Shloka 4
The Lord in the Heart and the Discipline of Yoga-Bhakti
सत्यां क्षितौ किं कशिपो: प्रयासै- र्बाहौ स्वसिद्धे ह्युपबर्हणै: किम् । सत्यञ्जलौ किं पुरुधान्नपात्र्या दिग्वल्कलादौ सति किं दुकूलै: ॥ ४ ॥
satyāṁ kṣitau kiṁ kaśipoḥ prayāsair bāhau svasiddhe hy upabarhaṇaiḥ kim saty añjalau kiṁ purudhānna-pātryā dig-valkalādau sati kiṁ dukūlaiḥ
ഭൂമിയേ തന്നെ മതിയായ ശയ്യയായിരിക്കെ കട്ടിലും കിടക്കയും എന്തിനു? സ്വന്തം ഭുജങ്ങൾ തന്നെ തലയണയായിരിക്കെ തലയണ എന്തിനു? കൈത്തളിരുകൾ തന്നെ പാത്രമായിരിക്കെ പലവിധ പാത്രങ്ങൾ എന്തിനു? ദിക്കുകൾക്കുള്ള മറയോ വൃക്ഷവല്കലമോ ഉള്ളപ്പോൾ വസ്ത്രങ്ങൾ എന്തിനു?
The necessities of life for the protection and comfort of the body must not be unnecessarily increased. Human energy is spoiled in a vain search after such illusory happiness. If one is able to lie down on the floor, then why should one endeavor to get a good bedstead or soft cushion to lie on? If one can rest without any pillow and make use of the soft arms endowed by nature, there is no necessity of searching after a pillow. If we make a study of the general life of the animals, we can see that they have no intelligence for building big houses, furniture, and other household paraphernalia, and yet they maintain a healthy life by lying down on the open land. They do not know how to cook or prepare foodstuff, yet they still live healthy lives more easily than the human being. This does not mean that human civilization should revert to animal life or that the human being should live naked in the jungles without any culture, education and sense of morality. An intelligent human cannot live the life of an animal; rather, man should try to utilize his intelligence in arts and science, poetry and philosophy. In such a way he can further the progressive march of human civilization. But here the idea given by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is that the reserve energy of human life, which is far superior to that of animals, should simply be utilized for self-realization. Advancement of human civilization must be towards the goal of establishing our lost relationship with God, which is not possible in any form of life other than the human. One must realize the nullity of the material phenomenon, considering it a passing phantasmagoria, and must endeavor to make a solution to the miseries of life. Self-complacence with a polished type of animal civilization geared to sense gratification is delusion, and such a “civilization” is not worthy of the name. In pursuit of such false activities, a human being is in the clutches of māyā, or illusion. Great sages and saints in the days of yore were not living in palatial buildings furnished with good furniture and so-called amenities of life. They used to live in huts and groves and sit on the flat ground, and yet they have left immense treasures of high knowledge with all perfection. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī were high-ranking ministers of state, but they were able to leave behind them immense writings on transcendental knowledge, while residing only for one night underneath one tree. They did not live even two nights under the same tree, and what to speak of well-furnished rooms with modern amenities. And still they were able to give us most important literatures of self-realization. So-called comforts of life are not actually helpful for progressive civilization; rather, they are detrimental to such progressive life. In the system of sanātana-dharma, of four divisions of social life and four orders of progressive realization, there are ample opportunities and sufficient directions for a happy termination of the progressive life, and the sincere followers are advised therein to accept a voluntary life of renunciation in order to achieve the desired goal of life. If one is not accustomed to abiding by the life of renunciation and self-abnegation from the beginning, one should try to get into the habit at a later stage of life as recommended by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and that will help one to achieve the desired success.
FAQs
This verse teaches that basic needs can be met with what is naturally available—earth for resting, one’s arm as a pillow, hands as a vessel, and bark or simple coverings—so a seeker should reduce dependence on luxury and focus on spiritual realization.
Śukadeva instructs Parīkṣit—who is preparing for death in seven days—to abandon unnecessary material arrangements and concentrate on hearing and remembering the Supreme Lord, which is the essence of Bhagavata-dharma.
Adopt voluntary simplicity: limit excess comforts, reduce consumption, and redirect saved time and attention toward sādhana—hearing, chanting, and service—so life becomes centered on devotion rather than maintenance of luxury.