Devanagari
सुखमस्यात्मनो रूपं सर्वेहोपरतिस्तनु: ।
मन:संस्पर्शजान् दृष्ट्वा भोगान्स्वप्स्यामि संविशन् ॥ २७ ॥
Verse text
sukham asyātmano rūpaṁ
sarvehoparatis tanuḥ
manaḥ-saṁsparśajān dṛṣṭvā
bhogān svapsyāmi saṁviśan
Synonyms
sukham
—
happiness
;
asya
—
of him
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of the living entity
;
rūpam
—
the natural position
;
sarva
—
all
;
īha
—
material activities
;
uparatiḥ
—
completely stopping
;
tanuḥ
—
the medium of its manifestation
;
manaḥ
—
saṁsparśa — jān — produced from demands for sense gratification
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
after seeing
;
bhogān
—
sense enjoyment
;
svapsyāmi
—
I am sitting silently, thinking deeply about these material activities
;
saṁviśan
—
entering into such activities .
Translation
The actual form of life for the living entities is one of spiritual happiness, which is real happiness. This happiness can be achieved only when one stops all materialistic activities. Material sense enjoyment is simply an imagination. Therefore, considering this subject matter, I have ceased from all material activities and am lying down here.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Happiness lies in the ātmā. Detachment from all material pleasure is the cause of this happening. Detachment is the body for the bliss of the ātmā. Since I can see that material enjoyment arises by desire alone, I remain sleeping here, absorbed in ātmā.
“But sometimes one gets happiness by actions. Why should one give up action completely?” Happiness is the svarūpa of the jīva. How does this manifest? This happiness arises from detachment from all thirst for objects, which arises from actions (īha). Detachment is the body which will produce spiritual bliss. Just as one cannot enjoy without a body, so without renunciation of enjoyment one cannot experience bliss of the ātmā. Seeing that material enjoyment arises from desires and are flickering, and therefore distasteful, I remain enjoying (saṁviśan) the happiness of the ātmā which is by nature eternal, and I sleep (the future is taken as meaning the present tense) on the bed of divine flowers in the form of detachment. This explains the cause of his being fat and his enjoyment. The doctors say that absence of activity is the cause of obesity. Or, though I do not experience bliss of the self completely because of a small trace of material thirst, after five days, with complete destruction of that thirst, I will be completely absorbed in that bliss, and will sleep (the future tense is taken literally).
According to Medini, saṁveśa means sleep and a sexual relationship with a woman. Thus in general the word indicates someone desiring enjoyment.
Purport
The difference between the philosophy of the Māyāvādīs and that of the Vaiṣṇavas is explained herein. Both the Māyāvādīs and Vaiṣṇavas know that in materialistic activities there is no happiness. The Māyāvādī philosophers, therefore, adhering to the slogan
brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā,
want to refrain from false, materialistic activities. They want to stop all activities and merge in the Supreme Brahman. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, however, if one simply ceases from materialistic activity one cannot remain inactive for very long, and therefore everyone should engage himself in spiritual activities, which will solve the problem of suffering in this material world. It is said, therefore, that although the Māyāvādī philosophers strive to refrain from materialistic activities and merge in Brahman, and although they may actually merge in the Brahman existence, for want of activity they fall down again into materialistic activity (
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ
). Thus the so-called renouncer, unable to remain in meditation upon Brahman, returns to materialistic activities by opening hospitals and schools and so on. Therefore, simply cultivating knowledge that materialistic activities cannot give one happiness, and that one should consequently cease from such activities, is insufficient. One should cease from materialistic activities and take up spiritual activities. Then the solution to the problem will be achieved. Spiritual activities are activities performed according to the order of Kṛṣṇa (
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam
). If one does whatever Kṛṣṇa says, his activities are not material. For example, when Arjuna fought in response to the order of Kṛṣṇa, his activities were not material. Fighting for sense gratification is a materialistic activity, but fighting by the order of Kṛṣṇa is spiritual. By spiritual activities one becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead, and then enjoy blissful life eternally. Here, in the material world, everything is but a mental concoction that will never give us real happiness. The practical solution, therefore, is to cease from materialistic activities and engage in spiritual activities.
Yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ
). If one works for the sake of pleasing the Supreme Lord — Yajṣa, or Viṣṇu — one is in liberated life. If one fails to do so, however, he remains in a life of bondage.