Shloka 25
Dharma, Purity, and the Inner Purpose of the Vedas
Karma-kāṇḍa Reoriented to Bhakti
न तानविदुष: स्वार्थं भ्राम्यतो वृजिनाध्वनि । कथं युञ्ज्यात् पुनस्तेषु तांस्तमो विशतो बुध: ॥ २५ ॥
natān aviduṣaḥ svārthaṁ bhrāmyato vṛjinādhvani kathaṁ yuñjyāt punas teṣu tāṁs tamo viśato budhaḥ
যারা নিজের প্রকৃত স্বার্থ জানে না, তারা পাপময় সংসারপথে ঘুরে বেড়িয়ে ক্রমে অন্ধকারের দিকে যায়; তবু যারা বৈদিক বিধান মানে, সেই মূঢ়দের ইন্দ্রিয়ভোগে আরও উৎসাহিত করবে কেন বেদ?
Materialistic persons are not prepared to renounce society, friendship and love, which are all based on sex indulgence, to instead take to a life of renunciation and self-realization. In order to bring such foolish persons under the canopy of Vedic injunctions, the Vedas promise innumerable material rewards, even promotion to heavenly planets, to those who faithfully execute the Vedic injunctions. As explained by the Lord, such rewards are like the candy offered to a child, who then faithfully takes his medicine. Material enjoyment is certainly the cause of suffering, since all enjoyable objects are subject to destruction along with the so-called enjoyer. Material life is simply painful and full of anxiety, frustration and lamentation. We become agitated by seeing a so-called enjoyable object, such as the naked body of a woman, a beautiful residence, a sumptuous tray of food or the expansion of our own prestige, but actually such imagined happiness is simply the intense expectation of a satisfaction that never comes. One remains perpetually frustrated in material existence, and the more one tries to enjoy, the more one’s frustration increases. Therefore, the Vedic knowledge, which aims at ultimate peace and happiness on the spiritual platform, cannot possibly authorize the materialistic way of life. Material rewards are employed by the Vedas merely as inducements for the conditioned soul to take the medicine, submission to the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, through various types of sacrifice. Those who are veda-vāda-rata claim that religious scriptures are meant to facilitate sense gratification in the ignorance of conditioned life. The true goal of religion, however, is spiritual liberation, in which material sense gratification ceases to exist. The darkness of bodily attachment cannot exist in the effulgent light of spiritual knowledge. In the ocean of spiritual bliss, the anxiety-ridden apparent pleasure of this world vanishes completely. The true meaning of veda, or perfect knowledge, is to surrender to the Supreme Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge as the Lord’s faithful servant.
FAQs
This verse says a wise person does not re-engage with those who are ignorant of true self-interest and who are moving into deeper darkness; wisdom favors detachment and higher association.
In the Uddhava-gītā section, Kṛṣṇa instructs Uddhava on discernment, renunciation, and the danger of getting pulled back into ignorance by those who wander on harmful paths.
Choose company and habits that increase clarity, devotion, and virtue; reduce repeated involvement with influences that normalize confusion, vice, and spiritual forgetfulness.