SB 11.5.17 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एत आत्महनोऽशान्ता अज्ञाने ज्ञानमानिन: । सीदन्त्यकृतकृत्या वै कालध्वस्तमनोरथा: ॥ १७ ॥

Verse text

eta ātma-hano ’śāntā ajṣāne jṣāna-māninaḥ sīdanty akṛta-kṛtyā vai kāla-dhvasta-manorathāḥ

Synonyms

ete — these ; ātma — hanaḥ — killers of the self ; aśāntāḥ — devoid of peace ; ajṣāne — in ignorance ; jṣāna — māninaḥ — presuming to have knowledge ; sīdanti — they suffer ; akṛta — failing to perform ; kṛtyāḥ — their duty ; vai — indeed ; kāla — by time ; dhvasta — destroyed ; manaḥ — rathāḥ — their fanciful desires .

Translation

The killers of the soul are never peaceful, because they consider that human intelligence is ultimately meant for expanding material life. Thus neglecting their real, spiritual duties, they are always in distress. They are filled with great hopes and dreams, but unfortunately these are always destroyed by the inevitable march of time.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The killers of the soul, never peaceful and thinking themselves full of knowledge, though they are ignorant, not doing their real duties, with their desires destroyed by time, continually suffer.

Purport

There is a similar verse in Śrī Īśopaniṣad (3) : asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātma-hano janāḥ “The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.”