यावन्न जिज्ञासत आत्मतत्त्वम् ।
यावत्क्रियास्तावदिदं मनो वै
कर्मात्मकं येन शरीरबन्धः ॥५॥
parÄbhavas tÄvad abodha-jÄto
yÄvan na jijñÄsata Ätma-tattvam
yÄvat kriyÄs tÄvad idaá¹ mano vai
karmÄtmakaá¹ yena Å›arÄ«ra-bandhaḥ
10 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: CC(2) , LSB(3) , NoI(1) , SB(4)
parÄbhavaḥ - defeat, misery; tÄvat - so long; abodha-jÄtaḥ - produced from ignorance; yÄvat - as long as; na - not; jijñÄsate - inquires about; Ätma-tattvam - the truth of the self; yÄvat - as long as; kriyÄḥ - fruitive activities; tÄvat - so long; idam - this; manaḥ - mind; vai - indeed; karma-Ätmakam - absorbed in material activities; yena - by which; Å›arÄ«ra-bandhaḥ - bondage in this material body.
As long as one does not inquire about the spiritual values of life, one is defeated and subjected to miseries arising from ignorance. Be it sinful or pious, karma has its resultant actions. If a person is engaged in any kind of karma, his mind is called karmÄtmaka, colored with fruitive activity. As long as the mind is impure, consciousness is unclear, and as long as one is absorbed in fruitive activity, he has to accept a material body.
Generally people think that one should act very piously in order to be relieved from misery, but this is not a fact. Even though one engages in pious activity and speculation, he is nonetheless defeated. His only aim should be emancipation from the clutches of mÄyÄ and all material activities. Speculative knowledge and pious activity do not solve the problems of material life. One should be inquisitive to understand his spiritual position. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.37):
yathaidhÄá¹si samiddho ’gnir
bhasmasÄt kurute ’rjuna
jñÄnÄgniḥ sarva-karmÄṇi
bhasmasÄt kurute tathÄ
“As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.â€
Unless one understands the self and its activities, one has to be considered in material bondage. In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.2.32) it is also said: ye ’nye ’ravindÄká¹£a vimukta-mÄninas tvayy asta-bhÄvÄd aviÅ›uddha-buddhayaḥ. A person who doesn’t have knowledge of devotional service may think himself liberated, but actually he is not. Ä€ruhya ká¹›cchreṇa paraá¹ padaá¹ tataḥ patanty adho ’nÄdá¹›ta-yuá¹£mad-aá¹…ghrayaḥ: such people may approach the impersonal Brahman effulgence, but they fall down again into material enjoyment because they have no knowledge of devotional service. As long as one is interested in karma and jñÄna, he continues enduring the miseries of material life — birth, old age, disease and death. KarmÄ«s certainly take on one body after another. As far as jñÄnÄ«s are concerned, unless they are promoted to the topmost understanding, they must return to the material world. As explained in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.19): bahÅ«nÄá¹ janmanÄm ante jñÄnavÄn mÄá¹ prapadyate. The point is to know Kṛṣṇa, VÄsudeva, as everything and surrender unto Him. KarmÄ«s do not know this, but a devotee who is one hundred percent engaged in the devotional service of the Lord knows fully what is karma and jñÄna; therefore a pure devotee is no longer interested in karma or jñÄna. AnyÄbhilÄá¹£itÄ-śūnyaá¹ jñÄna-karmÄdy-anÄvá¹›tam. The real bhakta is untouched by any tinge of karma and jñÄna. His only purpose in life is to serve the Lord.
