Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.22.9

kim ātmanānena jahāti yo 'ntataḥ

kiḿ riktha-hāraiḥ svajanākhya-dasyubhiḥ

kiḿ jāyayā saḿsṛti-hetu-bhūtayā

martyasya gehaiḥ kim ihāyuṣo vyayaḥ

SYNONYMS

kim — what is the use; ātmanā anena — of this body; jahāti — gives up; yaḥ — which (body); antataḥ — at the end of life; kim — what is the use; riktha-hāraiḥ — the plunderers of wealth; svajana-ākhya-dasyubhiḥ — they who are actually plunderers but who pass by the name of relatives; kim — what is the use; jāyayā — of a wife; saḿsṛti-hetu-bhūtayā — who is the source of increasing material conditions; martyasya — of a person sure to die; gehaiḥ — of houses, family and community; kim — what is the use; iha — in which house; āyuṣaḥ — of the duration of life; vyayaḥ — simply wasting.

TRANSLATION

What is the use of the material body, which automatically leaves its owner at the end of life? And what is the use of all one's family members, who are actually plunderers taking away money that is useful for the service of the Lord in spiritual opulence? What is the use of a wife? She is only the source of increasing material conditions. And what is the use of family, home, country and community? Attachment for them merely wastes the valuable energy of one's lifetime.

PURPORT

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, advises, sama-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja: "Give up all other varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me." The common man does not appreciate such a statement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he thinks that during his lifetime his family, society, country, body and relatives are everything. Why should one give up any one of them and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? But from the behavior of great personalities like Prahlāda Mahārāja and Bali Mahārāja we understand that surrendering to the Lord is the right action for an intelligent person. Prahlāda Mahārāja took shelter of Viṣṇu against the will of his father. Similarly, Bali Mahārāja took shelter of Vāmanadeva against the will of his spiritual master, Śukrācārya, and all the leading demons. People may be surprised that devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja and Bali Mahārāja could seek shelter of the side of the enemy, giving up the natural affinity for family, hearth and home. In this connection, Bali Mahārāja explains that the body, which is the center of all material activities, is also a foreign element. Even though we want to keep the body fit and helpful to our activities, the body cannot continue eternally. Although I am the soul, which is eternal, after using the body for some time I have to accept another body (tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ), according to the laws of nature, unless I render some service with the body for advancement in devotional service. One should not use the body for any other purpose. One must know that if he uses the body for any other purpose he is simply wasting time, for as soon as the time is ripe, the soul will automatically leave the body.

We are very interested in society, friendship and love, but what are they? Those in the garb of friends and relatives merely plunder the hard-earned money of the bewildered soul. Everyone is affectionate toward his wife and is attached to her, but what is this wife? The wife is called strī, which means, "one who expands the material condition." If a person lives without a wife, his material conditions are less extensive. As soon as one marries and is connected with a wife, his material necessities increase.

puḿsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaḿ

tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ

ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair

janasya moho 'yam ahaḿ mameti

"The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life's illusions and thinks in terms of 'I and mine.' " (Bhāg. 5.5.8) Human life is meant for self-realization, not for increasing unwanted things. Actually, a wife increases unwanted things. One's lifetime, one's home and everything one has, if not properly used in the service of the Lord, are all sources of material conditions of perpetual suffering under the threefold miseries (adhyātmika, adhibhautika and adhidaivika). Unfortunately, there is no institution in human society for education on this subject. People are kept in darkness about the goal of life, and thus there is a continuous struggle for existence. We speak of "survival of the fittest," but no one survives, for no one is free under material conditions.

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