Text 8]
Lord Rṣabhadeva's Teachings
175
useless waste of time. Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries. In this way one is no better than a foolish animal.
PURPORT
In the lowest stage of devotional life, one is not an unalloyed devotee.  Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam:  to be an unalloyed devotee, one must be freed from all material desires and untouched by fruitive activity and speculative knowledge. On the lower platform, one may sometimes be interested in philosophical speculation with a tinge of devotion. However, at that stage one is still interested in sense gratification and is contaminated by the modes of material nature. The influence of  māyā  is so strong that even a person advanced in knowledge actually forgets that he is Kṛṣṇa's eternal servant. Therefore he remains satisfied in his householder life, which is centered around sexual intercourse. Conceding to a life of sex, he agrees to suffer all kinds of material miseries. Due to ignorance, one is thus bound by the chain of material laws.
TEXT 8
पुंसः स्त्रिया मिथुनीभावमेतं  
 तयोर्मिथो हृदयग्रन्थमाहुः ।  
 अतो गृहश्चेत्रसुताप्तवित्तै-  
 जनस्य मोहोऽयमहं ममेति ॥ ८ ॥
puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ  
 tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ  
 ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair  
 janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti
puṁsaḥ —of a male;  striyāḥ —of a female;  mithunī-bhāvam —attraction for sexual life;  etam —this;  tayoḥ —of both of them;  mithaḥ —between one another;  hṛdaya-granthim —the knot of the hearts;  āhuḥ —they call;  ataḥ —thereafter;  gṛha —by home;  kṣetra —field;  suta —