ÄjÄ«vyaikataraá¹ bhÄvaá¹
yas tv anyam upajīvati
na tasmÄd vindate ká¹£emaá¹
jÄrÄn nÄry asatÄ« yathÄ

 ÄjÄ«vya - sustaining his life; ekataram - one; bhÄvam - entity; yaḥ - who; tu - but; anyam - another; upajÄ«vati - resorts to; na - not; tasmÄt - from that one; vindate - gains; ká¹£emam - real benefit; jÄrÄt - from a paramour; nÄrÄ« - a woman; asatÄ« - who is unchaste; yathÄ - as.


Text

If one thing is actually sustaining our life but we take shelter of something else, how can we achieve any real benefit? We would be like an unfaithful woman, who can never achieve any actual benefit by consorting with her paramour.

Purport

The word ká¹£emam means actual prosperity, not merely the accumulation of money. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa boldly argues that just as a woman can never achieve actual dignity or enlightenment from an illicit lover, the residents of Vá¹›ndÄvana will never be happy by neglecting the real source of their prosperity and worshiping Indra instead. According to ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ«, the audacity that child Kṛṣṇa displayed before His father and other elders should be understood as an exhibition of transcendental anger aroused when He saw His eternal devotees worshiping an insignificant demigod.