### SB 5.5.5

> पराभवस्तावदबोधजातो यावन्न जिज्ञआसत आत्मतत्त्वम\
> यावत्क्रियास्तावदिदं मनो वै कर्मात्मकं येन शरीरबन्धः ॥५॥

> parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto\
> yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam\
> yāvat kriyās tāvad idaṁ mano vai\
> karmātmakaṁ yena śarīra-bandhaḥ

*parābhavaḥ*—defeat, misery; *tāvat*—so long; *abodha-jātaḥ*—produced from ignorance; *yāvat*—as long as; *na*—not; *jijñāsate*—inquires about; *ātma-tattvam*—the truth of the self; *yāvat*—as long as; *kriyāḥ*—fruitive activities; *tāvat*—so long; *idam*—this; *manaḥ*—mind; *vai*—indeed; *karma-ātmakam*—absorbed in material activities; *yena*—by which; *śarīra-bandhaḥ*—bondage in this material body.

**As long as one does not inquire about the spiritual values of life, one is defeated and subjected to miseries arising from ignorance. Be it sinful or pious, karma has its resultant actions. If a person is engaged in any kind of karma, his mind is called karmātmaka, colored with fruitive activity. As long as the mind is impure, consciousness is unclear, and as long as one is absorbed in fruitive activity, he has to accept a material body.**

Generally people think that one should act very piously in order to be relieved from misery, but this is not a fact. Even though one engages in pious activity and speculation, he is nonetheless defeated. His only aim should be emancipation from the clutches of *māyā* and all material activities. Speculative knowledge and pious activity do not solve the problems of material life. One should be inquisitive to understand his spiritual position. As stated in *Bhagavad-gītā* [[bg/4/37|(Bg. 4.37)]]:

> yathaidhāṁsi samiddho 'gnir
> bhasmasāt kurute 'rjuna
> jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi
> bhasmasāt kurute tathā

"As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities."

Unless one understands the self and its activities, one has to be considered in material bondage. In *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* (10.2.32) it is also said/ *ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ.* A person who doesn't have knowledge of devotional service may think himself liberated, but actually he is not. *Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ:* [[sb/10/2/32|[SB 10.2.32] ]] such people may approach the impersonal Brahman effulgence, but they fall down again into material enjoyment because they have no knowledge of devotional service. As long as one is interested in *karma* and *jñāna,* he continues enduring the miseries of material life—birth, old age, disease and death. *Karmīs* certainly take on one body after another. As far as *jñānīs* are concerned, unless they are promoted to the topmost understanding, they must return to the material world. As explained in *Bhagavad-gītā* [[bg/7/19|(Bg. 7.19)]]/ *bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate.* The point is to know Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, as everything and surrender unto Him. *Karmīs* do not know this, but a devotee who is one hundred percent engaged in the devotional service of the Lord knows fully what is *karma* and *jñāna;* therefore a pure devotee is no longer interested in *karma* or *jñāna. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam* [[cc/madhya/19/167|[Cc. Madhya 19.167] ]]. The real *bhakta* is untouched by any tinge of *karma* and *jñāna.* His only purpose in life is to serve the Lord.