1010 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 23

TEXT 28
& Ta TATE FSI ETT Ul |
ararad aat fsa few cI)

sa vaiicito batatma-dhruk
krechrena mahata bhuvi

labdhvapavargyam manusyam
visayesu visajjate

sah—he; vaicitah—cheated; bata—certainly ; dtma-dhruk—envious of him-
self; krcchrena—with great difficulty; mahatd—by great activities; bhuvi—
in this world; labdhva—by achieving; dpavargyam—the path of liberation;
mdnusyam—in the human form of life; visayesu—in the matter of sense
gratification; visajjate—becomes engaged.

TRANSLATION

Any person who engages himself within this material world in
performing activities that necessitate great struggle, and who, after
obtaining a human form of life—which is a chance to attain liberation
from miseries—undertakes the difficult tasks of fruitive activities, must be
considered to be cheated and envious of his own self.

PURPORT

In this material world people are engaged in different activities simply
to achieve a little success in sense gratification. The karmis are engaged
in performing very difficult activities, and thus they open gigantic
factories, build huge cities, make big scientific discoveries, etc. In other
words, they are engaged in performing very costly sacrifices in order to be
promoted to the higher planetary systems. Similarly, yogis are engaged in
achieving a similar goal by accepting the tedious practices of mystic yoga.
Jiidnis are engaged in philosophical speculation in order to gain release
from the clutches of material nature. In these ways everyone is engaged
in performing very difficult tasks simply for the gratification of the senses.
All of these are considered to be engaged in sense gratificatory activities
(or visaya) because they all demand some facility for material existence.
Actually the results of such activities are temporary, as Krsna Himself
proclaims in Bhagavad-gitd: antavat tu phalam tesadm: “The fruits [of
those who worship the demigods] are limited and temporary.” (Bg. 7.23)
Thus the fruits of the activities of the yogis, karmis and janis are
