Text 37]
The Renunciation of Kardama Muni
987
PURPORT
Here the word  durāśayāt  is very significant.  Dur  means trouble or  duḥkha , miseries.  Āśayāt  means from the shelter. We conditioned souls have taken shelter of the material body, which is full of troubles and miseries. Foolish people cannot understand the situation, and this is called ignorance, illusion, or the spell of  māyā . Human society should very seriously understand that the body itself is the source of all miserable life. Modern civilization is supposed to be making advancement in scientific knowledge, but what is this scientific knowledge? It is based on bodily comforts only, without knowledge that however comfortably one maintains his body, the body is destructible. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā ,  antavanta ime dehāḥ : these bodies are destined to be destroyed.  Nityasyoktāḥ śarīrṇaḥ  refers to the living soul or the living spark which is within the body. That soul is eternal, but the body is not eternal. For our activity we must have a body; without a body, without sense organs, there is no activity. But people are not inquiring whether it is possible to have an eternal body. Actually they aspire for an eternal body because even though they engage in sense enjoyment, that sense enjoyment is not eternal. They are therefore in want of something which they can enjoy eternally, but they do not understand how to attain that perfection.  Sāṅkhya  philosophy, therefore, as stated herein by Kapiladeva, is  tattvānām . The  sāṅkhya  philosophy system is designed to afford understanding of the real truth. What is that real truth? The real truth is knowledge of how to get out of the material body, which is the source of all trouble. Lord Kapila's incarnation or descent is especially meant for this purpose. That is clearly stated here.
TEXT 37
एष आत्मपथोऽव्यक्तो नष्टः कालेन भूयसा । तं प्रवर्तयितुं देहमिमं विद्धि मया भृतम् ॥३७॥
eṣa ātma-patho 'vyakto naṣṭaḥ kālena bhūyasā tam pravartayitum deham imam viddhi mayā bhṛtam
eṣaḥ—this; ātma-pathaḥ—path of self-realization; avyaktaḥ—difficult to be known; naṣṭaḥ—lost; kālena bhūyasā—in the course of time; tam—this;