शयीरन्नस्यामेव ममेयमिति कृतवैरानुबन्धायां विसृज्य स्वयमुपसंहृताः ॥४०॥
yad api dig-ibha-jayino yajvino ye vai rÄjará¹£ayaḥ kiá¹ tu paraá¹ má¹›dhe Å›ayÄ«rann asyÄm eva mameyam iti ká¹›ta-vairÄnubandhÄyÄá¹ visá¹›jya svayam upasaá¹há¹›tÄḥ
yat api - although; dik-ibha-jayinaḥ - who are victorious in all directions; yajvinaḥ - expert in performing great sacrifices; ye - all of whom; vai - indeed; rÄja-ṛṣayaḥ - very great saintly kings; kim tu - but; param - only this earth; má¹›dhe - in battle; Å›ayÄ«ran - lying down; asyÄm - on this (earth); eva - indeed; mama - mine; iyam - this; iti - considering in that way; ká¹›ta - on which is created; vaira-anu-bandhÄyÄm - a relationship of enmity with others; visá¹›jya - giving up; svayam - his own life; upasaá¹há¹›tÄḥ - being killed.
There were many great saintly kings who were very expert in performing sacrificial rituals and very competent in conquering other kingdoms, yet despite their power they could not attain the loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is because those great kings could not even conquer the false consciousness of “I am this body, and this is my property.†Thus they simply created enmity with rival kings, fought with them and died without having discharged life’s real mission.
The real mission of life for the conditioned soul is to reestablish the forgotten relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage in devotional service so that he may revive Kṛṣṇa consciousness after giving up the body. One doesn’t have to give up his occupation as a brÄhmaṇa, ká¹£atriya, vaiÅ›ya, śūdra or whatever. In any position, while discharging his prescribed duty, one can develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness simply by associating with devotees who are representatives of Kṛṣṇa and who can teach this science. Regretfully, the big politicians and leaders in the material world simply create enmity and are not interested in spiritual advancement. Material advancement may be very pleasing to an ordinary man, but ultimately he is defeated because he identifies himself with the material body and considers everything related to it to be his property. This is ignorance. Actually nothing belongs to him, not even the body. By one’s karma, one gets a particular body, and if he does not utilize his body to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all his activities are frustrated. The real purpose of life is stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.13):
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-Å›reá¹£á¹hÄ
varṇÄÅ›rama-vibhÄgaÅ›aḥ
svanuá¹£á¹hitasya dharmasya
saá¹siddhir hari-toá¹£aṇam
It really doesn’t matter what activity a man engages in. If he can simply satisfy the Supreme Lord, his life is successful.
