puṣṇÄti yÄn adharmeṇa
sva-buddhyÄ tam apaṇá¸itam
te 'ká¹›tÄrthaá¹ prahiṇvanti
prÄá¹‡Ä rÄyaḥ sutÄdayaḥ
puṣṇÄti - nourishes; yÄn - which things; adharmeṇa - by sinful activity; sva-buddhyÄ - thinking them to be his own; tam - him; apaṇá¸itam - uneducated; te - they; aká¹›ta-artham - his purposes frustrated; prahiṇvanti - abandon; prÄṇÄḥ - life air; rÄyaḥ - wealth; suta-Ädayaḥ - children and others.
A fool indulges in sin to maintain his life, wealth and children and other relatives, for he thinks, “These things are mine.†In the end, however, these very things all abandon him, leaving him frustrated.
In these verses, AkrÅ«ra is giving rather frank advice to Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra. Those who know the story of the MahÄbhÄrata will realize how relevant and prophetic these instructions are, and how much Dhá¹›tarÄá¹£á¹ra suffered for not accepting them. Although one tenaciously clings to his property, in the end all is lost, and the blundering soul is swept away by the wheel of birth and death.
