Shloka 12
Kapila’s Analysis of Materialistic Life, Death, and the Path to Hell
Kāla, Karma, and Yamadūtas
कुटुम्बभरणाकल्पो मन्दभाग्यो वृथोद्यम: । श्रिया विहीन: कृपणो ध्यायञ्छ्वसिति मूढधी: ॥ १२ ॥
kuṭumba-bharaṇākalpo manda-bhāgyo vṛthodyamaḥ śriyā vihīnaḥ kṛpaṇo dhyāyañ chvasiti mūḍha-dhīḥ
Thus the unfortunate man, unable to maintain his household, toils in vain; bereft of all luster, that miser broods on his failure and, with deluded mind, sighs in deep grief.
FAQs
This verse says that when life becomes centered only on maintaining family affairs, one’s endeavors turn vain, and the heart becomes miserly and deluded—leading to constant brooding and dissatisfaction.
Because such a person mistakes temporary arrangements and external prosperity for real welfare, and thus remains trapped in anxious thought and fruitive striving rather than seeking liberation through devotion and wisdom.
Do duties without making them the sole purpose of life—add daily sādhana (hearing, chanting, prayer), cultivate simplicity, and redirect ambition toward service to Bhagavān rather than endless accumulation.