Canto 2: The Cosmic ManifestationChapter 7: Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.42

yeṣāḿ sa eṣa bhagavān dayayed anantaḥ

sarvātmanāśrita-pado yadi nirvyalīkam

te dustarām atitaranti ca deva-māyāḿ

naiṣāḿ mamāham iti dhīḥ śva-śṛgāla-bhakṣye

SYNONYMS

yeṣām — unto those only; saḥ — the Lord; eṣaḥ — the; bhagavān — the Personality of Godhead; dayayet — does bestow His mercy; anantaḥ — the unlimited potential; sarva-ātmanā — by all means, without reservation; āśrita-padaḥ — surrendered soul; yadi — if such surrender; nirvyalīkam — without pretension; te — those only; dustarām — insurmountable; atitaranti — can overcome; ca — and the paraphernalia; deva-māyām — diverse energies of the Lord; na — not; eṣām — of them; mamamine; aham — myself; iti — thus; dhīḥ — conscious; śva — dogs; śṛgāla — jackals; bhakṣyein the matter of eating.

TRANSLATION

But anyone who is specifically favored by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, due to unalloyed surrender unto the service of the Lord, can overcome the insurmountable ocean of illusion and can understand the Lord. But those who are attached to this body, which is meant to be eaten at the end by dogs and jackals, cannot do so.

PURPORT

The unalloyed devotees of the Lord know the glories of the Lord in the sense that they can understand how great the Lord is and how great is His expansion of diverse energy. Those who are attached to the perishable body can hardly enter into the realm of the science of Godhead. The whole materialistic world, based on the conception of the material body as the self, is ignorant of the science of God. The materialist is always busy working for the welfare of the material body, not only his own but also those of his children, kinsmen, communitymen, countrymen, etc. The materialists have many branches of philanthropic and altruistic activities from a political, national and international angle of vision, but none of the field work can go beyond the jurisdiction of the misconception of identifying the material body with the spirit soul. Unless, therefore, one is saved from the wrong conception of the body and the soul, there is no knowledge of Godhead, and unless there is knowledge of God, all advancement of material civilization, however dazzling, should be considered a failure.

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