The Bondage of Fruitive Work

Verse 1 (bhagavata.11.10.1)

श्रीभगवानुवाच मयोदितेष्ववहितः स्वधर्मेषु मदाश्रयः । वर्णाश्रमकुलाचारमकामात्मा समाचरेत् ॥ 10.1 ॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ varṇāśrama-kulācāram akāmātmā samācaret

The Blessed Lord said: Fixed attentively upon the duties I have spoken of, and taking refuge in Me, one should perform the conduct proper to one's varna, ashrama and family, free of personal desire.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.11.10.2)

अन्वीक्षेत विशुद्धात्मा देहिनां विषयात्मनाम् । गुणेषु तत्त्वध्यानेन सर्वारम्भविपर्ययम् ॥ 10.2 ॥

anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā dehināṁ viṣayātmanām guṇeṣu tattva-dhyānena sarvārambha-viparyayam

One of purified mind should observe, through true reflection upon the modes of nature, how every undertaking of embodied souls absorbed in sense objects ends in the very opposite of what was intended.

Verse 3 (bhagavata.11.10.3)

सुप्तस्य विषयालोको ध्यायतो वा मनोरथः । नानात्मकत्वाद् विफलस्तथा भेदात्मधीर्गुणैः ॥ 10.3 ॥

suptasya viṣayāloko dhyāyato vā manorathaḥ nānātmakatvād viphalas tathā bhedātma-dhīr guṇaiḥ

Just as the objects seen by a sleeping man, or the fancies of a daydreamer, are futile for lacking real existence, so too is the understanding that perceives multiplicity through the modes equally futile.

Verse 4 (bhagavata.11.10.4)

निवृत्तं कर्म सेवेत प्रवृत्तं मत्परस्त्यजेत् । जिज्ञासायां सम्प्रवृत्तो नाद्रियेत् कर्मचोदनाम् ॥ 10.4 ॥

nivṛttaṁ karma seveta pravṛttaṁ mat-paras tyajet jijñāsāyāṁ sampravṛtto nādriyet karma-codanām

One should follow the path of renunciatory action and, being devoted to Me, give up action aimed at enjoyment. And one who is fully engaged in inquiry into the truth need not strictly honor the injunctions enjoining fruitive rites.

Verse 5 (bhagavata.11.10.5)

यमानभीक्ष्णं सेवेत नियमान् मत्परः क्वचित् । मदभिज्ञं गुरुं शान्तमुपासीत मदात्मकम् ॥ 10.5 ॥

yamān abhīkṣṇaṁ seveta niyamān mat-paraḥ kvacit mad-abhijñaṁ guruṁ śāntam upāsīta mad-ātmakam

One devoted to Me should constantly practice the yamas, and the niyamas as occasion requires, and should serve a peaceful teacher who truly knows Me and whose very nature is one with Mine.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.11.10.6)

अमान्यमत्सरो दक्षो निर्ममोदृढसौहृदः । असत्वरोऽर्थजिज्ञासुरनसूयुरमोघवाक् ॥ 10.6 ॥

amāny amatsaro dakṣo nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ asatvaro ’rtha-jijñāsur anasūyur amogha-vāk

He should be free of false pride and envy, capable and diligent, without possessiveness, firm in loving devotion, unhurried, eager to know the truth, free from fault-finding, and never speak in vain.

Verse 7 (bhagavata.11.10.7)

जायापत्यगृहक्षेत्रस्वजनद्रविणादिषु । उदासीनः समं पश्यन् सर्वेष्वर्थमिवात्मनः ॥ 10.7 ॥

jāyāpatya-gṛha-kṣetra- svajana-draviṇādiṣu udāsīnaḥ samaṁ paśyan sarveṣv artham ivātmanaḥ

Remaining indifferent to wife, children, home, land, kinsmen and wealth, he should view them all equally, merely as means useful to the good of the soul.

Verse 8 (bhagavata.11.10.8)

विलक्षणः स्थूलसूक्ष्माद् देहादात्मेक्षिता स्वदृक् । यथाग्निर्दारुणो दाह्याद् दाहकोऽन्यः प्रकाशकः ॥ 10.8 ॥

vilakṣaṇaḥ sthūla-sūkṣmād dehād ātmekṣitā sva-dṛk yathāgnir dāruṇo dāhyād dāhako ’nyaḥ prakāśakaḥ

The self, the self-luminous seer, is distinct from the gross and subtle body which it perceives — just as fire, which burns and illuminates, is distinct from the wood, which is only that which is burned.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.11.10.9)

निरोधोत्पत्त्यणुबृहन्नानात्वं तत्कृतान् गुणान् । अन्तःप्रविष्ट आधत्त एवं देहगुणान् परः ॥ 10.9 ॥

nirodhotpatty-aṇu-bṛhan- nānātvaṁ tat-kṛtān guṇān antaḥ praviṣṭa ādhatta evaṁ deha-guṇān paraḥ

Just as fire, entering wood, appears to take on the qualities born of that fuel — extinction, arising, smallness, vastness and manifold forms — so too does the transcendent soul, upon entering a body, appear to take on that body's qualities.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.11.10.10)

योऽसौ गुणैर्विरचितो देहोऽयं पुरुषस्य हि । संसारस्तन्निबन्धोऽयं पुंसो विद्याच्छिदात्मनः ॥ 10.10 ॥

yo ’sau guṇair viracito deho ’yaṁ puruṣasya hi saṁsāras tan-nibandho ’yaṁ puṁso vidyā cchid ātmanaḥ

This body of the person, fashioned as it is by the modes of nature — bondage to it alone is what constitutes samsara. And true knowledge is that which severs this bondage of the soul.

Verse 11 (bhagavata.11.10.11)

तस्माज्जिज्ञासयात्मानमात्मस्थं केवलं परम् । सङ्गम्य निरसेदेतद्वस्तुबुद्धिं यथाक्रमम् ॥ 10.11 ॥

tasmāj jijñāsayātmānam ātma-sthaṁ kevalaṁ param saṅgamya nirased etad vastu-buddhiṁ yathā-kramam

Therefore, through inquiry, one should come to realize the pure, supreme Self abiding within, and by degrees give up this false notion of reality clinging to the body.

Verse 12 (bhagavata.11.10.12)

आचार्योऽरणिराद्यः स्यादन्तेवास्युत्तरारणिः । तत्सन्धानं प्रवचनं विद्यासन्धिः सुखावहः ॥ 10.12 ॥

ācāryo ’raṇir ādyaḥ syād ante-vāsy uttarāraṇiḥ tat-sandhānaṁ pravacanaṁ vidyā-sandhiḥ sukhāvahaḥ

The teacher is like the lower fire-stick, and the disciple the upper one; their meeting through instruction is the friction between the two, and the knowledge that springs forth is the fire that brings happiness to both.

Verse 13 (bhagavata.11.10.13)

वैशारदी सातिविशुद्धबुद्धि- र्धुनोति मायां गुणसम्प्रसूताम् । गुणांश्च सन्दह्य यदात्ममेतत् स्वयं च शाम्यत्यसमिद् यथाग्निः ॥ 10.13 ॥

vaiśāradī sāti-viśuddha-buddhir dhunoti māyāṁ guṇa-samprasūtām gunāṁś ca sandahya yad-ātmam etat svayaṁ ca śāṁyaty asamid yathāgniḥ

That most pure understanding, born of expert instruction, shakes off the maya arisen from the modes of nature; and having burned up the very modes from which it sprang, it too is finally extinguished, like a fire with no more fuel to consume.

Verse 14 (bhagavata.11.10.14)

अथैषाम् कर्मकर्तृणां भोक्तृणां सुखदुःखयोः । नानात्वमथ नित्यत्वं लोककालागमात्मनाम् ॥ 10.14 ॥

athaiṣām karma-kartṝṇāṁ bhoktṝṇāṁ sukha-duḥkhayoḥ nānātvam atha nityatvaṁ loka-kālāgamātmanām

Now [some hold this view]: for the performers of action and the enjoyers of happiness and distress, and likewise for the world, time, scripture and the self, both manifoldness and eternality exist.

Verse 15 (bhagavata.11.10.15)

मन्यसे सर्वभावानां संस्था ह्यौत्पत्तिकी यथा । तत्तदाकृतिभेदेन जायते भिद्यते च धीः ॥ 10.15 ॥

manyase sarva-bhāvānāṁ saṁsthā hy autpattikī yathā tat-tad-ākṛti-bhedena jāyate bhidyate ca dhīḥ

You might think the nature of every existing thing is inherent from its very origin, and that understanding itself arises and changes according to the difference in each thing's particular form.

Verse 16 (bhagavata.11.10.16)

एवमप्यङ्ग सर्वेषां देहिनां देहयोगतः । कालावयवतः सन्ति भावा जन्मादयोऽसकृत् ॥ 10.16 ॥

evam apy aṅga sarveṣāṁ dehināṁ deha-yogataḥ kālāvayavataḥ santi bhāvā janmādayo ’sakṛt

Even so, dear Uddhava, for all embodied souls, birth and the other transformations occur again and again, on account of their connection with a body and through the divisions of time.

Verse 17 (bhagavata.11.10.17)

तत्रापि कर्मणां कर्तुरस्वातन्त्र्यं च लक्ष्यते । भोक्तुश्च दुःखसुखयोः को न्वर्थो विवशं भजेत् ॥ 10.17 ॥

tatrāpi karmaṇāṁ kartur asvātantryaṁ ca lakṣyate bhoktuś ca duḥkha-sukhayoḥ ko nv artho vivaśaṁ bhajet

Even there, one plainly observes that the doer of actions has no independence, nor does the enjoyer of pleasure and pain — so what value can there be in devotion to something so utterly dependent?

Verse 18 (bhagavata.11.10.18)

न देहिनां सुखं किञ्चिद् विद्यते विदुषामपि । तथा च दुःखं मूढानां वृथाहङ्करणं परम् ॥ 10.18 ॥

na dehināṁ sukhaṁ kiñcid vidyate viduṣām api tathā ca duḥkhaṁ mūḍhānāṁ vṛthāhaṅkaraṇaṁ param

Not even the learned find any real happiness, nor is there real suffering for fools — the very notion of being the doer of one's happiness or misery is nothing but vain false ego.

Verse 19 (bhagavata.11.10.19)

यदि प्राप्तिं विघातं च जानन्ति सुखदुःखयोः । तेऽप्यद्धा न विदुर्योगं मृत्युर्न प्रभवेद् यथा ॥ 10.19 ॥

yadi prāptiṁ vighātaṁ ca jānanti sukha-duḥkhayoḥ te ’py addhā na vidur yogaṁ mṛtyur na prabhaved yathā

Even if people know how to attain happiness and avert suffering, they still do not truly know the means by which death might have no power over them.

Verse 20 (bhagavata.11.10.20)

कोऽन्वर्थः सुखयत्येनं कामो वा मृत्युरन्तिके । आघातं नीयमानस्य वध्यस्येव न तुष्टिदः ॥ 10.20 ॥

ko ’nv arthaḥ sukhayaty enaṁ kāmo vā mṛtyur antike āghātaṁ nīyamānasya vadhyasyeva na tuṣṭi-daḥ

What real satisfaction, then, can any object or desire give a person with death standing so near? It offers no more comfort than pleasures given to a man being led to his own execution.

Verse 21 (bhagavata.11.10.21)

श्रुतं च दृष्टवद् दुष्टं स्पर्धासूयात्ययव्ययैः । बह्वन्तरायकामत्वात् कृषिवच्चापि निष्फलम् ॥ 10.21 ॥

śrutaṁ ca dṛṣṭa-vad duṣṭaṁ spardhāsūyātyaya-vyayaiḥ bahv-antarāya-kāmatvāt kṛṣi-vac cāpi niṣphalam

Even the happiness we only hear of [in heaven] is, like the happiness we see directly, tainted by rivalry, envy, decay and loss; and since so many obstacles stand in the way of the desired result, it proves as fruitless as farming beset on every side by calamity.

Verse 22 (bhagavata.11.10.22)

अन्तरायैरविहितो यदि धर्मः स्वनुष्ठितः । तेनापि निर्जितं स्थानं यथा गच्छति तच्छृणु ॥ 10.22 ॥

antarāyair avihito yadi dharmaḥ sv-anuṣṭhitaḥ tenāpi nirjitaṁ sthānaṁ yathā gacchati tac chṛṇu

But if religious duty is performed properly, without obstruction, and a superior station is thereby won, hear now how even that comes to an end.

Verse 23 (bhagavata.11.10.23)

इष्ट्वेह देवता यज्ञैः स्वर्लोकं याति याज्ञिकः । भुञ्जीत देववत्तत्र भोगान् दिव्यान् निजार्जितान् ॥ 10.23 ॥

iṣṭveha devatā yajñaiḥ svar-lokaṁ yāti yājñikaḥ bhuñjīta deva-vat tatra bhogān divyān nijārjitān

Having worshiped the gods here through sacrifices, the sacrificer goes to the heavenly world, where, like a god, he enjoys the celestial pleasures he has earned by his own performance.

Verse 24 (bhagavata.11.10.24)

स्वपुण्योपचिते शुभ्रे विमान उपगीयते । गन्धर्वैर्विहरन् मध्ये देवीनां हृद्यवेषधृक् ॥ 10.24 ॥

sva-puṇyopacite śubhre vimāna upagīyate gandharvair viharan madhye devīnāṁ hṛdya-veṣa-dhṛk

Riding a radiant celestial chariot won by his own merit, praised in song by the Gandharvas and clad in enchanting attire, he takes his pleasure amid the goddesses of heaven.

Verse 25 (bhagavata.11.10.25)

स्त्रीभिः कामगयानेन किङ्किणीजालमालिना । क्रीडन् न वेदात्मपातं सुराक्रीडेषु निर्वृतः ॥ 10.25 ॥

strībhiḥ kāmaga-yānena kiṅkinī-jāla-mālinā krīḍan na vedātma-pātaṁ surākrīḍeṣu nirvṛtaḥ

Sporting with heavenly women in a chariot strung with tinkling bells, moving wherever he wishes, and lost in delight amid the pleasure gardens of the gods, he does not perceive his own approaching fall.

Verse 26 (bhagavata.11.10.26)

तावत् स मोदते स्वर्गे यावत् पुण्यं समाप्यते । क्षीणपुण्यः पतत्यर्वागनिच्छन् कालचालितः ॥ 10.26 ॥

tāvat sa modate svarge yāvat puṇyaṁ samāpyate kṣīṇa-puṇyaḥ pataty arvāg anicchan kāla-cālitaḥ

He rejoices in heaven only so long as his merit lasts. Once that merit is exhausted, driven by the force of time, he falls back down against his own wish.

Verse 27 (bhagavata.11.10.27)

यद्यधर्मरतः सङ्गादसतां वाजितेन्द्रियः । कामात्मा कृपणो लुब्धः स्त्रैणो भूतविहिंसकः ॥ 10.27 ॥

yady adharma-rataḥ saṅgād asatāṁ vājitendriyaḥ kāmātmā kṛpaṇo lubdhaḥ straiṇo bhūta-vihiṁsakaḥ

But if, through the company of the wicked or through failure to master the senses, a person becomes devoted to unrighteousness — lustful, miserly, greedy, enslaved to women, and cruel toward other creatures —

Verse 28 (bhagavata.11.10.28)

पशूनविधिनालभ्य प्रेतभूतगणान् यजन् । नरकानवशो जन्तुर्गत्वा यात्युल्बणं तमः ॥ 10.28 ॥

paśūn avidhinālabhya preta-bhūta-gaṇān yajan narakān avaśo jantur gatvā yāty ulbaṇaṁ tamaḥ

— and, without scriptural sanction, slaughters animals and worships ghosts and spirits — then that helpless creature goes to the hellish regions and sinks into deep darkness.

Verse 29 (bhagavata.11.10.29)

कर्माणि दुःखोदर्काणि कुर्वन् देहेन तैः पुनः । देहमाभजते तत्र किं सुखं मर्त्यधर्मिणः ॥ 10.29 ॥

karmāṇi duḥkhodarkāṇi kurvan dehena taiḥ punaḥ deham ābhajate tatra kiṁ sukhaṁ martya-dharmiṇaḥ

Performing with that body actions that bear only future suffering, he then takes on another body suited to those very actions — so what real happiness can there be for one bound to mortal existence?

Verse 30 (bhagavata.11.10.30)

लोकानां लोकपालानां मद्भयं कल्पजीविनाम् । ब्रह्मणोऽपि भयं मत्तो द्विपरार्धपरायुषः ॥ 10.30 ॥

lokānāṁ loka-pālānāṁ mad bhayaṁ kalpa-jīvinām brahmaṇo ’pi bhayaṁ matto dvi-parārdha-parāyuṣaḥ

All the worlds, and their guardian rulers who live for a full kalpa, remain in fear of Me. Even Brahma, whose lifespan is the very longest, is afraid of Me.

Verse 31 (bhagavata.11.10.31)

गुणाः सृजन्ति कर्माणि गुणोऽनुसृजते गुणान् । जीवस्तु गुणसंयुक्तो भुङ्क्ते कर्मफलान्यसौ ॥ 10.31 ॥

guṇāḥ sṛjanti karmāṇi guṇo ’nusṛjate guṇān jīvas tu guṇa-saṁyukto bhuṅkte karma-phalāny asau

The modes give rise to actions, and one mode gives rise to another in turn; but it is the living being, bound up with these modes, who experiences the fruits of those actions.

Verse 32 (bhagavata.11.10.32)

यावत् स्याद् गुणवैषम्यं तावन्नानात्वमात्मनः । नानात्वमात्मनो यावत् पारतन्त्र्यं तदैव हि ॥ 10.32 ॥

yāvat syād guṇa-vaiṣamyaṁ tāvan nānātvam ātmanaḥ nānātvam ātmano yāvat pāratantryaṁ tadaiva hi

As long as the modes remain in imbalance, so long does the soul appear to be many; and as long as the soul appears to be many, just so long does its dependency also continue.

Verse 33 (bhagavata.11.10.33)

यावदस्यास्वतन्त्रत्वं तावदीश्वरतो भयम् । य एतत् समुपासीरंस्ते मुह्यन्ति शुचार्पिताः ॥ 10.33 ॥

yāvad asyāsvatantratvaṁ tāvad īśvarato bhayam ya etat samupāsīraṁs te muhyanti śucārpitāḥ

As long as this dependency of his continues, so long does fear of the Supreme Controller remain. Those who accept this sense of multiplicity as real and devote themselves to it become bewildered and remain steeped in grief.

Verse 34 (bhagavata.11.10.34)

काल आत्मागमो लोकः स्वभावो धर्म एव च । इति मां बहुधा प्राहुर्गुणव्यतिकरे सति ॥ 10.34 ॥

kāla ātmāgamo lokaḥ svabhāvo dharma eva ca iti māṁ bahudhā prāhur guṇa-vyatikare sati

When the interplay of the modes takes place, people come to describe Me in many ways — as time, as the self, as scripture, as the world, as one's own nature, and as dharma itself.

Verse 35 (bhagavata.11.10.35)

श्रीउद्धव उवाच गुणेषु वर्तमानोऽपि देहजेष्वनपावृतः । गुणैर्न बध्यते देही बध्यते वा कथं विभो ॥ 10.35 ॥

śrī-uddhava uvāca guṇeṣu vartamāno ’pi deha-jeṣv anapāvṛtaḥ guṇair na badhyate dehī badhyate vā kathaṁ vibho

Sri Uddhava said: O Lord, does the embodied soul, though present among the modes born of the body and not turned away from them, remain unbound by these modes — or, my Lord, how exactly is he bound?

Verse 36 (bhagavata.11.10.36)

कथं वर्तेत विहरेत् कैर्वा ज्ञायेत लक्षणैः । किं भुञ्जीतोत विसृजेच्छयीतासीत याति वा ॥ 10.36 ॥

kathaṁ varteta viharet kair vā jñāyeta lakṣaṇaiḥ kiṁ bhuñjītota visṛjec chayītāsīta yāti vā

How should he conduct and comport himself? By what signs is he to be recognized? How does he eat, discard, lie down, sit, or move about?

Verse 37 (bhagavata.11.10.37)

एतदच्युत मे ब्रूहि प्रश्नं प्रश्नविदां वर । नित्यबद्धो नित्यमुक्त एक एवेति मे भ्रमः ॥ 10.37 ॥

etad acyuta me brūhi praśnaṁ praśna-vidāṁ vara nitya-baddho nitya-mukta eka eveti me bhramaḥ

O infallible Lord, best among those skilled in resolving questions, please answer this question of mine: is it one and the same soul that is called eternally bound and eternally liberated? I am confused about this.