yad arpitaá¹ tad vikalpe
indriyaiḥ paridhÄvati
rajas-valaá¹ cÄsan-niá¹£á¹haá¹
cittaá¹ viddhi viparyayam
yat - when; arpitam - fixed; tat - this (consciousness); vikalpe - in material variety (the body, home, family, etc.); indriyaiḥ - with the senses; paridhÄvati - chasing all around; rajaḥ-valam - strengthened by the mode of passion; ca - also; asat - to that which has no permanent reality; niá¹£á¹ham - dedicated; cittam - consciousness; viddhi - you should understand; viparyayam - the opposite (of what was previously mentioned).
When consciousness is fixed on the material body, home and other, similar objects of sense gratification, one spends one’s life chasing after material objects with the help of the senses. Consciousness, thus powerfully affected by the mode of passion, becomes dedicated to impermanent things, and in this way irreligion, ignorance, attachment and wretchedness arise.
In the previous verse Lord Kṛṣṇa explained the auspicious results of fixing the mind in Him, and now the opposite is explained. Rajas-valam indicates that one’s passion grows so strong that one commits sinful activities and reaps all types of misfortune. Although materialistic people are blind to their impending wretchedness, one can confirm by all types of evidence — namely Vedic injunctions, direct observation, traditional wisdom and inductive logic — that the result of violating the laws of God is disastrous.
