eta Ätma-hano 'Å›ÄntÄ
ajñÄne jñÄna-mÄninaḥ
sÄ«danty aká¹›ta-ká¹›tyÄ vai
kÄla-dhvasta-manorathÄḥ

 ete - these; Ätma-hanaḥ - killers of the self; aÅ›ÄntÄḥ - devoid of peace; ajñÄne - in ignorance; jñÄna-mÄninaḥ - presuming to have knowledge; sÄ«danti - they suffer; aká¹›ta - failing to perform; ká¹›tyÄḥ - their duty; vai - indeed; kÄla - by time; dhvasta - destroyed; manaḥ-rathÄḥ - their fanciful desires.


Text

The killers of the soul are never peaceful, because they consider that human intelligence is ultimately meant for expanding material life. Thus neglecting their real, spiritual duties, they are always in distress. They are filled with great hopes and dreams, but unfortunately these are always destroyed by the inevitable march of time.

Purport

There is a similar verse in Śrī Īśopaniṣad (3):

asuryÄ nÄma te lokÄ
 andhena tamasÄvá¹›tÄḥ
tÄá¹s te pretyÄbhigacchanti
 ye ke cÄtma-hano janÄḥ

“The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.â€