SB 4.29.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

आधयो व्याधयस्तस्य सैनिका यवनाश्चरा: । भूतोपसर्गाशुरय: प्रज्वारो द्विविधो ज्वर: ॥ २३ ॥ एवं बहुविधैर्दु:खैर्दैवभूतात्मसम्भवै: । क्लिश्यमान: शतं वर्षं देहे देही तमोवृत: ॥ २४ ॥ प्राणेन्द्रियमनोधर्मानात्मन्यध्यस्य निर्गुण: । शेते कामलवान्ध्यायन्ममाहमिति कर्मकृत् ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

ādhayo vyādhayas tasya sainikā yavanāś carāḥ bhūtopasargāśu-rayaḥ prajvāro dvi-vidho jvaraḥ evaṁ bahu-vidhair duḥkhair daiva-bhūtātma-sambhavaiḥ kliśyamānaḥ śataṁ varṣaṁ dehe dehī tamo-vṛtaḥ prāṇendriya-mano-dharmān ātmany adhyasya nirguṇaḥ śete kāma-lavān dhyāyan mamāham iti karma-kṛt

Synonyms

ādhayaḥ — disturbances of the mind ; vyādhayaḥ — disturbances of the body, or diseases ; tasya — of Yavaneśvara ; sainikāḥ — soldiers ; yavanāḥ — Yavanas ; carāḥ — followers ; bhūta — of living entities ; upasarga — at the time of distress ; āśu — very soon ; rayaḥ — very powerful ; prajvāraḥ — named Prajvāra ; dvi — vidhaḥ — two kinds ; jvaraḥ — fever ; evam — thus ; bahu — vidhaiḥ — of different varieties ; duḥkhaiḥ — by tribulations ; daiva — by providence ; bhūta — by other living entities ; ātma — by the body and mind ; sambhavaiḥ — produced ; kliśyamānaḥ — subjected to sufferings ; śatam — hundred ; varṣam — years ; dehe — in the body ; dehī — the living entity ; tamaḥ — vṛtaḥ — covered by material existence ; prāṇa — of life ; indriya — of the senses ; manaḥ — of the mind ; dharmān — characteristics ; ātmani — unto the soul ; adhyasya — wrongly attributing ; nirguṇaḥ — although transcendental ; śete — lies down ; kāma — of sense enjoyment ; lavān — on fragments ; dhyāyan — meditating ; mama — mine ; aham — I ; iti — thus ; karma — kṛt — the actor .

Translation

The followers of Yavaneśvara [Yamarāja] are called the soldiers of death, and they are known as the various types of disturbances that pertain to the body and mind. Prajvāra represents the two types of fever: extreme heat and extreme cold — typhoid and pneumonia. The living entity lying down within the body is disturbed by many tribulations pertaining to providence, to other living entities and to his own body and mind. Despite all kinds of tribulations, the living entity, subjected to the necessities of the body, mind and senses and suffering from various types of disease, is carried away by many plans due to his lust to enjoy the world. Although transcendental to this material existence, the living entity, out of ignorance, accepts all these material miseries under the pretext of false egoism (“I” and “mine”). In this way he lives for a hundred years within this body.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The soldiers of the King of the Yavanas are mental and physical diseases. He experiences difficulties in the body due to the elements. Prajvāra is fever of two types. Thus the jīva, covered by ignorance, dwells in the body for a hundred years, suffering from various pains due to body, mind and higher causes. Imposing the qualities of the life air, senses and mind on his soul, though he is actually without material qualities, he performs actions, meditating on me and mine, and lies down on particles of enjoyment. Carāḥ means those who move together with him. Quickly he develops symptoms related the elements. That means heavy breathing, fatigue and meaningless speech, caused by wind, water, cold, fire, heat of the sun and wrong diet. The two types of fever are cold and hot. Another version is bhūtopasargās tv arayaḥ: he is attacked by enemies (arayaḥ) and has pains (upasarga) caused by kings, thieves, and insects. Nārada then speaks to produce a sense of detachment from the body. The jīva suffers from adhidaivika, adhyātmika and adhibhautika causes. The qualities of the life air are hunger, thirst etc. the qualities of the sense are blindness etc. the qualities of the mind are lust etc. Though he is without these qualities, they are imposed on him.

Purport

In the Vedas it is stated: asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ: the living entity is actually separate from material existence, for the soul is not material. In Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that the living entity is the superior energy and the material elements — earth, water, fire, air and so on — are the inferior energy. The material elements are also described as bhinna, or separated energy. When the internal or superior energy comes in contact with the external energy, it is subjected to so many tribulations. In Bhagavad-gītā (2.14) the Lord also says, mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ: because of the material body, the living entity is subjected to many tribulations brought about by air, water, fire, extreme heat, extreme cold, sunshine, excessive eating, unhealthy food, maladjustments of the three elements of the body ( kapha, pitta and vāyu ), and so on. The intestines, the throat, the brain and the other parts of the body are affected by all kinds of diseases that are so powerful that they become sources of extreme suffering for the living entity. The living entity, however, is different from all these material elements. The two types of fever described in this verse can be explained in contemporary language as pneumonia and typhoid. When there is an extreme fever in the body, there is typhoid and pneumonia, and they are described as Prajvāra. There are also other miseries created by other living entities — the state exacts taxes, and there are also many thieves, rogues and cheaters. Miseries brought about by other living entities are called adhibhautika. There are also miseries in the form of famine, pestilence, scarcity, war, earthquakes and so on. These are caused by the demigods or other sources beyond our control. Actually there are many enemies of the living entities, and these are all described to point out how miserable this material existence is. Knowing the basic misery of material existence, one should be induced to get out of the material clutches and return home, back to Godhead. Actually the living entity is not at all happy in this material body. Because of the body, he suffers thirst and hunger and is influenced by the mind, by words, by anger, by the belly, by the genitals, by the rectum, and so on. Manifold miseries encircle the transcendental living entity simply because he desires to satisfy his senses in this material world. If he simply withdraws from activities of sense gratification and applies his senses in the service of the Lord, all the problems of material existence will immediately diminish. With the advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness he will be freed from all tribulations, and after giving up the body he will go back home, back to Godhead.