SB 11.23.52 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

आत्मा यदि स्यात् सुखदु:खहेतु: किमन्यतस्तत्र निजस्वभाव: । न ह्यात्मनोऽन्यद् यदि तन्मृषा स्यात् क्रुध्येत कस्मान्न सुखं न दु:खम् ॥ ५२ ॥

Verse text

ātmā yadi syāt sukha-duḥkha-hetuḥ kim anyatas tatra nija-svabhāvaḥ na hy ātmano ’nyad yadi tan mṛṣā syāt krudhyeta kasmān na sukhaṁ na duḥkham

Synonyms

ātmā — the soul himself ; yadi — if ; syāt — should be ; sukha — duḥkha — of happiness and distress ; hetuḥ — the cause ; kim — what ; anyataḥ — other ; tatra — in that theory ; nija — his own ; svabhāvaḥ — nature ; na — not ; hi — indeed ; ātmanaḥ — than the soul ; anyat — anything separate ; yadi — if ; tat — that ; mṛṣā — false ; syāt — would be ; krudhyeta — one can become angry ; kasmāt — at whom ; na — there is no ; sukham — happiness ; na — nor ; duḥkham — misery .

Translation

If the soul himself were the cause of happiness and distress, then we could not blame others, since happiness and distress would be simply the nature of the soul. According to this theory, nothing except the soul actually exists, and if we were to perceive something besides the soul, that would be illusion. Therefore, since happiness and distress do not actually exist in this concept, why become angry at oneself or others?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

If the jīva were the cause of happiness and distress, because it is conscious, then we could not blame others, since happiness and distress would be simply the nature of the jīva. Only jīva exists anyway, but if you say something else exists, it is illusion only. Since happiness and distress do not actually exist in this concept, why become angry at oneself or others? Nothing can make a brick or stone suffer. If the jīva is the cause of experiencing suffering, since it is conscious, then we could not blame others for suffering. The cause of happiness and suffering would be the consciousness, the nature of the jīva. There is no entity other than the conscious jīva. If one then thinks there is something else to cause affliction, then perceiving something else is actually imagined out of ignorance. In that case, why become anger, since happiness and suffering do not belong to the jīva any more than to a brick or stone (since there is no external cause for it)?

Purport

Because a dead body does not feel pleasure or pain, our happiness and distress are due to our own consciousness, which is the nature of the soul. It is not, however, the original function of the soul to enjoy material happiness and suffer material distress. These are produced by ignorant material affection and enmity based on false ego. Our involvement in sense gratification drags our consciousness into the material body, where it is shocked by the inevitable bodily pains and problems. On the spiritual platform there is neither material happiness nor distress because there the living consciousness is fully engaged, without personal desire, in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord. This is the actual position of happiness, aloof from false bodily identification. Rather than uselessly becoming enraged with others for one’s own foolishness, one should take to self-realization and solve the problems of life.