Srimad Bhagavatam — Saptama Skandha, Shloka 39
Nārada’s Protection of Kayādhu and Prahlāda’s Womb-Instructions: Ātma-tattva and the Path of Bhakti
राय: कलत्रं पशव: सुतादयो गृहा मही कुञ्जरकोशभूतय: । सर्वेऽर्थकामा: क्षणभङ्गुरायुष: कुर्वन्ति मर्त्यस्य कियत् प्रियं चला: ॥ ३९ ॥
rāyaḥ kalatraṁ paśavaḥ sutādayo gṛhā mahī kuñjara-kośa-bhūtayaḥ sarve ’rtha-kāmāḥ kṣaṇa-bhaṅgurāyuṣaḥ kurvanti martyasya kiyat priyaṁ calāḥ
ทรัพย์สมบัติ ภรรยาผู้งามและสหายหญิง บุตรธิดา เรือนที่อยู่ โค ช้าง ม้า และสัตว์เลี้ยง คลังทรัพย์ ความรุ่งเรืองทางเศรษฐกิจ และความเพลิดเพลินแห่งอินทรีย์—ล้วนชั่วครู่และผันผวน. เมื่อชีวิตมนุษย์ไม่ยั่งยืน สิ่งเหล่านี้จะให้ประโยชน์ถาวรแก่ผู้มีปัญญาได้อย่างไร?
This verse describes how the advocates of economic development are frustrated by the laws of nature. As the previous verse asks, kiṁ viṣayopapādanaiḥ: what is the actual benefit of so-called economic development? The history of the world has factually proved that attempts to increase economic development for bodily comfort through the advancement of material civilization have done nothing to remedy the inevitability of birth, death, old age and disease. Everyone has knowledge of huge empires throughout the history of the world — the Roman Empire, the Moghul Empire, the British Empire and so on — but all the societies engaged in such economic development ( sarve ’rtha-kāmāḥ ) have been frustrated by the laws of nature through periodic wars, pestilence, famine and so on. Thus all their attempts have been flickering and temporary. In this verse, therefore, it is said, kurvanti martyasya kiyat priyaṁ calāḥ: one may be very proud of possessing a vast empire, but such empires are impermanent; after one hundred or two hundred years, everything is finished. All such positions of economic development, although created with great endeavor and hardship, are vanquished very soon. Therefore they have been described as calāḥ. An intelligent man should conclude that material economic development is not at all pleasing. The entire world is described in Bhagavad-gītā as duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam — miserable and temporary. Economic development may be pleasing for some time, but it cannot endure. Thus many big businessmen are now very morose because they are being harassed by various plundering governments. In conclusion, why should one waste his time for so-called economic development, which is neither permanent nor pleasing to the soul?
FAQs
This verse states that wealth, spouse, children, property, and other opulences are fickle and cannot give lasting satisfaction to a mortal whose life can end at any moment.
Prahlada instructs his classmates to turn toward devotion to the Lord, emphasizing that material assets and pleasures are unreliable and therefore not the true goal of life.
Use possessions responsibly but don’t base your identity or happiness on them; prioritize steady spiritual practices (bhakti, remembrance of the Lord, satsanga) that remain meaningful even when circumstances change.