BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:29

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:29

 

prakrter guna-sammudhah

sajjante guna-karmasu

tan akrtsna-vido mandan

krtsna-vin na vicalayet

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

prakrteh--of material nature; guna--by the modes; sammudhah--befooled

by material identification; sajjante--they become engaged;

guna-karmasu--in material activities; tan--those;

akrtsna-vidah--persons with a poor fund of knowledge; mandan--lazy to

understand self-realization; krtsna-vit--one who is in factual

knowledge; na--not; vicalayet--should try to agitate.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage

themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise

should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to

the performers' lack of knowledge.

 

PURPORT

 

Persons who are unknowledgeable falsely identify with gross material

consciousness and are full of material designations. This body is a

gift of the material nature, and one who is too much attached to the

bodily consciousness is called manda, or a lazy person without

understanding of spirit soul. Ignorant men think of the body as the

self; they accept bodily connections with others as kinsmanship, the

land in which the body is obtained is their object of worship, and

they consider the formalities of religious rituals to be ends in

themselves. Social work, nationalism and altruism are some of the

activities for such materially designated persons. Under the spell of

such designations, they are always busy in the material field; for

them spiritual realization is a myth, and so they are not interested.

Those who are enlightened in spiritual life, however, should not try

to agitate such materially engrossed persons. Better to prosecute

one's own spiritual activities silently. Such bewildered persons may

be engaged in such primary moral principles of life as nonviolence and

similar materially benevolent work.

 

Men who are ignorant cannot appreciate activities in Krsna

consciousness, and therefore Lord Krsna advises us not to disturb them

and simply waste valuable time. But the devotees of the Lord are more

kind than the Lord because they understand the purpose of the Lord.

Consequently they undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of

approaching ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Krsna

consciousness, which are absolutely necessary for the human being.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.