Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 19
Karma-vāda Critiqued, Varṇāśrama Reframed, and the Soul’s Distinction from the Body
यदि प्राप्तिं विघातं च जानन्ति सुखदु:खयो: । तेऽप्यद्धा न विदुर्योगं मृत्युर्न प्रभवेद् यथा ॥ १९ ॥
yadi prāptiṁ vighātaṁ ca jānanti sukha-duḥkhayoḥ te ’py addhā na vidur yogaṁ mṛtyur na prabhaved yathā
Même si les gens savent obtenir la joie et éviter la peine, ils ne connaissent pas pour autant la voie du yoga par laquelle la mort ne peut plus exercer son pouvoir sur eux.
If the so-called intelligent materialists know the means of achieving happiness and destroying unhappiness, then they should deliver people from inevitable death. The scientists are busily working to solve this problem, but since they have completely failed, it is understood that they are not actually intelligent and that they do not know the means of achieving happiness and eliminating misery. It is most foolish to think that one can be happy with an ax hanging over one’s neck. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham: “I Myself come before you as death and take everything away.” We should not blindly ignore the disaster of material life, but should instead accept the Lord’s causeless mercy, which He so magnanimously offers in His incarnation as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We should surrender to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, who offers the real means for achieving unqualified happiness: the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. This is the Lord’s desire, and it is in our own self-interest to take up this process.
FAQs
This verse teaches that unless one truly understands how happiness and distress arise and are obstructed, one cannot grasp real yoga; such true yoga leads beyond death’s control.
In the Uddhava Gita, Krishna instructs Uddhava in the final, essence teachings—showing that insight into the mechanics of worldly pleasure and pain is required to practice genuine yoga that grants liberation.
Observe pleasure and pain as temporary results shaped by causes and obstacles; respond with steadiness, deepen spiritual practice (yoga/bhakti), and reduce identification with changing outcomes.