Devanagari
शास्त्रेष्वियानेव सुनिश्चितो नृणां
क्षेमस्य सध्र्यग्विमृशेषु हेतु: ।
असङ्ग आत्मव्यतिरिक्त आत्मनि
दृढा रतिर्ब्रह्मणि निर्गुणे च या ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
śāstreṣv iyān eva suniścito nṛṇāṁ
kṣemasya sadhryag-vimṛśeṣu hetuḥ
asaṅga ātma-vyatirikta ātmani
dṛḍhā ratir brahmaṇi nirguṇe ca yā
Synonyms
śāstreṣu
—
in the scriptures
;
iyān eva
—
this is only
;
su
—
niścitaḥ — positively concluded
;
nṛṇām
—
of human society
;
kṣemasya
—
of the ultimate welfare
;
sadhryak
—
perfectly
;
vimṛśeṣu
—
by full consideration
;
hetuḥ
—
cause
;
asaṅgaḥ
—
detachment
;
ātma
—
vyatirikte — the bodily concept of life
;
ātmani
—
unto the Supreme Soul
;
dṛḍhā
—
strong
;
ratiḥ
—
attachment
;
brahmaṇi
—
transcendence
;
nirguṇe
—
in the Supreme, who is beyond the material modes
;
ca
—
and
;
yā
—
which .
Translation
It has been conclusively decided in the scriptures, after due consideration, that the ultimate goal for the welfare of human society is detachment from the bodily concept of life and increased and steadfast attachment for the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental, beyond the modes of material nature.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
It is determined in the scriptures through thorough deliberation that the only cause of benefit for the human being is detachment from the body and attachment to the Supreme Lord who has no material qualities.
Therefore I must answer your question. Hear the cause of benefit. Many scriptures have been reviewed, so that there can be no opposition to the conclusion. Scriptures not thoroughly examined will be opposed by someone or other. Iyān eva means that the final conclusion has been definitely reached and one need not again review many scriptures for this purpose. Asaṅgaḥ means detachment and dṛḍhā ratiḥ means firm attachment. “Benefit” means merging in Brahman, śānta-rati, and prema according to one’s qualification.
Purport
Everyone in human society is engaged for the ultimate benefit of life, but persons who are in the bodily conception cannot achieve the ultimate goal, nor can they understand what it is. The ultimate goal of life is described in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.59)
:
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.
When one finds out the supreme goal of life, he naturally becomes detached from the bodily concept. Here in this verse the indication is that one has to steadfastly increase attachment for the Transcendence (
brahmaṇi
). As confirmed in the
Vedānta-sūtra
(1.1.1),
athāto brahma-jijṣāsā:
without inquiry about the Supreme, or the Transcendence, one cannot give up attachment for this material world. By the evolutionary process in 8,400,000 species of life, one cannot understand the ultimate goal of life because in all those species of life, the bodily conception is very prominent.
Athāto brahma-jijṣāsā
means that in order to get out of the bodily conception, one has to increase attachment to or inquiry about Brahman. Then he can be situated in the transcendental devotional service —
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ.
To increase attachment for Brahman means to engage in devotional service. Those who are attached to the impersonal form of Brahman cannot remain attached for very long. Impersonalists, after rejecting this world as
mithyā,
or false (
jagan mithyā
), come down again to this
jagan mithyā,
although they take
sannyāsa
to increase their attachment for Brahman. Similarly, many
yogīs
who are attached to the localized aspect of Brahman as Paramātmā — great sages like Viśvāmitra — also fall down as victims of women. Therefore increased attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is advised in all
śāstras.
That is the only way of detachment from material existence and is explained in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.59)
as
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate:
one can cease material activities when he actually has the taste for devotional service. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also recommended love of Godhead as the ultimate goal of life (
premā pum-artho mahān
). Without increasing love of Godhead, one cannot achieve the perfectional stage of the transcendental position.