Devanagari
गृहेषु कूटधर्मेषु सक्तो ग्राम्यसुखेच्छया ।
कर्मतन्त्रं वितनुते वेदवादविपन्नधी: ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
gṛheṣu kūṭa-dharmeṣu
sakto grāmya-sukhecchayā
karma-tantraṁ vitanute
veda-vāda-vipanna-dhīḥ
Synonyms
gṛheṣu
—
in householder life
;
kūṭa
—
dharmeṣu — of pretentious religiosity
;
saktaḥ
—
being attracted
;
grāmya
—
sukha — icchayā — by desire for material happiness
;
karma
—
tantram — fruitive activities
;
vitanute
—
he performs
;
veda
—
vāda — by the explanations of the Vedas
;
vipanna
—
dhīḥ — intelligence being lost .
Translation
Pretentiously religious householder life, in which one is attracted to material happiness and thus also attracted to the superficial explanation of the Vedas, robs one of all intelligence and attaches one to fruitive activities as all in all.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
That person, attached to cheating rules of household life with a desire for material happiness, his intelligence spoiled by misleading followers of the Vedas, will become totally absorbed in karma-khāṇda.
“Followers of the Vedas” means those whose intelligence is spoiled by statements such as akṣayyaṁ ha vai cāturmāsya-yājinaḥ sukṛtaṁ bhavati: the performer of four months of austerity achieved immortality. (Āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra, Kṛṣṇa Yajur Veda 8.1.1)
Purport
Persons who identify with bodily existence are attached to the fruitive activities described in the Vedic literature. For example, in the
Vedas
it is said that one who observes the
cāturmāsya
vow will attain eternal happiness in the heavenly kingdom. In
Bhagavad-gītā,
it is said that this flowery language of the
Vedas
mostly attracts persons who identify with the body. To them such happiness as that of the heavenly kingdom is everything; they do not know that beyond that is the spiritual kingdom, or kingdom of God, and they have no knowledge that one can go there. Thus they are bereft of transcendental knowledge. Such persons are very careful in observing the rules and regulations of household life in order to be promoted in the next life to the moon or other heavenly planets. It is stated here that such persons are attached to
grāmya-sukha,
which means “material happiness,” without knowledge of eternal, blissful, spiritual life.