FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.30.21

तयोर्निर्भिन्नहृदयस्तर्जनैर्जातवेपथु: । पथि श्वभिर्भक्ष्यमाण आर्तोऽघं स्वमनुस्मरन् ॥ २१ ॥
tayor nirbhinna-hṛdayas
[tayor nirbhinna-hridayas]
tarjanair jāta-vepathuḥ
[tarjanair jaata-vepathuh]
pathi śvabhir bhakṣyamāṇa
[pathi shvabhir bhakshyamaana]
ārto ’ghaṁ svam anusmaran
[aarto ’gham svam anusmaran]
tayoḥ — of the Yamadūtas nirbhinna — broken hṛdayaḥ — his heart tarjanaiḥ — by the threatening jāta — arisen vepathuḥ — trembling pathi — on the road śvabhiḥ — by dogs bhakṣyamāṇaḥ — being bitten ārtaḥ — distressed agham — sins svam — his anusmaran — remembering.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tayor nirbhinna-hṛdayas
tayoḥ
of the Yamadūtas
nirbhinna
broken
hṛdayaḥ
his heart
tarjanair jāta-vepathuḥ
tarjanaiḥ
by the threatening
jāta
arisen
vepathuḥ
trembling
pathi śvabhir bhakṣyamāṇa
pathi
on the road
śvabhiḥ
by dogs
bhakṣyamāṇaḥ
being bitten
ārto ’ghaṁ svam anusmaran
ārtaḥ
distressed
agham
sins
svam
his
anusmaran
remembering.
While carried by the constables of Yamarāja, he is overwhelmed and trembles in their hands. While passing on the road he is bitten by dogs, and he can remember the sinful activities of his life. He is thus terribly distressed.

It appears from this verse that while passing from this planet to the planet of Yamarāja, the culprit arrested by Yamarāja’s constables meets many dogs, which bark and bite just to remind him of his criminal activities of sense gratification. It is said in Bhagavad-gītā that one becomes almost blind and is bereft of all sense when he is infuriated by the desire for sense gratification. He forgets everything. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ: one is bereft of all intelligence when he is too attracted by sense gratification, and he forgets that he has to suffer the consequences also. Here the chance for recounting his activities of sense gratification is given by the dogs engaged by Yamarāja. While we live in the gross body, such activities of sense gratification are encouraged even by modern government regulations. In every state all over the world, such activities are encouraged by the government in the form of birth control. Women are supplied pills, and they are allowed to go to a clinical laboratory to get assistance for abortions. This is going on as a result of sense gratification. Actually sex life is meant for begetting a good child, but because people have no control over the senses and there is no institution to train them to control the senses, the poor fellows fall victim to the criminal offenses of sense gratification, and they are punished after death as described in these pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
His heart is pierced by their scolding. Trembling, bitten by dogs on the path, in great pain, he remembers that he is receiving the results of his sins. By their (tayoḥ) scolding he trembles. He remembers “I now experience the results of my sins.”
Mind and senses, left ungoverned, will quietly run a life into the ground. The verse implies that small daily regulation is more powerful than occasional dramatic resolve.
Reflection Questions
  • What small rule kept consistently would do more for you than a dramatic vow once broken?
  • Where could you offer the senses a better object instead of merely fighting them?
📝 My note

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