Devanagari
अर्थे ह्यविद्यमानेऽपि संसृतिर्न निवर्तते ।
मनसा लिङ्गरूपेण स्वप्ने विचरतो यथा ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
arthe hy avidyamāne ’pi
saṁsṛtir na nivartate
manasā liṅga-rūpeṇa
svapne vicarato yathā
Synonyms
arthe
—
factual cause
;
hi
—
certainly
;
avidyamāne
—
not existing
;
api
—
although
;
saṁsṛtiḥ
—
material existence
;
na
—
not
;
nivartate
—
ceases
;
manasā
—
by the mind
;
liṅga
—
rūpeṇa — by subtle form
;
svapne
—
in a dream
;
vicarataḥ
—
acting
;
yathā
—
as .
Translation
Sometimes we suffer because we see a tiger in a dream or a snake in a vision, but actually there is neither a tiger nor a snake. Thus we create some situation in a subtle form and suffer the consequences. These sufferings cannot be mitigated unless we are awakened from our dream.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though suffering does not really exist, saṁsāra will never cease, as long as the conception of suffering continues, just as the suffering in a dream will never cease for the jīva wandering about with the covering of the mind, as long as he identifies with the dream.
“Because happiness and distress are qualities of the body, actually there is no suffering for the jīva who is dissociated from the body. What is the use of trying to destroy suffering that does not exist?” Though suffering (arthe) does not exist for the jīva, without wiping out that misconception of suffering, material existence will not cease. In a dream, false objects continue to give suffering to the jīva moving about with the mind, a covering (upādhi) on the jīva (liṅga-rūpeṇa), until the person wakes up.
Purport
As stated in the
Vedas,
the living entity is always separate from two kinds of material bodies — the subtle and the gross. All our sufferings are due to these material bodies. This is explained in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.14)
:
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
“O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” Lord Kṛṣṇa thus informed Arjuna that all the distresses brought about by the body come and go. One has to learn how to tolerate them. Material existence is the cause of all our sufferings, for we do not suffer once we are out of the material condition. The
Vedas
therefore enjoin that one should factually understand that he is not material but is actually Brahman (
ahaṁ brahmāsmi
). This understanding cannot be fully realized unless one is engaged in Brahman activities, namely devotional service. To get free from the material conditions, one has to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only remedy.