dehī - the embodied soul; ajñaḥ - without perfect knowledge; ajita-ṣaṭ-vargaḥ - who has not controlled the senses of perception and the mind; na icchan - without desiring; karmāṇi - activities for material benefit; kāryate - is caused to perform; kośakāraḥ - the silkworm; iva - like; ātmānam - himself; karmaṇā - by fruitive activities; ācchādya - covering; muhyati - becomes bewildered.

The foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind, is forced to act according to the influence of the modes of material nature, against his desires. He is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then becomes trapped in it, with no possibility of getting out. The living entity traps himself in a network of his own fruitive activities and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered, and repeatedly he dies.