FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.40.24

अहं चात्मात्मजागारदारार्थस्वजनादिषु । भ्रमामि स्वप्नकल्पेषु मूढ: सत्यधिया विभो ॥ २४ ॥
ahaṁ cātmātmajāgāra-
[aham chaatmaatmajaagaara-]
dārārtha-svajanādiṣu
[daaraartha-svajanaadishu]
bhramāmi svapna-kalpeṣu
[bhramaami svapna-kalpeshu]
mūḍhaḥ satya-dhiyā vibho
[moodhah satya-dhiyaa vibho]
aham — I ca — also ātma — concerning my body ātma - ja — children agāra — home dāra — wife artha — wealth sva - jana — followers ādiṣu — and so on bhramāmi — am deluded svapna — a dream kalpeṣu — who are just like mūḍhaḥ — foolish satya — that they are real dhiyā — with the idea vibho — O almighty Lord .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ahaṁ cātmātmajāgāra-
aham
I
ca
also
ātma
concerning my body
ātma - ja
children
agāra
home
dārārtha-svajanādiṣu
dāra
wife
artha
wealth
sva - jana
followers
ādiṣu
and so on
bhramāmi svapna-kalpeṣu
bhramāmi
am deluded
svapna
a dream
kalpeṣu
who are just like
mūḍhaḥ satya-dhiyā vibho
mūḍhaḥ
foolish
satya
that they are real
dhiyā
with the idea
vibho
O almighty Lord .
  • ātma-ja — born of the self (children)
    Compound: ātma (self) + ja (born). Sons and daughters as 'born of me' — a relationship constructed by ahaṅkāra. Gauḍīyas read children not as extensions of self but as souls entrusted by Kṛṣṇa.
  • agāra dāra — home and wife
    agāra (house) + dāra (wife). The two stable poles of gṛhastha identity. The verse does not deny their value — only their finality.
  • svapna-kalpeṣu — as in a dream
    Compound: svapna (dream) + kalpa (like). The classical Vedānta image, used here in a personalist key: not 'all is illusion' but 'these items are unstable; You alone are sat'.
  • mūḍhaḥ — a fool
    From √muh — to be confused. Akrūra calls himself mūḍha exactly as Prahlāda (SB 7.9) called himself unfit. Gauḍīya stuti convention: self-abasement opens the door for the Lord's mercy.
  • satya-dhiyā — with the conviction that they are real
    Compound: satya (real) + dhī (intelligence). The misallocation of satya — taking the perishable for the permanent. The verse names the exact category-error of conditioned life.
I too am deluded in this way, O almighty Lord, foolishly thinking my body, children, home, wife, money and followers to be real, though they are actually as unreal as a dream.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
I too am deluded in this way, O almighty Lord, foolishly thinking my body, children, home, wife, money and followers to be real, though they are actually as unreal as a dream.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Though I have taken to bhakti to you, because the fault of associating with offenders, becoming weak, I have become covered by māyā and cannot give up attachment to house and family. Ātmā means the body.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Though I have taken to bhakti to you, because the fault of associating with offenders, becoming weak, I have become covered by māyā and cannot give up attachment to house and family. The word ca means “even.” Because of being covered by māyā, I am deluded, thinking these things are real (satya-dhiyā), though they are like objects in a dream. Repeatedly I am attached to them or become bewildered (bhramāmi) since I am a fool, without discrimination. I think of my body (ātmā) and relatives and friends (svajana) as well as servants and maids, animals and land (ādiṣu). That is to be expected since you pervade the world with māyā (vibho).

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)
Related verses
Concepts
SatyaAtma
Akrūra confesses: I too am deluded — foolishly thinking body, children, home, wife, money and followers real, though they are unreal as a dream. Even the great devotee names his attachments specifically rather than apologizing in general.
Reflection Questions
  • What specific list of 'mines' could you name to Kṛṣṇa today?
  • Where does specificity break the spell that vagueness preserves?

A man dreams he has a wife, a house, a fortune, retinues, an empire — and he weeps when in the dream he loses any of them. The whole inventory is real-feeling and unreal in being. Akrūra confesses he too has been such a dreamer, treating his body, his family, his goods as if they were sat.

📝 My note

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