yas tv etat ká¹›cchrataÅ› cÄ«rṇaá¹
tapo niḥśreyasaṠmahat
kÄmÄyÄlpÄ«yase yuñjyÄd
bÄliÅ›aḥ ko 'paras tataḥ
yaḥ - one who; tu - indeed; etat - this; ká¹›cchrataḥ - with great penance; cÄ«rṇam - for a long time; tapaḥ - austerity; niḥśreyasam - awarding ultimate liberation; mahat - glorious; kÄmÄya - for sense gratification; alpÄ«yase - insignificant; yuñjyÄt - practices; bÄliÅ›aḥ - such a fool; kaḥ - who; aparaḥ - else; tataḥ - besides him.
One who with long endeavor executes this painful but exalted penance, which awards ultimate liberation, simply to achieve insignificant sense gratification must be considered the greatest fool.
Although the process of vÄnaprastha described by Lord Kṛṣṇa is so glorious that even the consolation prize is promotion to Maharloka, one who consciously performs this process for such promotion to heaven is certainly the greatest fool. The Lord does not want this process to be abused or exploited by materialistic rascals, for the ultimate goal is love of Godhead.
