Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 35
Guṇa-viveka, Haṁsa-gītā, and the Yoga that Cuts False Ego
दृष्टिं तत: प्रतिनिवर्त्य निवृत्ततृष्ण- स्तूष्णीं भवेन्निजसुखानुभवो निरीह: सन्दृश्यते क्व च यदीदमवस्तुबुद्ध्या त्यक्तं भ्रमाय न भवेत् स्मृतिरानिपातात् ॥ ३५ ॥
dṛṣṭiṁ tataḥ pratinivartya nivṛtta-tṛṣṇas tūṣṇīṁ bhaven nija-sukhānubhavo nirīhaḥ sandṛśyate kva ca yadīdam avastu-buddhyā tyaktaṁ bhramāya na bhavet smṛtir ā-nipātāt
Having understood the temporary illusory nature of material things, and thus having pulled one’s vision away from illusion, one should remain without material desires. By experiencing the happiness of the soul, one should give up material speaking and activities. If sometimes one must observe the material world, one should remember that it is not ultimate reality and therefore one has given it up. By such constant remembrance up till the time of death, one will not again fall into illusion.
To maintain the material body one cannot avoid eating and sleeping. In these and other ways, one will sometimes be forced to deal with the material world and the physical aspects of one’s own body. At such times one should remember that the material world is not actual reality and that therefore one has given it up to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. By such constant remembrance, by enjoying spiritual bliss within oneself and by retiring from any material activities of the mind, speech or body, one will not fall into material illusion.
FAQs
This verse teaches withdrawing the gaze from sense-objects, becoming free from craving, and staying silent and steady in inner happiness; then even perceived objects no longer generate delusion.
In the renunciation-focused instructions of Canto 11, Śukadeva guides Parīkṣit toward liberation by stabilizing consciousness in the self’s inner joy, rather than reacting to external sights and memories.
Practice deliberate sense-restraint (reduce visual/mental consumption), pause before reacting, and reframe tempting objects as temporary and insubstantial—so the mind doesn’t repeatedly replay them as cravings.