SB 11.20.3 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गुणदोषभिदाद‍ृष्टिमन्तरेण वचस्तव । नि:श्रेयसं कथं नृणां निषेधविधिलक्षणम् ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

guṇa-doṣa-bhidā-dṛṣṭim antareṇa vacas tava niḥśreyasaṁ kathaṁ nṝṇāṁ niṣedha-vidhi-lakṣaṇam

Synonyms

guṇa — piety ; doṣa — sin ; bhidā — the difference between ; dṛṣṭim — seeing ; antareṇa — without ; vacaḥ — words ; tava — Your ; niḥśreyasam — perfection of life, liberation ; katham — how is it possible ; nṝṇām — for human beings ; niṣedha — prohibitions ; vidhi — positive injunctions ; lakṣaṇam — characterized by .

Translation

Without seeing the difference between piety and sin, how can one understand Your own instructions in the form of Vedic literatures, which order one to act piously and forbid one to act sinfully? Furthermore, without such authorized Vedic literatures, which ultimately award liberation, how can human beings achieve the perfection of life?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Without seeing in terms of good and bad in the Vedas, which are your words, composed of orders and prohibitions, how can man achieve liberation? “Then what are you inferring?” Without your words, the Vedas, indicating prohibition and order, seeing in terms of good and bad, (this is prescribed and thus good and that is forbidden and therefore bad), how can the Vedas produce liberation for humans?

Purport

If one does not accept the necessity of performing pious activities and avoiding sinful activities, it becomes very difficult to understand authorized religious scriptures; and without such scriptures, how can human beings attain salvation? This is the essence of Śrī Uddhava’s question.