Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 10: The Nature of Fruitive Activity

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.10.2

anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā

dehināḿ viṣayātmanām

guṇeṣu tattva-dhyānena

sarvārambha-viparyayam

SYNONYMS

anvīkṣeta — one should see; viśuddha — purified; ātmā — soul; dehinām — of the embodied beings; viṣaya-ātmanām — of those who are dedicated to sense gratification; guṇeṣuin the material objects of pleasure; tattvaas truth; dhyānena — by conceiving; sarva — of all; ārambha — endeavors; viparyayam — the inevitable failure.

TRANSLATION

A purified soul should see that because the conditioned souls who are dedicated to sense gratification have falsely accepted the objects of sense pleasure as truth, all of their endeavors are doomed to failure.

PURPORT

In this verse the Lord describes the process of becoming desireless. All material sense objects, including those perceived by their form, taste, flavor, touch or sound, are temporary. We now see our family and nation, but ultimately they will disappear. Even our own body, by which we perceive them, will disappear. Thus, the inevitable result of material enjoyment is viparyaya, or great suffering. The word viśuddhātmā indicates those who have purified themselves by executing the regulative duties of devotional service. They can clearly see the hopeless frustration of material life, and thus they become akāmātmā, or great souls free from material desire.

<<< >>>

Buy Online Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari