श्रीमद्भागवतं - चतुर्थस्कन्धः (Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 4)
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥ (Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya)
॥ चतुर्थस्कन्धः ॥ (Canto 4)
॥ पञ्चविंशोऽध्यायः - २५॥ (Chapter 25)
TEXT 5:
राजोवाच
न जानामि महाभाग परं कर्मापविद्धधीः ।
ब्रूहि मे विमलं ज्ञानं येन मुच्येय कर्मभिः ॥ ५॥
rājovāca
na jānāmi mahā-bhāga
paraṁ karmāpaviddha-dhīḥ
brūhi me vimalaṁ jñānaṁ
yena mucyeya karmabhiḥ
TRANSLATION
The King replied: O great soul, Nārada, my intelligence is entangled in fruitive activities; therefore I do not know the ultimate goal of life. Kindly instruct me in pure knowledge so that I can get out of the entanglement of fruitive activities.
PURPORT
Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung:
sat-saṅga chāḍi’ kainu asate vilāsa
te-kāraṇe lāgila ye karma-bandha-phāṅsa
As long as a person is entangled in fruitive activities, he is bound to accept one body after another. This is called karma-bandha-phāṅsa—entanglement in fruitive activities. It does not matter whether one is engaged in pious or impious activities, for both are causes for further entanglement in material bodies. By pious activities one can take birth in a rich family and get a good education and a beautiful body, but this does not mean that the distresses of life are ultimately eliminated. In the Western countries it is not unusual for one to take birth in a rich aristocratic family, nor is it unusual for one to have a good education and a very beautiful body, but this does not mean that Westerners are free from the distresses of life. Although at the present moment the younger generation in Western countries has sufficient education, beauty and wealth, and although there is enough food, clothing, and facilities for sense gratification, they are in distress. Indeed, they are so distressed that they become hippies, and the laws of nature force them to accept a wretched life. Thus they go about unclean and without shelter or food, and they are forced to sleep in the street. It can be concluded that one cannot become happy by simply performing pious activities. It is not a fact that those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth are free from the material miseries of birth, old age, disease and death. The conclusion is that one cannot be happy by simply executing pious or impious activities. Such activities simply cause entanglement and transmigration from one body to another. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura calls this karma-bandha-phāṅsa.
King Prācīnabarhiṣat admitted this fact and frankly asked Nārada Muni how he could get out of this karma-bandha-phāṅsa, entanglement in fruitive activities. This is actually the stage of knowledge indicated in the first verse of Vedānta-sūtra: athāto brahma jijñāsā. When one actually reaches the platform of frustration in an attempt to discharge karma-bandha-phāṅsa, he inquires about the real value of life, which is called brahma jijñāsā. In order to inquire about the ultimate goal of life, the Vedas enjoin, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: [MU
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham
“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.”
[Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]
1.2.12] “In order to understand the transcendental science, one must approach a bona fide spiritual master.”
King Prācīnabarhiṣat found the best spiritual master, Nārada Muni, and he therefore asked him about that knowledge by which one can get out of the entanglement of karma-bandha-phāṅsa, fruitive activities. This is the actual business of human life. Jīvasya tattva jijñāsā nārtho yaś ceha karmabhiḥ. As stated in the Second Chapter of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.10), a human being’s only business is inquiring from a bona fide spiritual master about extrication from the entanglement of karma-bandha-phāṅsa.
श्रीमद्भागवतं - चतुर्थस्कन्धः (Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 4)
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥ (Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya)
॥ चतुर्थस्कन्धः ॥ (Canto 4)
॥ पञ्चविंशोऽध्यायः - २५॥ (Chapter 25)
TEXT 26:
का त्वं कञ्जपलाशाक्षि कस्यासीह कुतः सति ।
इमामुप पुरीं भीरु किं चिकीर्षसि शंस मे ॥ २६॥
kā tvaṁ kañja-palāśākṣi
kasyāsīha kutaḥ sati
imām upa purīṁ bhīru
kiṁ cikīrṣasi śaṁsa me
TRANSLATION
My dear lotus-eyed, kindly explain to me where you are coming from, who you are, and whose daughter you are. You appear very chaste. What is the purpose of your coming here? What are you trying to do? Please explain all these things to me.
PURPORT
The first aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā. In the human form of life one should put many questions to himself and to his intelligence. In the various forms of life lower than human life the intelligence does not go beyond the range of life’s primary necessities—namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Dogs, cats and tigers are always busy trying to find something to eat or a place to sleep, trying to defend and have sexual intercourse successfully. In the human form of life, however, one should be intelligent enough to ask what he is, why he has come into the world, what his duty is, who is the supreme controller, what is the difference between dull matter and the living entity, etc. There are so many questions, and the person who is actually intelligent should simply inquire about the supreme source of everything: athāto brahma jijñāsā. A living entity is always connected with a certain amount of intelligence, but in the human form of life the living entity must inquire about his spiritual identity. This is real human intelligence. It is said that one who is simply conscious of the body is no better than an animal, even though he be in the human form. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” In the animal form the living entity is completely forgetful of his relationship with God. This is called apohanam, or forgetfulness. In the human form of life, however, consciousness is more greatly developed, and consequently the human being has a chance to understand his relationship with God. In the human form one should utilize his intelligence by asking all these questions, just as Purañjana, the living entity, is asking the unknown girl where she has come from, what her business is, why she is present, etc. These are inquiries about ātma-tattva—self-realization. The conclusion is that unless a living entity is inquisitive about self-realization he is nothing but an animal.