Devanagari
किं भद्रं किमभद्रं वा द्वैतस्यावस्तुन: कियत् ।
वाचोदितं तदनृतं मनसा ध्यातमेव च ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
kiṁ bhadraṁ kim abhadraṁ vā
dvaitasyāvastunaḥ kiyat
vācoditaṁ tad anṛtaṁ
manasā dhyātam eva ca
Synonyms
kim
—
what
;
bhadram
—
good
;
kim
—
what
;
abhadram
—
bad
;
vā
—
or
;
dvaitasya
—
of this duality
;
avastunaḥ
—
insubstantial
;
kiyat
—
how much
;
vācā
—
by words
;
uditam
—
generated
;
tat
—
that
;
anṛtam
—
false
;
manasā
—
by the mind
;
dhyātam
—
meditated upon
;
eva
—
indeed
;
ca
—
and .
Translation
That which is expressed by material words or meditated upon by the material mind is not ultimate truth. What, therefore, is actually good or bad within this insubstantial world of duality, and how can the extent of such good and bad be measured?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
That which is expressed by material words or contemplated by the mind in duality is false. What, therefore, is actually good or bad within this insubstantial world of duality, and how can the extent of such good and bad be measured?
He explains the lack of object for one’s praise and criticism since duality is false, in six and a half verses (from verse 4 to 9, with extra lines in verse 7). Duality is false (avastunaḥ). The meaning for the devotee is: because my form, abode, name and devotees are all spiritual entities, they are Brahman and nothing else. What arises by words or by the mind related to duality is all false. In that case, what does good or bad mean and to what extent is something good, since praise and condemnation will always exist in the material world? The word asat in later verses will be used to indicate something which is not spiritual, just as avastunaḥ in this verse indicates something material, rather than totally false. Real objects exist beyond the material guṇas. This is expressed in the following verses.
satya-jṣānānantānanda-mātraika-rasa-mūrtayaḥ
aspṛṣṭa-bhūri-māhātmyā api hy upaniṣad-dṛśām
The forms of the Lord were eternal, unlimited forms, full of knowledge and bliss and existing beyond the influence of time. Their great glory was not even to be touched by the jṣānīs engaged in studying the Upaniṣads. SB 10.13.54
tāsāṁ madhye sākṣād brahma gopāla-purī hi
Among all the places, the abode of Kṛṣṇa is directly brahman Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad
om ā asya jānanto nāma cid vivaktana
You who know the Lord’s name is spiritual should chant it. Ṛg Veda 1.156.3
prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāṣca-bhautikaḥ
Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an associate of the Lord, I quit the body made of five material elements, and thus all acquired karma stopped. SB 1.6.28
The Lord has also said man-niketaṁ tu nirguṇam: my abode is beyond the guṇas (SB 11.25.25) and nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ: the devotee is beyond the guṇas. (SB 11.25.26) Therefore one should not say that these objects are false.
Purport
The actual truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, from whom everything emanates, by whom everything is maintained, and in whom everything merges to rest. Material nature is the reflection of the Absolute Truth, and by the interaction of the material modes of nature the innumerable varieties of matter appear to be separate, independent truths.
Māyā,
illusion, distracts the conditioned soul from the Absolute Truth and absorbs his mind in the glaring manifestation of matter, which ultimately is nondifferent from the Absolute Truth, being an emanation from Him. The sense of good and bad as separate from the Supreme Lord is like the good and bad dreams experienced by a sleeping person. Good and bad dreams are equally unreal. Similarly, material good and evil have no permanent existence separate from the Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Lord is the well-wisher of every living entity, and therefore execution of His order is good, whereas disobeying His order is bad. Lord Kṛṣṇa has created a perfect social and occupational system called
varṇāśrama-dharma,
and the Lord has further given perfect spiritual knowledge in
Bhagavad-gītā
and other literatures. Execution of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s order will bring complete social, psychological, political, economic and spiritual success to human society. We should not foolishly look for so-called good outside the orders of the Personality of Godhead. Such orders are called the laws of God and constitute the essence, or substance, of religion.