Shloka 4
Kapila’s Analysis of Materialistic Life, Death, and the Path to Hell
Kāla, Karma, and Yamadūtas
जन्तुर्वै भव एतस्मिन्यां यां योनिमनुव्रजेत् । तस्यां तस्यां स लभते निर्वृतिं न विरज्यते ॥ ४ ॥
jantur vai bhava etasmin yāṁ yāṁ yonim anuvrajet tasyāṁ tasyāṁ sa labhate nirvṛtiṁ na virajyate
जीव जिस-जिस योनि में जाता है, उसी-उसी में वह एक प्रकार का संतोष पा लेता है; और उस अवस्था से उसे विरक्ति नहीं होती।
The satisfaction of the living entity in a particular type of body, even if it is most abominable, is called illusion. A man in a higher position may feel dissatisfaction with the standard of life of a lower-grade man, but the lower-grade man is satisfied in that position because of the spell of māyā, the external energy. Māyā has two phases of activities. One is called prakṣepātmikā, and the other is called āvaraṇātmikā. Āvaraṇātmikā means “covering,” and prakṣepātmikā means “pulling down.” In any condition of life, the materialistic person or animal will be satisfied because his knowledge is covered by the influence of māyā. In the lower grade or lower species of life, the development of consciousness is so poor that one cannot understand whether he is happy or distressed. This is called āvaraṇātmikā. Even a hog, who lives by eating stool, finds himself happy, although a person in a higher mode of life sees that the hog is eating stool. How abominable that life is!
FAQs
This verse explains that the jīva tends to feel a certain ‘nirvṛti’ (temporary satisfaction) in whatever body or situation he attains, and therefore remains attached rather than becoming detached.
Kapila instructs Devahuti on the bondage of karma: the soul adapts to each birth and mistakes situational comfort for fulfillment, which keeps one rotating in saṁsāra unless true detachment and devotion awaken.
Notice how the mind normalizes any lifestyle and then clings to it; cultivate vairāgya by reflecting on the temporary nature of such comfort and redirecting satisfaction toward bhakti—hearing, chanting, and serving the Lord.