Devanagari
निषेकादिश्मशानान्तै: संस्कारै: संस्कृतो द्विज: ।
इन्द्रियेषु क्रियायज्ञान् ज्ञानदीपेषु जुह्वति ॥ ५२ ॥
Verse text
niṣekādi-śmaśānāntaiḥ
saṁskāraiḥ saṁskṛto dvijaḥ
indriyeṣu kriyā-yajṣān
jṣāna-dīpeṣu juhvati
Synonyms
niṣeka
—
ādi — the beginning of life (the purificatory process of garbhādhāna, performed when the father begets a child by discharging semen into the womb of the mother)
;
śmaśāna
—
antaiḥ — and at death, when the body is put into a crematorium and burnt to ashes
;
saṁskāraiḥ
—
by such purificatory processes
;
saṁskṛtaḥ
—
purified
;
dvijaḥ
—
a twice-born brāhmaṇa
;
indriyeṣu
—
into the senses
;
kriyā
—
yajṣān — activities and sacrifices (which elevate one to a higher planetary system)
;
jṣāna
—
dīpeṣu — by enlightenment in real knowledge
;
juhvati
—
offers .
Translation
A twice-born brāhmaṇa [dvija] gains his life by the grace of his parents through the process of purification known as garbhādhāna. There are also other processes of purification, until the end of life, when the funeral ceremony [antyeṣṭi-kriyā] is performed. Thus in due course a qualified brāhmaṇa becomes uninterested in materialistic activities and sacrifices, but he offers the sensual sacrifices, in full knowledge, into the working senses, which are illuminated by the fire of knowledge.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The brāhmaṇa, purified by saṁskāras starting with impregnation and ending with death rites, offers his actions into the senses illuminated by knowledge.
The main activity of the performer of karma is described. Having described the path of enjoyment, now the path of detachment is described, through the path of the sun to Brahmaloka. He offers the sacrifices such as iṣṭāpūrta into the senses lit by knowledge. Because the sacrifices are composed of activities of the senses, they become none other than the senses. That is the meaning sacrificing the actions into the senses. The following verses have the same meaning.
Purport
Those interested in materialistic activities remain in the cycle of birth and death.
Pravṛtti-mārga,
or the inclination to stay in the material world to enjoy varieties of sense gratification, has been explained in the previous verse. Now, in this verse, it is explained that one who has perfect brahminical knowledge rejects the process of elevation to higher planets and accepts
nivṛtti-mārga;
in other words, he prepares himself to go back home, back to Godhead. Those who are not
brāhmaṇas
but atheists do not know what is
pravṛtti-mārga
or
nivṛtti-mārga;
they simply want to obtain pleasure at any cost. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore training devotees to give up the
pravṛtti-mārga
and accept the
nivṛtti-mārga
in order to return home, back to Godhead. This is a little difficult to understand, but it is very easy if one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously and tries to understand Kṛṣṇa. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person can understand that performing
yajṣa
according to the
karma-kāṇḍa
system is a useless waste of time and that merely giving up the
karma-kāṇḍa
and accepting the process of speculation is also unfruitful. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung in his
Prema-bhakti-candrikā:
karma-kāṇḍa, jṣāna-kāṇḍa, kevala viṣera bhāṇḍa
‘amṛta’ baliyā yebā khāya
nānā yoni sadā phire, kadarya bhakṣaṇa kare,
tāra janma adhaḥ-pāte yāya
A life of
karma-kāṇḍa
or
jṣāna-kāṇḍa
is like a poison pot, and one who takes to such a life is doomed. In the
karma-kāṇḍa
system, one is destined to accept birth and death again and again. Similarly, with
jṣāna-kāṇḍa
one falls down again to this material world. Only worship of the Supreme Person offers one the safety of going back home, back to Godhead.