Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.21.24

utpattyaiva hi kāmeṣu

prāṇeṣu sva-janeṣu ca

āsakta-manaso martyā

ātmano 'nartha-hetuṣu

SYNONYMS

utpattyā eva — simply by birth; hi — indeed; kāmeṣu — in objects of selfish desires; prāṇeṣu — in vital functions (such as one's duration of life, sense activities, physical strength and sexual potency); sva-janeṣu — in his family members; ca — and; āsakta-manasaḥ — having become attached within the mind; martyāḥ — mortal human beings; ātmanaḥ — of their real self; anartha — of defeating the purpose; hetuṣu — which are the causes.

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.

PURPORT

Our attachment to the material body and the bodies of family and friends inevitably leads to unbearable anxiety and suffering. The mind absorbed in the bodily concept of life cannot possibly advance in self-realization, and thus one's hope for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge is defeated by the objects of one's so-called affection. Activities performed in ignorance are beneficial neither for oneself nor others, just as the charitable activities one may perform in a dream bestow no tangible benefit on real people. The conditioned soul is dreaming of a world separate from God, but any advancement experienced in this dream world is merely hallucination. The Lord states in Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-loka-maheśvaram: He is the supreme enjoyer and Lord of all planets and worlds. Only by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, recognition of the supremacy of God, can one make actual progress in life.

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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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