Devanagari
यथा भ्रमरिकादृष्ट्या भ्राम्यतीव महीयते ।
चित्ते कर्तरि तत्रात्मा कर्तेवाहंधिया स्मृत: ॥ ४१ ॥
Verse text
yathā bhramarikā-dṛṣṭyā
bhrāmyatīva mahīyate
citte kartari tatrātmā
kartevāhaṁ-dhiyā smṛtaḥ
Synonyms
yathā
—
as
;
bhramarikā
—
because of whirling around
;
dṛṣṭyā
—
in one’s vision
;
bhrāmyati
—
whirling
;
iva
—
as if
;
mahī
—
the ground
;
īyate
—
appears
;
citte
—
the mind
;
kartari
—
being the doer
;
tatra
—
there
;
ātmā
—
the self
;
kartā
—
the doer
;
iva
—
as if
;
aham
—
dhiyā — because of false ego
;
smṛtaḥ
—
is thought .
Translation
Just as a person who is whirling around perceives the ground to be turning, one who is affected by false ego thinks himself the doer, when actually only his mind is acting.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Just as a person who is whirling around perceives the ground to be turning, one who is affected by false ego thinks himself the doer, when actually only his mind is acting.
KB 10.46.41
“We wrongly look upon Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma as ordinary human beings, just as whirling men see the whole world whirling around them.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives a parallel idea: Although our happiness and distress are caused by our own interaction with the material qualities, we perceive the Lord to be their cause.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Why does it appear that the Lord is absorbed in the guṇas? This verse answers. The ground appears to turn around by the impressions left after a person is turned around like a potter’s wheel. Though the mind is the doer, the jīva, thinking that he is the mind, concludes that the ātmā with its pure svarūpa is the doer. Similarly the Lord appears to be absorbed in creation and destruction.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Why does it appear to common people that the Lord is absorbed in the guṇas? It is a perception based on their point of view.