Devanagari
प्रायो धर्मार्थकामेषु विवित्सायां च मानवा: ।
हेतुनैव समीहन्त आयुषो यशस: श्रिय: ॥ २७ ॥
Verse text
prāyo dharmārtha-kāmeṣu
vivitsāyāṁ ca mānavāḥ
hetunaiva samīhanta
āyuṣo yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ
Synonyms
prāyaḥ
—
generally
;
dharma
—
in religiosity
;
artha
—
economic development
;
kāmeṣu
—
and sense gratification
;
vivitsāyām
—
in pursuit of spiritual knowledge
;
ca
—
also
;
mānavāḥ
—
human beings
;
hetunā
—
for the purpose
;
eva
—
indeed
;
samīhante
—
they endeavor
;
āyuṣaḥ
—
of long life
;
yaśasaḥ
—
fame
;
śriyaḥ
—
and material opulence .
Translation
Generally human beings work hard to cultivate religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and also knowledge of the soul, and their usual motive is to increase the duration of their lives, acquire fame and enjoy material opulence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Generally human beings work hard to cultivate religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and also knowledge of the soul, to increase the duration of their lives, acquire fame and enjoy wealth.
People generally engage in artha, dharma, kāma and reflection on ātmā for long life, fame and wealth.
Purport
An intelligent person should understand that if there is an eternal soul different from the body, then real happiness must lie in our eternal situation, beyond the bondage of material nature. However, ordinary persons, even when discussing spiritual subject matters, generally desire to become famous or to increase their wealth and duration of life by such spiritual practices. Most common people think, for example, that the
yoga
system is meant for improving one’s health, that one may pray to God for money, and that one’s spiritual knowledge is meant for increasing one’s prestige in society. Mahārāja Yadu wants to clarify that the young
brāhmaṇa
avadhūta
is not like ordinary persons and that he is actually on a spiritual platform, as will be explained in the following verses.