BHAGAVAD-GITA 16:22

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 16:22

 

etair vimuktah kaunteya

tamo-dvarais tribhir narah

acaraty atmanah sreyas

tato yati param gatim

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

etaih--from these; vimuktah--being liberated; kaunteya--O son of

Kunti; tamah-dvaraih--from the gates of ignorance; tribhih--of three

kinds; narah--a person; acarati--performs; atmanah--for the self;

sreyah--benediction; tatah--thereafter; yati--he goes; param--to the

supreme; gatim--destination.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The man who has escaped these three gates of hell, O son of Kunti,

performs acts conducive to self-realization and thus gradually attains

the supreme destination.

 

PURPORT

 

One should be very careful of these three enemies to human life: lust,

anger and greed. The more a person is freed from lust, anger and

greed, the more his existence becomes pure. Then he can follow the

rules and regulations enjoined in the Vedic literature. By following

the regulative principles of human life, one gradually raises himself

to the platform of spiritual realization. If one is so fortunate, by

such practice, to rise to the platform of Krsna consciousness, then

success is guaranteed for him. In the Vedic literature, the ways of

action and reaction are prescribed to enable one to come to the stage

of purification. The whole method is based on giving up lust, greed

and anger. By cultivating knowledge of this process, one can be

elevated to the highest position of self-realization; this

self-realization is perfected in devotional service. In that

devotional service, the liberation of the conditioned soul is

guaranteed. Therefore, according to the Vedic system, there are

instituted the four orders of life and the four statuses of life,

called the caste system and the spiritual order system. There are

different rules and regulations for different castes or divisions of

society, and if a person is able to follow them, he will be

automatically raised to the highest platform of spiritual realization.

Then he can have liberation without a doubt.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.