Shloka 66
प्रह्लादचरितम् (हिरण्यकशिपोः स्वर्गापहरणं, प्रह्लादस्य विष्णुभक्तिः, उपदेशः)
यावतः कुरुते जन्तुः संबन्धान् मनसः प्रियान् तावन्तो ऽस्य निखन्यन्ते हृदये शोकशङ्कवः
yāvataḥ kurute jantuḥ saṃbandhān manasaḥ priyān tāvanto 'sya nikhanyante hṛdaye śokaśaṅkavaḥ
So long as a living being forges bonds dear to the mind, so long are those very bonds driven into the heart as stakes of sorrow, fastening it with grief and fear.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Nature of saṃsāra-duḥkha and the bondage produced by mental attachment (saṃbandha)
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Mental attachment to प्रिय-संबन्ध (dear relationships/objects) becomes the very cause of grief and fear, as if nails driven into the heart.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Notice recurring clinging in daily life and practice deliberate loosening—simplify possessions/expectations and redirect affection toward the imperishable (Vishnu).
Vishishtadvaita: Implicitly contrasts perishable, dependent bonds with the sole dependable āśraya (Vishnu), preparing for śaraṇāgati as the soul’s proper dependence.
FAQs
This verse frames attachment as self-created bondage: every cherished relationship becomes a “stake” that fixes sorrow in the heart, explaining why grief multiplies with entanglement.
Parāśara presents them as psychological consequences of the mind’s preferences—when the mind clings to what it calls “dear,” it simultaneously plants the conditions for loss, anxiety, and lamentation.
Implicitly, the remedy to sorrow is turning from transient bonds toward the Supreme, stable refuge—Vishnu—whose sovereignty and permanence contrast with worldly attachments that generate grief.