Text 40] The Lord Begs Charity from Bali Mahārāja
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PURPORT
This  śloka  explains that in relation to the material body even the factual truth cannot exist without a touch of untruth. The Māyāvādis say,  brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā : “The spirit soul is truth, and the external energy is untruth.” The Vaiṣṇava philosophers, however, do not agree with the Māyāvāda philosophy. Even if for the sake of argument the material world is accepted as untruth, the living entity entangled in the illusory energy cannot come out of it without the help of the body. Without the help of the body, one cannot follow a system of religion, nor can one speculate on philosophical perfection. Therefore, the flower and fruit ( puṣpa-phalam ) have to be obtained as a result of the body. Without the help of the body, that fruit cannot be gained. The Vaiṣṇava philosophy therefore recommends  yukta-vairāgya . It is not that all attention should be diverted for the maintenance of the body, but at the same time one’s bodily maintenance should not be neglected. As long as the body exists one can thoroughly study the Vedic instructions, and thus at the end of life one can achieve perfection. This is explained in  Bhagavad-gītā  (8.6):  yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram . Everything is examined at the time of death. Therefore, although the body is temporary, not eternal, one can take from it the best service and make one’s life perfect.
TEXT 40
तद् यथा वृक्ष उन्मूलः शुष्यत्युद्धर्ततेऽचिरात् ।
एवं नष्टानृतः सद्य आत्मा शुष्येन संशयः ॥४०॥
tad yathā vṛkṣa unmūlaḥ śuṣyaty udvartate ’cirāt evaṁ naṣṭānṛtaḥ sadya ātmā śuṣyen na saṁśayaḥ
tat—therefore; yathā—as; vṛkṣaḥ—a tree; unmūlaḥ—being uprooted; śuṣyati—dries up; udvartate—falls down; acirāt—very soon; evaṁ—in this way; naṣṭa—lost; anṛtaḥ—the temporary body; sadyaḥ—immediately; ātmā—the body; śuṣyet—dries up; na—not; saṁśayaḥ—any doubt.