Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 29
Guṇa-viveka, Haṁsa-gītā, and the Yoga that Cuts False Ego
अहङ्कारकृतं बन्धमात्मनोऽर्थविपर्ययम् । विद्वान् निर्विद्य संसारचिन्तां तुर्ये स्थितस्त्यजेत् ॥ २९ ॥
ahaṅkāra-kṛtaṁ bandham ātmano ’rtha-viparyayam vidvān nirvidya saṁsāra- cintāṁ turye sthitas tyajet
Le lien forgé par le faux ego enchaîne l’âme et lui accorde exactement l’inverse de ce qu’elle désire vraiment. Ainsi, l’homme avisé doit renoncer à l’angoisse de jouir du monde et demeurer établi dans le Seigneur, au-delà des fonctions de la conscience matérielle.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī comments as follows. “How does material existence cause the bondage of the living entity, and how can such bondage be given up? The Lord explains this here by the word ahaṅkāra-kṛtam. Because of false ego, one is bound up in the network of illusion. Artha-viparyayam indicates that although the living entity desires blissful life, eternity and knowledge, he adopts procedures that actually cover over his eternal, blissful nature and give him exactly the opposite result. The living entity does not want death and suffering, but these are actually the results of material existence, which is therefore useless for all practical purposes. An intelligent person should contemplate the unhappiness of material life and thus become situated in the transcendental Lord. The word saṁsāra-cintām can be understood as follows. Saṁsāra, or material existence, indicates material intelligence, because material existence only occurs because of the living entity’s false intellectual identification with the material world. Because of this misidentification, one becomes overwhelmed with saṁsāra-cintām, anxiety to enjoy the material world. One should become situated in the Lord and give up such useless anxiety.”
FAQs
This verse says bondage is produced by false ego and is a distortion of the soul’s real self-interest; the wise therefore renounce worldly anxiety and turn to transcendental consciousness.
Because worldly anxiety is rooted in misidentification with ego and matter; by detachment and higher realization (turiya), one becomes free from the very basis of bondage.
Reduce ego-driven identity and constant worry by cultivating detachment and steady spiritual awareness—prioritizing the soul’s true welfare over temporary material concerns.