Chapter 5: Karma-yoga -- Action in Krsna Consciousness

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gita As It Is 5.22

ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga

duhkha-yonaya eva te

ady-antavantah kaunteya

na tesu ramate budhah

SYNONYMS

ye -- those; hi -- certainly; samsparsa-jah -- by contact with the material senses; bhogah -- enjoyments; duhkha -- distress; yonayah -- sources of; eva -- certainly; te -- they are; adi -- beginning; anta -- end; vantah -- subject to; kaunteya -- O son of Kunti; na -- never; tesu -- in those; ramate -- takes delight; budhah -- the intelligent person.

TRANSLATION

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.

PURPORT

Material sense pleasures are due to the contact of the material senses, which are all temporary because the body itself is temporary. A liberated soul is not interested in anything which is temporary. Knowing well the joys of transcendental pleasures, how can a liberated soul agree to enjoy false pleasure? In the Padma Purana it is said:

ramante yogino 'nante

satyanande cid-atmani

iti rama-padenasau

param brahmabhidhiyate

"The mystics derive unlimited transcendental pleasures from the Absolute Truth, and therefore the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is also known as Rama."

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam also (5.5.1) it is said:

nayam deho deha-bhajam nr-loke

kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye

tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam

suddhyed yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam

"My dear sons, there is no reason to labor very hard for sense pleasure while in this human form of life; such pleasures are available to the stool-eaters [hogs]. Rather, you should undergo penances in this life by which your existence will be purified, and as a result you will be able to enjoy unlimited transcendental bliss."

Therefore, those who are true yogis or learned transcendentalists are not attracted by sense pleasures, which are the causes of continuous material existence. The more one is addicted to material pleasures, the more he is entrapped by material miseries.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness