Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 13
Nondual Vision Beyond Praise and Blame
Dvandva-nivṛtti and Ātma-viveka
अर्थे ह्यविद्यमानेऽपि संसृतिर्न निवर्तते । ध्यायतो विषयानस्य स्वप्नेऽनर्थागमो यथा ॥ १३ ॥
arthe hy avidyamāne ’pi saṁsṛtir na nivartate dhyāyato viṣayān asya svapne ’narthāgamo yathā
Even when there is no real basis, material bondage does not cease; one who meditates on sense objects is afflicted, as in a dream, by many misfortunes.
This same verse and other very similar verses occur elsewhere in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-seven, verse 4; Fourth Canto, Chapter Twenty-nine, verses 35 and 73; and Eleventh Canto, Chapter Twenty-two, verse 56. In fact, this verse completely explains the essence of illusion.
FAQs
This verse says that as long as one keeps contemplating sense objects, samsara continues—even if the feared or desired objects are ultimately unreal—because the mind’s absorption itself generates bondage.
In the Uddhava-gītā teachings, Kṛṣṇa trains Uddhava in discernment and detachment, explaining that liberation depends not only on external circumstances but on ending mental absorption in viṣayas (sense enjoyments).
Reduce repeated mental replay of cravings and anxieties (doom-scrolling, fantasies, resentment) and redirect the mind to bhakti practices—hearing, chanting, and remembering Kṛṣṇa—so unreal “dream-like” worries stop producing real suffering.