Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 59
Citraketu’s Detachment, Nārada’s Mantra, and the Darśana of Anantadeva
स्मृत्वेहायां परिक्लेशं तत: फलविपर्ययम् । अभयं चाप्यनीहायां सङ्कल्पाद्विरमेत्कवि: ॥ ५९ ॥
smṛtvehāyāṁ parikleśaṁ tataḥ phala-viparyayam abhayaṁ cāpy anīhāyāṁ saṅkalpād viramet kaviḥ
Remembering the great trouble found in the field of activities performed for fruitive results, and remembering how one receives the reverse of the results one desires — whether from material actions or from the fruitive activities recommended in the Vedic literatures — an intelligent man should cease from the desire for fruitive actions, for by such endeavors one cannot achieve the ultimate goal of life. On the other hand, if one acts without desires for fruitive results — in other words, if one engages in devotional activities — he can achieve the highest goal of life with freedom from miserable conditions. Considering this, one should cease from material desires.
FAQs
This verse advises that since worldly striving produces distress and often yields opposite results, a wise person should desist from material saṅkalpa and cultivate the fearlessness that comes with non-striving and detachment.
In this section he is teaching vairāgya—showing that anxiety and disappointment are built into material endeavor, whereas detachment and reliance on higher divine order bring inner fearlessness and steadiness.
Do your duty, but reduce obsessive over-planning and attachment to outcomes; simplify desires, accept results with humility, and redirect mental energy toward sādhana (hearing, chanting, remembrance) for calmer, fear-free living.