Shloka 4
Nanda Mahārāja Celebrates Kṛṣṇa’s Birth; Vasudeva Warns of Danger
कालेन स्नानशौचाभ्यां संस्कारैस्तपसेज्यया । शुध्यन्ति दानै: सन्तुष्टया द्रव्याण्यात्मात्मविद्यया ॥ ४ ॥
kālena snāna-śaucābhyāṁ saṁskārais tapasejyayā śudhyanti dānaiḥ santuṣṭyā dravyāṇy ātmātma-vidyayā
Oh Rey, con el paso del tiempo se purifican la tierra y las posesiones materiales; con el baño se purifica el cuerpo; y con la limpieza se purifica lo impuro. Con los saṁskāras se purifica el nacimiento; con la austeridad se purifican los sentidos; y con la adoración y la caridad ofrecidas a los brāhmaṇas se purifican los bienes. Con la satisfacción se purifica la mente; y con la autorrealización—conciencia de Kṛṣṇa—se purifica el alma.
These are śāstric injunctions concerning how one can purify everything according to Vedic civilization. Unless purified, anything we use will infect us with contamination. In India five thousand years ago, even in the villages such as that of Nanda Mahārāja, people knew know to purify things, and thus they enjoyed even material life without contamination.
FAQs
This verse explains that external purity comes through time, bathing, cleanliness, saṁskāras, austerity, worship, charity, and contentment, while inner purity of the self comes through ātma-vidyā—knowledge of the Self.
In the context of Kṛṣṇa’s birth celebrations, Śukadeva highlights how sacred rites and purity are maintained—showing both the external dharmic practices and the deeper spiritual principle of inner purification through realization.
Keep disciplined habits of cleanliness, practice worship and charity with contentment, and cultivate inner clarity through study and contemplation of the self—so outer life becomes orderly and the heart becomes purified.