Devanagari
नाश्नत: पथ्यमेवान्नं व्याधयोऽभिभवन्ति हि ।
एवं नियमकृद्राजन् शनै: क्षेमाय कल्पते ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
nāśnataḥ pathyam evānnaṁ
vyādhayo ’bhibhavanti hi
evaṁ niyamakṛd rājan
śanaiḥ kṣemāya kalpate
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
aśnataḥ
—
those who eat
;
pathyam
—
suitable
;
eva
—
indeed
;
annam
—
food
;
vyādhayaḥ
—
different types of disease
;
abhibhavanti
—
overcome
;
hi
—
indeed
;
evam
—
similarly
;
niyama
—
kṛt — one following regulative principles
;
rājan
—
O King
;
śanaiḥ
—
gradually
;
kṣemāya
—
for well-being
;
kalpate
—
becomes fit .
Translation
My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him. Similarly, if one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Diseases do not afflict those who eat proper food. Similarly, one who follows rules gradually becomes qualified for jṣāna.
“But if one is sinful, then his heart is impure. How then can he practice jṣāna?” That is true, buy jṣana will give relief from the sin (like atonement). An example is given. Just as sickness does not affect persons who eat proper food, a person who follows rules of jṣāna can gradually destroy sins.
Purport
One is gradually purified if one cultivates knowledge, even through mental speculation, and strictly follows the regulative principles enjoined in the
śāstras
and explained in the next verse. Therefore the platform of
jṣāna,
speculative knowledge, is better than the platform of
karma,
fruitive action. There is every chance of falling from the platform of
karma
to hellish conditions, but on the platform of
jṣāna
one is saved from hellish life, although one is still not completely free from infection. The difficulty is that on the platform of
jṣāna
one thinks that he has been liberated and has become Nārāyaṇa, or Bhagavān. This is another phase of ignorance.
ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ
(
Bhāg.
10.2.32
)
Because of ignorance, one speculatively thinks himself liberated from material contamination although actually he is not. Therefore even if one rises to
brahma jṣāna,
understanding of Brahman, one nevertheless falls down because of not taking shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless,
jṣānīs
at least know what is sinful and what is pious, and they very cautiously act according to the injunctions of the
śāstras.