SB 11.11.9

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Eleventh Canto - Chapter 11: The Symptoms of Conditioned and Liberated Living Entities

SB 11.11.8 - SB 11.11.10

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Please note: The synonyms, translation and purport of this verse were composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda

TEXT 9

indriyair indriyārtheṣu

guṇair api guṇeṣu ca

gṛhyamāṇeṣv ahaṁ kuryān

na vidvān yas tv avikriyaḥ

SYNONYMS

indriyaiḥ — by the senses; indriya — of the senses; artheṣu — in the objects; guṇaiḥ — by those generated from the modes of nature; api — even; guṇeṣu — in those generated by the same modes; ca — also; gṛhyamāṇeṣu — as they are being accepted; aham — false ego; kuryāt — should create; na — not; vidvān — one who is enlightened; yaḥ — who; tu — indeed; avikriyaḥ — is not affected by material desire.

Translation and purport composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda

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TRANSLATION

An enlightened person who is free from the contamination of material desire does not consider himself to be the performer of bodily activities; rather, he knows that in all such activities it is only the senses, born of the modes of nature, that are contacting sense objects born of the same modes of nature.

PURPORT

Lord Kṛṣṇa makes a similar statement in Bhagavad-gītā (BG 3.28):

tattva-vit tu mahā-bāho

guṇa-karma-vibhāgayoḥ

guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta

iti matvā na sajjate

"One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the difference between work in devotion and work for fruitive results."

The material body always interacts with the sense objects, for in order to survive the body must eat, drink, speak, sleep, and so on, but an enlightened person who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness never thinks, "I am accepting these sense objects as my property. They are meant for my pleasure." Similarly, if the body performs a wonderful activity, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not become proud, nor is he depressed by the failure of the body to function in a particular way. In other words, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means giving up identification with the gross and subtle material bodies. One should see them as the external energy of the Lord, working under the direction of the Lord's empowered representative māyā. One absorbed in fruitive activities works under the jurisdiction of mahā-māyā, or the external illusory potency, and experiences the miseries of material existence. On the other hand, a devotee works under the internal potency, called yoga-māyā, and remains satisfied by offering his loving service to the Lord. In either case, the Lord Himself, by His multifarious potencies, is the ultimate performer of action.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, one who claims to be transcendental to the bodily concept of life, but at the same time remains under the influence of material desire and mental transformation, is understood to be a cheater and the lowest type of conditioned soul.

SB 11.11.8 - SB 11.11.10