puṣṇāti yān adharmeṇa
sva-buddhyā tam apaṇḍitam
te 'kṛtārthaḿ prahiṇvanti
prāṇā rāyaḥ sutādayaḥ
pushnati -- nourishes; yan -- which things; adharmena -- by sinful activity; sva-buddhya -- thinking them to be his own; tam -- him; apanditam -- uneducated; te -- they; akrita-artham -- his purposes frustrated; prahinvanti -- abandon; pranah -- life air; rayah -- wealth; suta-adayah -- children and others.
A fool indulges in sin to maintain his life, wealth and children and other relatives, for he thinks, "These things are mine." In the end, however, these very things all abandon him, leaving him frustrated.
In these verses, Akrura is giving rather frank advice to Dhritarashtra. Those who know the story of the Mahabharata will realize how relevant and prophetic these instructions are, and how much Dhritarashtra suffered for not accepting them. Although one tenaciously clings to his property, in the end all is lost, and the blundering soul is swept away by the wheel of birth and death.
