Devanagari
जन्तुर्वै भव एतस्मिन्यां यां योनिमनुव्रजेत् ।
तस्यां तस्यां स लभते निर्वृतिं न विरज्यते ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
jantur vai bhava etasmin
yāṁ yāṁ yonim anuvrajet
tasyāṁ tasyāṁ sa labhate
nirvṛtiṁ na virajyate
Synonyms
jantuḥ
—
the living entity
;
vai
—
certainly
;
bhave
—
in worldly existence
;
etasmin
—
this
;
yām yām
—
whatever
;
yonim
—
species
;
anuvrajet
—
he may obtain
;
tasyām tasyām
—
in that
;
saḥ
—
he
;
labhate
—
achieves
;
nirvṛtim
—
satisfaction
;
na
—
not
;
virajyate
—
is averse .
Translation
The living entity, in whatever species of life he appears, finds a particular type of satisfaction in that species, and he is never averse to being situated in such a condition.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In whatever species he takes birth and roams, he attains happiness and does not become detached from it.
This verse shows his foolishness.
Purport
The satisfaction of the living entity in a particular type of body, even if it is most abominable, is called illusion. A man in a higher position may feel dissatisfaction with the standard of life of a lower-grade man, but the lower-grade man is satisfied in that position because of the spell of
māyā,
the external energy.
Māyā
has two phases of activities. One is called
prakṣepātmikā,
and the other is called
āvaraṇātmikā.
Āvaraṇātmikā
means “covering,” and
prakṣepātmikā
means “pulling down.” In any condition of life, the materialistic person or animal will be satisfied because his knowledge is covered by the influence of
māyā.
In the lower grade or lower species of life, the development of consciousness is so poor that one cannot understand whether he is happy or distressed. This is called
āvaraṇātmikā.
Even a hog, who lives by eating stool, finds himself happy, although a person in a higher mode of life sees that the hog is eating stool. How abominable that life is!