Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 4
Ṛṣabhadeva Instructs His Sons: Tapasya, Mahātmā-Sevā, and Cutting the Heart-Knot
नूनं प्रमत्त: कुरुते विकर्म यदिन्द्रियप्रीतय आपृणोति । न साधु मन्ये यत आत्मनोऽय- मसन्नपि क्लेशद आस देह: ॥ ४ ॥
nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti na sādhu manye yata ātmano ’yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery. Actually the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification by which he perpetually gets material bodies one after another.
Begging, borrowing and stealing to live for sense gratification is condemned in this verse because such consciousness leads one to a dark, hellish condition. The four sinful activities are illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. These are the means by which one gets another material body that is full of miseries. In the Vedas it is said: asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ. The living entity is not really connected with this material world, but due to his tendency to enjoy the material senses he is put into the material condition. One should perfect his life by associating with devotees. He should not become further implicated in the material body.
FAQs
This verse states that a person deluded by illusion commits vikarma specifically to please the senses, showing that unchecked sense pleasure pushes one toward irreligious actions.
Ṛṣabhadeva was instructing his sons on dharma and renunciation, warning them that chasing sense pleasure leads to sinful behavior and binds the soul to suffering through bodily identification.
Before acting, pause to ask whether the choice is driven by mere sensory impulse; choose discipline and dharmic habits (clean conduct, moderation, devotion) to reduce suffering and strengthen spiritual clarity.