SB 11.28.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अर्थे ह्यविद्यमानेऽपि संसृतिर्न निवर्तते । ध्यायतो विषयानस्य स्वप्नेऽनर्थागमो यथा ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

arthe hy avidyamāne ’pi saṁsṛtir na nivartate dhyāyato viṣayān asya svapne ’narthāgamo yathā

Synonyms

arthe — real cause ; hi — certainly ; avidyamāne — not existing ; api — although ; saṁsṛtiḥ — the material existential condition ; na — not ; nivartate — does cease ; dhyāyataḥ — contemplating ; viṣayān — objects of the senses ; asya — of the living entity ; svapne — in a dream ; anartha — of disadvantages ; āgamaḥ — arrival ; yathā — like .

Translation

Actually, the living entity is transcendental to material existence. But because of his mentality of lording it over material nature, his material existential condition does not cease, and, just as in a dream, he is affected by all sorts of disadvantages.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Though objects are unreal (or temporary), saṁsāra does not cease, just as a person absorbed in unreal dream objects experiences fear. “Since the body and senses are all temporary or false, why does the jīva have a relation with them, from which saṁsāra arises?” Though objects are temporary or unreal, saṁsāra will result. In a dream which is actually illusory, a person, absorbed in those contents, experiences fear of a snake or tiger (anarthāgamah).

Purport

This same verse and other very similar verses occur elsewhere in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-seven, verse 4; Fourth Canto, Chapter Twenty-nine, verses 35 and 73; and Eleventh Canto, Chapter Twenty-two, verse 56. In fact, this verse completely explains the essence of illusion.