Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 30
Guṇa-viveka, Haṁsa-gītā, and the Yoga that Cuts False Ego
यावन्नानार्थधी: पुंसो न निवर्तेत युक्तिभि: । जागर्त्यपि स्वपन्नज्ञ: स्वप्ने जागरणं यथा ॥ ३० ॥
yāvan nānārtha-dhīḥ puṁso na nivarteta yuktibhiḥ jāgarty api svapann ajñaḥ svapne jāgaraṇaṁ yathā
ตราบใดที่ความคิดเห็นเป้าหมายหลากหลายของมนุษย์ยังไม่สงบลงด้วยเหตุผล และยังไม่เห็นทุกสิ่งอยู่ในเรา แม้ดูเหมือนตื่นอยู่ก็แท้จริงยังฝันเพราะความรู้ไม่ครบถ้วน—ดุจฝันว่าได้ตื่นจากฝัน
One who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious cannot understand that everything is resting within Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus it is impossible for him to retire from material sense gratification. One may adopt a particular process of salvation and consider oneself to be “saved”; nevertheless, his material conditioning will remain and thus he will maintain his attachment to the material world. While one is dreaming he sometimes imagines that he has awakened from a dream and is experiencing normal consciousness. Similarly, one may consider oneself to be saved, but if he remains absorbed in making material value judgements between good and bad, without reference to devotional service to the Supreme Lord, he is understood to be a conditioned soul covered by the illusory identification with matter.
FAQs
This verse explains that as long as one clings to the idea of many separate realities—supported by mistaken reasoning—one remains in ignorance, like a person dreaming even while awake.
Kṛṣṇa teaches Uddhava that ordinary waking life can be as deluding as a dream when the mind misidentifies the self and treats temporary distinctions as ultimate truth.
Question rigid labels and ego-based divisions, cultivate steady spiritual inquiry and devotion, and remember the soul’s oneness in relation to Bhagavān—so daily life is not lived in ‘waking dream’ confusion.