Devanagari
विकल्पे विद्यमानेऽपि न ह्यसन्तोषहेतव: ।
पुंसो मोहमृते भिन्ना यल्लोके निजकर्मभि: ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
vikalpe vidyamāne ’pi
na hy asantoṣa-hetavaḥ
puṁso moham ṛte bhinnā
yal loke nija-karmabhiḥ
Synonyms
vikalpe
—
alternation
;
vidyamāne api
—
although there is
;
na
—
not
;
hi
—
certainly
;
asantoṣa
—
dissatisfaction
;
hetavaḥ
—
causes
;
puṁsaḥ
—
of the persons
;
moham ṛte
—
without being illusioned
;
bhinnāḥ
—
separated
;
yat loke
—
within this world
;
nija
—
karmabhiḥ — by his own work .
Translation
My dear Dhruva, if you feel that your sense of honor has been insulted, you still have no cause for dissatisfaction. This kind of dissatisfaction is another feature of the illusory energy; every living entity is controlled by his previous actions, and therefore there are different varieties of life for enjoying or suffering.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though opposites exist, the cause of dissatisfaction is men’s illusion only, since everywhere these causes of dissatisfaction are produced by one’s karma.
Though opposites exist, they do not exist to this extent for the jṣānīs. For them, what dissatisfaction is there? What are its causes? For bhaktas and karma-yogīs however opposites exist. Though they exist, the causes of dissatisfaction such as being disrespected and the persons causing that are not different from illusion, because everywhere in the world the causes of dissatisfaction such as disrespect and the people causing it arise through individual bad karma. Who is to blame except oneself? Therefore the discriminating devotees and karmīs become free of envy.
Purport
In the
Vedas
it is said that the living entity is always uncontaminated and unaffected by material association. The living entity gets different types of material bodies because of his previous fruitive actions. If, however, one understands the philosophy that as a living spirit soul he has an affinity for neither suffering nor enjoyment, then he is considered to be a liberated person. It is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.54)
,
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā:
when one is actually situated on the transcendental platform, he has nothing for which to lament and nothing for which to hanker. Nārada Ṛṣi first of all wanted to impress upon Dhruva Mahārāja that he was only a child; he should not have been affected by words of insult or honor. And if he were so developed as to understand honor and insult, then this understanding should have been applied in his own life. He should have known that honor and dishonor are both destined only by one’s previous actions; therefore one should not be sorry or happy under any circumstances.