Shloka 5
Kapila’s Analysis of Materialistic Life, Death, and the Path to Hell
Kāla, Karma, and Yamadūtas
नरकस्थोऽपि देहं वै न पुमांस्त्यक्तुमिच्छति । नारक्यां निर्वृतौ सत्यां देवमायाविमोहित: ॥ ५ ॥
naraka-stho ’pi dehaṁ vai na pumāṁs tyaktum icchati nārakyāṁ nirvṛtau satyāṁ deva-māyā-vimohitaḥ
Dẫu ở địa ngục, con người vẫn không muốn lìa bỏ thân xác; bị devī-māyā che phủ mê hoặc, họ còn lấy làm vui trong những khoái lạc địa ngục.
It is said that once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, on account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog’s life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, “Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king’s body,” he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities. Lord Kṛṣṇa is personally canvassing, “Give up everything in this material world. Come to Me, and I shall give you all protection,” but we are not agreeable. We think, “We are quite all right. Why should we surrender unto Kṛṣṇa and go back to His kingdom?” This is called illusion, or māyā. Everyone is satisfied with his standard of living, however abominable it may be.
FAQs
This verse says that even in hellish suffering one does not want to give up the body, because the Lord’s māyā bewilders the conditioned soul into bodily attachment.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating these teachings to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the Third Canto.
It warns that attachment can persist even in obvious distress; therefore one should cultivate spiritual discrimination, devotion, and detachment from bodily identity to break karmic bondage.