthān yathā vaṇik Translation: Just as a foolish businessman gives up his real wealth in useless business speculation, foolish persons give up all that is actually valuable in life and instead pursue promotion to material heaven, which although pleasing to hear about is actually unreal, like a dream....