Shloka 1
Kapila’s Conclusion: Limits of Karma and Yoga; Supremacy of Bhakti and Qualification to Receive the Teaching
कपिल उवाच अथ यो गृहमेधीयान्धर्मानेवावसन्गृहे । काममर्थं च धर्मान्स्वान्दोग्धि भूय: पिपर्ति तान् ॥ १ ॥
kapila uvāca atha yo gṛha-medhīyān dharmān evāvasan gṛhe kāmam arthaṁ ca dharmān svān dogdhi bhūyaḥ piparti tān
কপিল বললেন—যে গৃহমেধী গৃহে থেকে কেবল কর্মকাণ্ডধর্ম পালন করে, সে তাতে কামনা ও অর্থলাভ দোহন করে এবং বারবার সেই প্রবৃত্তিকেই পুষ্ট করে।
There are two kinds of householders. One is called the gṛhamedhī, and the other is called the gṛhastha. The objective of the gṛhamedhī is sense gratification, and the objective of the gṛhastha is self-realization. Here the Lord is speaking about the gṛhamedhī, or the person who wants to remain in this material world. His activity is to enjoy material benefits by performing religious rituals for economic development and thereby ultimately satisfy the senses. He does not want anything more. Such a person works very hard throughout his life to become very rich and eat very nicely and drink. By giving some charity for pious activity he can go to a higher planetary atmosphere in the heavenly planets in his next life, but he does not want to stop the repetition of birth and death and finish with the concomitant miserable factors of material existence. Such a person is called a gṛhamedhī.
FAQs
This verse explains that a gṛhamedhī stays absorbed in home life and uses religious practice mainly to extract sense pleasure (kāma) and wealth (artha), repeatedly feeding those desires rather than seeking pure devotion.
Because when dharma is used as a tool for enjoyment and prosperity, it keeps the consciousness bound to repeated desire and attachment, instead of elevating one toward detachment and bhakti.
Perform duties without making enjoyment and accumulation the goal—redirect home life toward service, simplicity, and remembrance of the Lord, so dharma supports devotion rather than desire.