Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 117 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

স্ত্রী পুত্র বান্ধব যত,        মরি যায় কত শত,

আপনারে হও সাবধান ।

মুই সে বিষয় হত,        না ভজিনু হরিপদ,

মোর আর নাহি পরিত্রাণ ॥ ১১৭ ॥

strī putra bāndhaba yata,        mari yāya kata śata,

āpanāre hao sābadhāna |

mui se biṣaya hata,        nā bhajinu hari-pada,

mora āra nāhi paritrāṇa || 117 ||

     Countless spouses, children, relatives and friends have passed away. You must be careful. Ruined by sense-enjoyment, I have not worshiped Śrī Hari’s feet. I have no other refuge.

The Author’s Lamentation

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: For those humans who are too attached to sense-enjoyment, the revered author first warns about the extreme transience of their existence: strī putra bāndhaba yata, mari yāya kata śata, āpanāre hao sābadhāna. Even though obtaining this human body, which is the residence of knowledge and intellect, and which is most suitable for śrī-hari-bhajana, those who have fallen into illusion neglect the opportunity for bhajana and spend their rare human life like an animal attached to sense-enjoyment. The power of illusion is so great that the puppets of illusion—countless spouses, children, relatives, friends and so on—are constantly dying in front of them and though they see it, they do not see it. Attached to transitory, illusory things, they lose through neglect the precious opportunity for bhajana provided by a human life. Noting that enjoyable things like a spouse, children, possessions, wealth and so on are transitory and troublesome, Bhagavān Buddhadeva said the following to Chandaka:

     alaṁ chandaka, anityāḥ khalv ete kāmā adhruvā aśāśvatā vipariṇām adharmāṇaḥ pradrutāś capalā giri-nadī-vega-tulyāḥ; avasyāya-binduvad-acira-sthāyina ullāpanāḥ rikta-muṣṭivad asārāḥ kadali-skandhavad durbalā, āma-bhojanavad-vedanātmakaḥ śarad-abhra-nibhāḥ kṣanādbhutā na bhavanti; . . . sāgara iva duṣpurāḥ lavaṇodaka iva tṛṣṇākarāḥ; sarpa-śiro-vastuḥ sparśanīyā mahāprapātavat parivarjitāḥ paṇḍitaiḥ; sabhayāḥ saraṇāḥ sādinavāḥ sadoṣā iti jñātvā vivarjitāḥ prājnair vigarhitā vidvadbhiḥ jugupsitā āryaiḥ vivarjitā budhaiḥ parigṛhītā abudhaiḥ niṣevitāḥ bālaiḥ.

     “O Chandaka! All of these enjoyable sense-objects are transitory; their consequence is extreme misery. They last only for a moment, flowing swiftly by like the current of a mountain stream. They are impermanent like drops of dew and are the cause of intense sorrow. Someone may clinch his fist, pretending to hold something in it. If you see this, you may wonder whether anything is there, but when he opens his hand, you see it is empty. Similarly, these sense-objects are only a deception. They are weak like the trunk of a banana tree; unpleasant like the eating of raw ingredients; momentary like an autumn cloud; like an ocean, difficult to fill; like saltwater, they increase thirst, meaning the more one enjoys sensual pleasures, the more the desire for them increases. Like the heads of snakes, you should not touch them. They are avoided by the paṇḍitas as though terrifying waterfalls. They are rejected by the wise because they are accompanied by fear, grief, pride and sin. They are detested by the learned, scorned by the noble and abandoned by the intelligent. They are embraced by the fools and honored by the childish.”

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya then says, āpanāre hao sābadhāna. An intelligent person earnestly gives up attachment for spouse, children, possessions, wealth and so on. She adopts the path of bhajana, commits all her heart’s addictions to the lotus feet of her ever-beautiful, ever-sweet and everlasting lord Śrī Govinda and worships him with love.

     Though being an embodiment of prema, the revered author was then overcome with humility and felt himself to be devoid of bhajana and sādhana, ruined by sense-enjoyment and extremely unfortunate. He says, mui se biṣaya hata, nā bhajinu hari-pada, mora āra nāhi paritrāṇa. The sādhakas should learn from Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s humble words that there is some difference between ‘attached to sense-enjoyment’ and ‘ruined by sense-enjoyment.’ Those who are attached to sense-enjoyment pass their lives in a mundane state, drunk on earthly pleasures and devoid of bhajana. Still, if they associate with great souls and receive their mercy, they too can be blessed with the bhakti life. However, because of offenses, even those who have taken shelter on the path of bhajana remain attracted or attached to worldly forms, flavors and so on and are unable to maintain mental attachment to their cherished Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They are ‘ruined by sense-enjoyment’ and must understand that even though they are endowed with discernment and intellect, this attachment to sense-pleasures is complex, like a difficult-to-cure disease. They will not without difficulty find a path to their deliverance.