Canto 11: General HistoryChapter 18: Description of Varṇāśrama-dharma

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.18.26

naitad vastutayā paśyed

dṛśyamānaḿ vinaśyati

asakta-citto viramed

ihāmutra-cikīrṣitāt

SYNONYMS

na — never; etat — this; vastutayāas ultimate reality; paśyet — one should see; dṛśyamānam — being observed by direct experience; vinaśyati — is destroyed; asakta — without attachment; cittaḥ — whose consciousness; viramet — one should be detached; ihain this world; amutra — and in one's future life; cikīrṣitāt — from activities performed for material advancement.

TRANSLATION

One should never see as ultimate reality those material things which obviously will perish. With consciousness free from material attachment, one should retire from all activities meant for material progress in this life and the next.

PURPORT

One may doubt how a gentleman can retire from family life and live as a beggar, eating meager foodstuffs. The Lord here responds by stating that sumptuous or palatable foods — along with all other material objects, such as the body itself — should never be seen as ultimate reality, since they are obviously perishable items. One should retire from material programs destined to enhance the quality of one's illusion both in this life and the next.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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