hasanti yasyÄcaritaá¹ hi durbhagÄḥ
svÄtman-ratasyÄviduá¹£aḥ samÄ«hitam
yair vastra-mÄlyÄbharaṇÄnulepanaiḥ
Å›va-bhojanaá¹ svÄtmatayopalÄlitam
hasanti - laugh at; yasya - whose; Äcaritam - activity; hi - certainly; durbhagÄḥ - the unfortunate; sva-Ätman - in the self; ratasya - of one engaged; aviduá¹£aḥ - not knowing; samÄ«hitam - his purpose; yaiḥ - by whom; vastra - clothing; mÄlya - garlands; Äbharaṇa - ornaments; anu - such luxurious; lepanaiḥ - with ointments; Å›va-bhojanam - eatable by the dogs; sva-ÄtmatayÄ - as if the self; upalÄlitam - fondled.
Lord Åšiva never accepts any luxurious dress, garland, ornament or ointment. But those who are addicted to the decoration of the body, which is finally eatable by dogs, very luxuriously maintain it as the self. Such persons do not understand Lord Åšiva, but they approach him for luxurious material comforts. There are two kinds of devotees of Lord Åšiva. One class is the gross materialist seeking only bodily comforts from Lord Åšiva, and the other class desires to become one with him. They are mostly impersonalists and prefer to chant Å›ivo ’ham, “I am Åšiva,†or “After liberation I shall become one with Lord Åšiva.†In other words, the karmÄ«s and jñÄnÄ«s are generally devotees of Lord Åšiva, but they do not properly understand his real purpose in life. Sometimes so-called devotees of Lord Åšiva imitate him in using poisonous intoxicants. Lord Åšiva once swallowed an ocean of poison, and thus his throat became blue. The imitation Åšivas try to follow him by indulging in poisons, and thus they are ruined. The real purpose of Lord Åšiva is to serve the Soul of the soul, Lord Kṛṣṇa. He desires that all luxurious articles, such as nice garments, garlands, ornaments and cosmetics, be given to Lord Kṛṣṇa only, because Kṛṣṇa is the real enjoyer. He refuses to accept such luxurious items himself because they are only meant for Kṛṣṇa. However, since they do not know this purpose of Lord Åšiva, foolish persons either laugh at him or profitlessly try to imitate him.