Shloka 40
Nārada’s Instructions: Śrāddha, True Dharma, Contentment, Yoga, and Devotion-Centered Renunciation
आत्मानं चेद्विजानीयात्परं ज्ञानधुताशय: । किमिच्छन्कस्य वा हेतोर्देहं पुष्णाति लम्पट: ॥ ४० ॥
ātmānaṁ ced vijānīyāt paraṁ jñāna-dhutāśayaḥ kim icchan kasya vā hetor dehaṁ puṣṇāti lampaṭaḥ
Si, purifié par une connaissance élevée, on connaît l’âme et l’Âme Suprême—Bhagavān—, pour qui et pour quelle raison ce sot avide entretient-il le corps uniquement pour la jouissance des sens ?
Of course, everyone in this material world is interested in maintaining the body for sense gratification, but by cultivating knowledge one should gradually understand that the body is not the self. Both the soul and the Supersoul are transcendental to the material world. This is to be understood in the human form of life, especially when one takes sannyāsa. A sannyāsī, one who has understood the self, should be engaged in elevating the self and associating with the Superself. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for elevating the living being for promotion back home, back to Godhead. Seeking such elevation is one’s duty in the human form of life. Unless one performs this duty, why should one maintain the body? Especially if a sannyāsī not only maintains the body by ordinary means but does everything to maintain the body, including even eating meat and other abominable things, he must be a lampaṭaḥ, a greedy person simply engaged in sense gratification. A sannyāsī must specifically remove himself from the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals, which disturb one as long as one is not fully aware that the body is separate from the soul.
FAQs
This verse says that when one realizes the self as transcendental and becomes purified by true knowledge, bodily pampering loses its purpose; continued obsession with the body is a sign of lust-driven attachment.
Nārada is educating Yudhiṣṭhira on higher dharma and spiritual maturity—showing that real self-knowledge naturally leads to renunciation and freedom from material motivations.
Maintain the body as a tool for service and sādhanā, but reduce identity-based obsession—limit indulgence, simplify desires, and prioritize spiritual practice and character over appearance and comfort.