SB 10.51.52 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

करोति कर्माणि तप:सुनिष्ठितो निवृत्तभोगस्तदपेक्षयाददत् । पुनश्च भूयासमहं स्वराडिति प्रवृद्धतर्षो न सुखाय कल्पते ॥ ५२ ॥

Verse text

karoti karmāṇi tapaḥ-suniṣṭhito nivṛtta-bhogas tad-apekṣayādadat punaś ca bhūyāsam ahaṁ sva-rāḍ iti pravṛddha-tarṣo na sukhāya kalpate

Synonyms

karoti — one performs ; karmāṇi — duties ; tapaḥ — in the practice of austerities ; su — niṣṭhitaḥ — very fixed ; nivṛtta — avoiding ; bhogaḥ — sense enjoyment ; tat — with that (position which he already has) ; apekṣayā — in comparison ; adadat — assuming ; punaḥ — further ; ca — and ; bhūyāsam — greater ; aham — I ; sva — rāṭ — sovereign ruler ; iti — thus thinking ; pravṛddha — rampant ; tarṣaḥ — whose urges ; na — not ; sukhāya — happiness ; kalpate — can attain .

Translation

A king who desires even greater power than he already has strictly performs his duties, carefully practicing austerity and forgoing sense enjoyment. But he whose urges are so rampant, thinking “I am independent and supreme,” cannot attain happiness.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

A king who desires even greater power than he already has strictly performs his duties, carefully practicing austerity and forgoing sense enjoyment. But he whose urges are so rampant, thinking "I am independent and supreme," cannot attain happiness. KB 10.51.52 “The material way of life is so complicated that before taking the enjoyment of material life one has to work so hard that there is scarcely an opportunity for peacefully enjoying. And to attain all material facilities one has to undergo severe austerities and penances and be elevated to the heavenly planets. If one gets the opportunity to take birth in a very rich or royal family, even then he is always anxious to maintain the status quo and prepare for the next life by performing various sacrifices and distributing charity. Even in royal life one is full of anxieties, not only because of political administration but also in regard to being elevated to the heavenly planets.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The man who does not worship the lord is condemned for his enjoyment of worldly pleasures. But the same man is condemned even when he lacks his material enjoyment. He is fixed in austerities such as sleeping on the ground and observing celibacy, with the urge to become an even more powerful king, or even Indra himself.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Though following dharma and expecting a happy after life, a person only encounters suffering. A person engages in activities like sacrifices and vows because of being fixed in austerity. Though he renounces enjoyment, he performs his charities etc with expectation of enjoyment, or he gives donations as a part of his pious karmas. In doing so he suffers because of depletion of material wealth in this life. And he is not qualified for happiness even in after life, for he must fear falling from that position. Kṣayiṣṇor nāsti nirvṛttiḥ: there is no happiness in what is temporary. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa) deva-loka-gatiṁ prāpto nātha deva-gaṇo 'pi hi / mattaḥ sāhāyya kāmo ‘bhūc chāśvatī kutra nirvṛtiḥ // O Lord! Even the devatās who attained the goal of Svarga desired help from me (Mucukunda). Where is the eternal happiness? Viṣṇu Purāṇa