Shloka 15
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Varṇāśrama’s Purpose, Ritualism’s Fall, and Yuga-Avatāras with Kali-yuga Saṅkīrtana
द्विषन्त: परकायेषु स्वात्मानं हरिमीश्वरम् । मृतके सानुबन्धेऽस्मिन् बद्धस्नेहा: पतन्त्यध: ॥ १५ ॥
dviṣantaḥ para-kāyeṣu svātmānaṁ harim īśvaram mṛtake sānubandhe ’smin baddha-snehāḥ patanty adhaḥ
Die bedingten Seelen werden durch Zuneigung völlig an ihren eigenen, leichengleichen Körper und an die dazugehörigen Verwandten und Besitztümer gebunden. In stolzer Torheit beneiden sie andere Lebewesen und den Herrn Hari, die Höchste Persönlichkeit Gottes, der im Herzen aller wohnt; durch diese neidvolle Verfehlung fallen sie allmählich in die Hölle.
Materialistic persons express their envy of animals by cruelly killing them. Similarly, the conditioned souls become envious even of other human beings and of the Lord Himself, who dwells within everyone’s body. They express their envy of God by preaching atheistic science or pseudophilosophy in which they ridicule the fact that everyone is an eternal servant of God. Envious persons express their bitter feelings toward other human beings by creating wars, terrorism, cruel governments and cheating business enterprises. The sinful bodies of such envious persons are just like corpses. Still, envious persons are enamored by the corpse of their material body and become further fascinated by their children and other bodily extensions. Such feelings are based in false pride. Śrīla Madhvācārya has quoted the following verse from Hari-vaṁśa:
FAQs
This verse says that hatred toward other bodies arises from ignorance of the true Self as Hari; such bodily identification binds one to the “dead” body and causes a fall into lower conditions.
He teaches that the body is temporary and ultimately lifeless matter; clinging to it and its extensions (possessions, relations, ego) blinds one to the Lord within and leads to spiritual and moral decline.
Practice seeing every person beyond externals (body, status, ideology), reduce envy through gratitude and service, and cultivate devotion to Hari so identity shifts from the body to the soul’s relationship with God.