SB 7.5.31 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

न ते विदु: स्वार्थगतिं हि विष्णुं दुराशया ये बहिरर्थमानिन: । अन्धा यथान्धैरुपनीयमाना- स्तेऽपीशतन्‍त्र्यामुरुदाम्नि बद्धा: ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te ’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ

Synonyms

na — not ; te — they ; viduḥ — know ; sva — artha — gatim — the ultimate goal of life, or their own real interest ; hi — indeed ; viṣṇum — Lord Viṣṇu and His abode ; durāśayāḥ — being ambitious to enjoy this material world ; ye — who ; bahiḥ — external sense objects ; artha — māninaḥ — considering as valuable ; andhāḥ — persons who are blind ; yathā — just as ; andhaiḥ — by other blind men ; upanīyamānāḥ — being led ; te — they ; api — although ; īśa — tantryām — to the ropes (laws) of material nature ; uru — having very strong ; dāmni — cords ; baddhāḥ — bound .

Translation

Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṇu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Having evil hearts and thinking that sense enjoyment has value, they do not know that the valuable goal is Viṣṇu. Just as blind men lead other blind men into a ditch, bound by the ropes of Vedic instructions on rituals and binding others in the same way, they fall into the dark well of material existence. “O fool! You are criticizing me, your father, whose feet are worshipped by Indra. Listen foolish boy! Do your teachers, greatly learned pupils of Śukrācārya, not know the import of scriptures? You do not think that what they have taught is correct.” Prahlāda replies. They do not know that Viṣṇu, who is one’s treasure, is the goal. They know only goals like Svarga, which are not valuable at all. They have evil hearts and consider sense enjoyment which is useless to be valuable. If they do not know what is valuable, how will their pupils know? An example is given. Blind men directed on the path by other blind men fall into a ditch. Similarly the teachers, bound up by the rituals, tied by the long ropes—names like brāhmaṇa—mentioned in the Vedas, fall along with their students.

Purport

Since there must always be a difference of opinion between demons and devotees, Hiraṇyakaśipu, when criticized by his son Prahlāda Mahārāja, should not have been surprised that Prahlāda Mahārāja differed from his way of life. Nonetheless, Hiraṇyakaśipu was extremely angry and wanted to rebuke his son for deriding his teacher or spiritual master, who had been born in the brāhmaṇa family of the great ācārya Śukrācārya. The word śukra means “semen,” and ācārya refers to a teacher or guru. Hereditary gurus, or spiritual masters, have been accepted everywhere since time immemorial, but Prahlāda Mahārāja declined to accept such a seminal guru or take instruction from him. An actual guru is śrotriya, one who has heard or received perfect knowledge through paramparā, the disciplic succession. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja did not recognize a seminal spiritual master. Such spiritual masters are not at all interested in Viṣṇu. Indeed, they are hopeful of material success ( bahir-artha-māninaḥ ). The word bahiḥ means “external,” artha means “interest,” and mānina means “taking very seriously.” Generally speaking, practically everyone is unaware of the spiritual world. The knowledge of the materialists is restricted within the four-billion-mile limit of this material world, which is in the dark portion of the creation; they do not know that beyond the material world is the spiritual world. Unless one is a devotee of the Lord, one cannot understand the existence of the spiritual world. Gurus, teachers, who are simply interested in this material world are described in this verse as andha, blind. Such blind men may lead many other blind followers without true knowledge of material conditions, but they are not accepted by devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja. Such blind teachers, being interested in the external, material world, are always bound by the strong ropes of material nature.