BHAGAVAD-GITA 5:13

[Guest guest]

BHAGAVAD-GITA 5:13

 

sarva-karmani manasa

sannyasyaste sukham vasi

nava-dvare pure dehi

naiva kurvan na karayan

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sarva--all; karmani--activities; manasa--by the mind;

sannyasya--giving up; aste--remains; sukham--in happiness; vasi--one

who is controlled; nava-dvare--in the place where there are nine

gates; pure--in the city; dehi--the embodied soul; na--never;

eva--certainly; kurvan--doing anything; na--not; karayan--causing to

be done.

 

TRANSLATION

 

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally

renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates

[the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.

 

PURPORT

 

The embodied soul lives in the city of nine gates. The activities of

the body, or the figurative city of body, are conducted automatically

by its particular modes of nature. The soul, although subjecting

himself to the conditions of the body, can be beyond those conditions,

if he so desires. Owing only to forgetfulness of his superior nature,

he identifies with the material body, and therefore suffers. By Krsna

consciousness, he can revive his real position and thus come out of

his embodiment. Therefore, when one takes to Krsna consciousness, one

at once becomes completely aloof from bodily activities. In such a

controlled life, in which his deliberations are changed, he lives

happily within the city of nine gates. The nine gates are mentioned as

follows:

 

nava-dvare pure dehi

hamso lelayate bahih

vasi sarvasya lokasya

sthavarasya carasya ca

 

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is living within the body of a

living entity, is the controller of all living entities all over the

universe. The body consists of nine gates [two eyes, two nostrils, two

ears, one mouth, the anus and the genitals]. The living entity in his

conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he

identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as

free as the Lord, even while in the body." (Svetasvatara Upanisad

3.18)

 

Therefore, a Krsna conscious person is free from both the outer and

inner activities of the material body.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.