Devanagari
यदाक्षैश्चरितान् ध्यायन् कर्माण्याचिनुतेऽसकृत् ।
सति कर्मण्यविद्यायां बन्ध: कर्मण्यनात्मन: ॥ ७८ ॥
Verse text
yadākṣaiś caritān dhyāyan
karmāṇy ācinute ’sakṛt
sati karmaṇy avidyāyāṁ
bandhaḥ karmaṇy anātmanaḥ
Synonyms
yadā
—
when
;
akṣaiḥ
—
by the senses
;
caritān
—
pleasures enjoyed
;
dhyāyan
—
thinking of
;
karmāṇi
—
activities
;
ācinute
—
performs
;
asakṛt
—
always
;
sati karmaṇi
—
when material affairs continue
;
avidyāyām
—
under illusion
;
bandhaḥ
—
bondage
;
karmaṇi
—
in activity
;
anātmanaḥ
—
of the material body .
Translation
As long as we desire to enjoy sense gratification, we create material activities. When the living entity acts in the material field, he enjoys the senses, and while enjoying the senses, he creates another series of material activities. In this way the living entity becomes entrapped as a conditioned soul.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When one performs actions by the senses while thinking of objects of enjoyment, bondage to action of the body occurs, since each of those actions have the seed of ignorance.
How is the mind the cause of saṁsāra? One meditates on objects of enjoyment (caritān). Because each act has ignorance as its seed, bondage to action of the body (anātmanaḥ) takes place.
Purport
While in the subtle body, we create many plans to enjoy sense gratification. These plans are recorded in the spool of one’s mind as
bīja,
the root of fruitive activities. In conditional life the living entity creates a series of bodies one after another, and this is called
karma-bandhana.
As explained in
Bhagavad-gītā
(3.9)
,
yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ:
if we act only for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, there is no bondage due to material activity, but if we act otherwise, we become entrapped by one material activity after another. Under these circumstances, it is to be supposed that by thinking, feeling and willing we are creating a series of future material bodies. In the words of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura,
anādi karama-phale, paḍi’ bhavārṇava-jale:
the living entity falls into the ocean of
karma-bandhana
as a result of past material activities. Instead of plunging oneself into the ocean of material activity, one should accept material activity only to maintain body and soul together. The rest of one’s time should be devoted to engaging in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. In this way one can attain relief from the reactions of material activity.