Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.87.39
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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kāma-jaṭāḥ
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the traces of material desire
Compound: kāma (desire) + jaṭā (matted lock, persistent strand). Like dreadlocks of desire still in the heart even of supposed renunciants. Gauḍīyas: anartha-nivṛtti is incomplete until even subtle kāma-jaṭās are uprooted; this is why bhakti includes purgative stages.
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kaṇṭha-maṇiḥ
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a jewel on one's neck
Compound: kaṇṭha (neck) + maṇi (jewel). The image: the very thing you want is already worn, but you forgot. Gauḍīyas: the kṛṣṇa-bhāva is already in every heart by sambandha; the work is unforgetting, not acquiring.
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asu-tṛpa-yoginām
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for practitioners of yoga who gratify their life airs (i.e., the senses)
Compound: asu (life-airs/senses) + tṛp (gratifying) + yogin. The damning verdict on sense-gratificatory yogīs. Gauḍīyas: yoga divorced from bhakti collapses into another form of bhoga.
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anapagata-antakāt
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from death, who will not go away
Compound: an + apa + gata + antaka. Death will not release the impure sannyāsī. Gauḍīyas: half-renunciants get the worst of both worlds — denied material enjoyments AND denied the Lord's kingdom.
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anadhirūḍha-padāt
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from You, whose kingdom is unobtained
Compound: an + adhirūḍha (climbed onto) + pada (station/kingdom). The Lord's pada — Vaikuṇṭha and Goloka — is not climbed by half-hearted sādhakas. Gauḍīyas: only the bhakta with kāmādi-uddhṛti (verse's start) and śaraṇāgati ascends.
A mere show of renunciation is not sufficient to gain a person entrance into the kingdom of God. One must undergo a thorough change of heart, symptomized by a complete lack of interest in the self-destructive habits of sense gratification, both gross and subtle. Not only must the true sage refrain from even thinking of illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling, but he must also give up his desires for reputation and position. All together these demands add up to a formidable challenge but the fruits of true renunciation in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are well worth a lifetime of endeavor. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.2) confirms the statements of this verse: kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ sa karmabhir jāyate tatra tatra. “Even a thoughtful renunciant, if he maintains any worldly desires will be forced by his karmic reactions to take birth again and again in various circumstances.” Philosophers and yogīs work hard to become free from birth and death, but because they are unwilling to surrender their proud independence, their meditations are devoid of devotion to the Supreme Lord, and thus they fall short of the perfection of renunciation — pure love of God. This pure love is the only goal of a sincere Vaiṣṇava, and therefore he must vigilantly resist the natural temptations of profit, adoration and distinction, and also the impulse to merge into an all consuming impersonal oblivion. As Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11): anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā “When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as Kṛṣṇa desires. For those who undergo rigorous yoga discipline only to please their senses, prolonged suffering is inevitable. Hunger, disease, the degeneration of old age, injury from accident, violence from others — these are a few of the limitless varieties of suffering one can experience to varying degrees in this world. And ultimately, death awaits, followed by painful punishment for sinful activities. Especially those who have freely indulged in sensual enjoyments at the cost of others’ lives can expect punishment so severe it is unimaginable. But the greatest pain of material existence is not misfortune in this life or being sent to hell after death: it is the emptiness of having forgotten one’s eternal relationship with the Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī prays: dambha-nyāsa-miṣeṇa vañcita-janaṁ bhogaika-cintāturaṁ sammuhyantam ahar-niśaṁ viracitodyoga-klamair ākulam ājñā-laṅghinam ajñam ajña-janatā-sammānanāsan-madaṁ dīnānātha dayā-nidhāna paramānanda prabho pāhi mām “The hypocrite who cheats himself by a pretense of renunciation thinks only of sense enjoyment and thus suffers constantly. Bewildered day and night, he is overwhelmed by the exhausting endeavors he contrives for himself. This fool disobeys Your laws and is corrupted by greed for respect from other fools. O protector of the fallen, O bestower of mercy, O supremely blissful master, please save that person, myself.”
Thus in three verses, the fact that the house and material life takes away man’s good qualities has been established. The sages who are mentioned in the verses are of two types: those worshiping the nirguna Brahman, called jnanis; and those worshiping the saguna Brahman, called devotees or bhaktas. If they perform their practices properly (vimadah), they both become successful. However,the results if they behave badly are explained in two verses. "O Lord, if the sannasis, worshipers of the nirguna Brahman, do not uproot the roots of desire situated in the heart, then you are hard to attain, though you are situated in their hearts. Why? Because you become like a forgotten jewel around their necks. Though the jewel is hanging around the neck, because a person forgets about it, it becomes as good as not being there. That is not all. Those yogis who try to satisfy their senses, who make a pretense of yoga, end up with suffering in this life and the next. They describe the misery of this life. They experience suffering in the form of death before it comes, through the pains of getting adoration of others, the pains of accruing wealth, and the pains of deprivation of the objects of enjoyment. Then the suffering of the next life is described. They suffer because they do not attain your svarupa. Conversely, it means that they also suffer from the intense pains of hell given by you (since they don’t get liberation)." The srutis say. Kaman ya kamayate manyamanah sa kamabhir jayate tatra tatra The sannyasi who contemplates enjoyment and enjoys will take birth again and again by those desires. Mundaka Upanisad 3.2.2
Śrutis who teach bhakti mixed with jñāna and yoga speak. They cannot tolerate even a little devotion to other methods for attaining regular practice of bhakti. If those who cannot control their external senses, even though they are sannyāsīs, cannot uproot all desires for enjoyment in the heart, they only with difficulty concentrate on you (duradhigamaḥ), even though you reside in the minds of these non-devotees who have attained high positions so that they can perfect jñāna. “Though you are most hard to attain, by good fortune you can be attained. If that is the case, who will you be in this position you described?” I am like a jewel worn around the neck but forgotten when the person becomes attached to enjoyment. Yogīs who want to enjoy the senses take to your worship for perfection of yoga, but remain unsatisfied in sense enjoyment and in your worship because they do not become free of suffering and do not become attracted to your lotus feet (padam). By taking to your lotus feet, all previous objects become unattractive. Illustrations from śruti were given previously.
Though expelling great anarthas concerning material attachment, even sannyāsīs fail to uproot completely the desires in the heart. They cannot understand you. Though you are present as antaryāmī in the heart, you cannot be attained, like a jewel forgotten, though worn on the heart. O Lord! That is suitable since they disobey the orders of the supreme Lord. They suffer in two ways. Though taking sannyāsa, they cannot escape death (anapagata antakāt). They fall to hellish suffering. This is because of saṁsāra (bhavataḥ). And they do not attain their enjoyment (anadhirūḍha-padāt). Fearing criticism of others for their strong desires, they suffer from trying to enjoy and from restraining themselves.
- What outward sign of renunciation in me masks unfinished inner work?
- Where am I trusting the costume more than the transformation?
A renunciant who has not pulled out the last root of desire is like a man who has a jewel worn around his neck and totally forgotten it is there. You are nearer to him than that jewel, and yet his impure heart cannot perceive You. And yogīs who use their breath-control only to enjoy more — they suffer in this world and the next, refused both by death and by Your kingdom.
My note
Source: vedabase.io