Shloka 30
Prahlāda Rejects Demonic Diplomacy and Proclaims Navadhā Bhakti
श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच मतिर्न कृष्णे परत: स्वतो वा मिथोऽभिपद्येत गृहव्रतानाम् । अदान्तगोभिर्विशतां तमिस्रं पुन: पुनश्चर्वितचर्वणानाम् ॥ ३० ॥
śrī-prahrāda uvāca matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām
प्रल्हाद महाराज म्हणाले: जे लोक संसारात आसक्त आहेत आणि ज्यांची इंद्रिये अनियंत्रित आहेत, त्यांची मती कृष्णाकडे वळत नाही. ते पुन्हा पुन्हा चघळलेलेच चघळत राहतात आणि अंधारात प्रवेश करतात.
In this verse the words matir na kṛṣṇe refer to devotional service rendered to Kṛṣṇa. So-called politicians, erudite scholars and philosophers who read Bhagavad-gītā try to twist some meaning from it to suit their material purposes, but their misunderstandings of Kṛṣṇa will not yield them any profit. Because such politicians, philosophers and scholars are interested in using Bhagavad-gītā as a vehicle for adjusting things materially, for them constant thought of Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is impossible ( matir na kṛṣṇe ). As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.55) , bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: only through devotional service can one understand Kṛṣṇa as He is. The so-called politicians and scholars think of Kṛṣṇa as fictitious. The politician says that his Kṛṣṇa is different from the Kṛṣṇa depicted in Bhagavad-gītā. Even though he accepts Kṛṣṇa and Rāma as the Supreme he thinks of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa as impersonal because he has no idea of service to Kṛṣṇa. Thus his only business is punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām — chewing the chewed again and again. The aim of such politicians and academic scholars is to enjoy this material world with their bodily senses. Therefore it is clearly stated here that those who are gṛha-vrata, whose only aim is to live comfortably with the body in the material world, cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. The two expressions gṛha-vrata and carvita-carvaṇānām indicate that a materialistic person tries to enjoy sense gratification in different bodily forms, life after life, but is still unsatisfied. In the name of personalism, this ism or that ism, such persons always remain attached to the materialistic way of life. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.44) :
FAQs
It says that those devoted to material household enjoyment (gṛha-vrata) cannot easily fix their intelligence on Kṛṣṇa—neither by others’ advice, nor by self-effort, nor by mutual discussion—because uncontrolled senses drag them into repeated ignorance.
Prahlada was instructing his schoolmates that material pleasure is repetitive and ultimately unsatisfying; without sense control and devotion, one keeps returning to the same cycle of desire and disappointment.
Practice sense regulation and intentionally cultivate bhakti—hearing and chanting about Krishna—so the mind doesn’t keep recycling the same habits of consumption, distraction, and temporary pleasure.