Devanagari
दृश्यमाना विनार्थेन न दृश्यन्ते मनोभवा: ।
कर्मभिर्ध्यायतो नानाकर्माणि मनसोऽभवन् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
dṛśyamānā vinārthena
na dṛśyante manobhavāḥ
karmabhir dhyāyato nānā-
karmāṇi manaso ’bhavan
Synonyms
dṛśyamānāḥ
—
being perceived
;
vinā
—
without
;
arthena
—
substance or reality
;
na
—
not
;
dṛśyante
—
are seen
;
manobhavāḥ
—
creations of mental concoction
;
karmabhiḥ
—
by fruitive activities
;
dhyāyataḥ
—
meditating upon
;
nānā
—
various
;
karmāṇi
—
fruitive activities
;
manasaḥ
—
from the mind
;
abhavan
—
appear .
Translation
These visible objects like wife, children and property are like dreams and mental concoctions. Actually what we see has no permanent existence. It is sometimes seen and sometimes not. Only because of our past actions do we create such mental concoctions, and because of these concoctions, we perform further activities.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Imaginary objects seen in the absence of real objects are not seen when waking from a dream. They are products of the mind. Actions for attaining objects of a person meditating on those objects because of impressions of karma are also made of the mind.
Imaginary objects are seen without some real object such as a tiger or snake existing, but when the dream is over, they are not seen. Impermanent objects like wife and false objects, like dreams, all arise from the mind, since they arise from desires in the mind (manobhavāḥ). Actions also are composed of the mind because one meditates (using his mind) on objects because of his impressions of karma (in order to carry out action). Because the action is composed of mind, the object attained is also made of the mind.
Purport
Everything material is a mental concoction because it is sometimes visible and sometimes not. At night when we dream of tigers and snakes, they are not actually present, but we are afraid because we are affected by what we envision in our dreams. Everything material is like a dream because it actually has no permanent existence.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura writes as follows in his commentary:
arthena vyāghra-sarpādinā vinaiva dṛśyamānāḥ svapnādi-bhaṅge sati na dṛśyante tad evaṁ dārādayo ’vāstava-vastu-bhūtāḥ svapnādayo ’vastu-bhūtāś ca sarve manobhavāḥ mano-vāsanā janyatvān manobhavāḥ.
At night one dreams of tigers and snakes, and while dreaming he actually sees them, but as soon as the dream is broken they no longer exist. Similarly, the material world is a creation of our mental concoctions. We have come to this material world to enjoy material resources, and by mental concoction we discover many, many objects of enjoyment because our minds are absorbed in material things. This is why we receive various bodies. According to our mental concoctions we work in various ways, desiring various achievements, and by nature and the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (
karmaṇā-daiva-netreṇa
) we get the advantages we desire. Thus we become more and more involved with material concoctions. This is the reason for our suffering in the material world. By one kind of activity we create another, and they are all products of our mental concoctions.