FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.5.2

विदुर उवाच सुखाय कर्माणि करोति लोको न तै: सुखं वान्यदुपारमं वा । विन्देत भूयस्तत एव दु:खं यदत्र युक्तं भगवान् वदेन्न: ॥ २ ॥
vidura uvāca
[vidura uvaacha]
sukhāya karmāṇi karoti loko
[sukhaaya karmaani karoti loko]
na taiḥ sukhaṁ vānyad-upāramaṁ vā
[na taih sukham vaanyad-upaaramam vaa]
vindeta bhūyas tata eva duḥkhaṁ
[vindeta bhooyas tata eva duhkham]
yad atra yuktaṁ bhagavān vaden naḥ
[yad atra yuktam bhagavaan vaden nah]
Word-for-word
viduraḥ uvāca — Vidura said sukhāya — for attaining happiness karmāṇi — fruitive activities karoti — everyone does so lokaḥ — in this world na — never taiḥ — by those activities sukham — any happiness vā — or anyat — differently upāramam — satiation vā — either vindeta — achieves bhūyaḥ — on the contrary tataḥ — by such activities eva — certainly duḥkham — miseries yat — that which atra — under the circumstances yuktam — right course bhagavān — O great one vadet — may kindly enlighten naḥ — us.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vidura uvāca
viduraḥ uvāca
Vidura said
sukhāya karmāṇi karoti loko
sukhāya
for attaining happiness
karmāṇi
fruitive activities
karoti
everyone does so
lokaḥ
in this world
na taiḥ sukhaṁ vānyad-upāramaṁ vā
na
never
taiḥ
by those activities
sukham
any happiness
vā
or
anyat
differently
upāramam
satiation
vā
either
vindeta bhūyas tata eva duḥkhaṁ
vindeta
achieves
bhūyaḥ
on the contrary
tataḥ
by such activities
eva
certainly
duḥkham
miseries
yad atra yuktaṁ bhagavān vaden naḥ
yat
that which
atra
under the circumstances
yuktam
right course
bhagavān
O great one
vadet
may kindly enlighten
naḥ
us.
Vidura said: O great sage, everyone in this world engages in fruitive activities to attain happiness, but one finds neither satiation nor the mitigation of distress. On the contrary, one is only aggravated by such activities. Please, therefore, give us directions on how one should live for real happiness.
Purport

Vidura asked Maitreya some common questions, which was not originally his intention. Uddhava asked Vidura to approach Maitreya Muni and inquire into all the truths concerning the Lord — His name, fame, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage, etc. — and thus when Vidura approached Maitreya, he should have asked only about the Lord. But out of natural humility he did not immediately ask about the Lord, but inquired into a subject which would be of great importance to the common man. A common man cannot understand the Lord. He must first know the real position of his life under the influence of the illusory energy. In illusion one thinks that he can be happy only by fruitive activities, but what actually happens is that one becomes more and more entangled in the network of action and reaction and does not find any solution to the problem of life. There is a nice song in this connection: “Because of a great desire to have all happiness in life, I built this house. But unfortunately the whole scheme has turned to ashes because the house was unexpectedly set on fire.” The law of nature is like that. Everyone tries to become happy by planning in the material world, but the law of nature is so cruel that it sets fire to one’s schemes; the fruitive worker is not happy in his schemes, nor is there any satiation of his continuous hankering for happiness.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Vidura said: O sage! Men in this world engage in action for material happiness, but do not attain happiness and do not destroy distress. Nor do they become detached. Rather by this, they increase their suffering. You know everything. Therefore please tell my about this. Having received secret knowledge from Uddhava who had been taught by the Lord, Vidura considered himself unqualified. Being despondent, he considered in his mind. Uddhava has said: tasyānuraktasya muner mukundaḥ pramoda-bhāvānata-kandharasya āśṛṇvato mām anurāga-hāsa- samīkṣayā viśramayann uvāca Kṛṣṇa spoke to the sage Maitreya, who was attached to the Lord, attentive to listening, with head bowed out of love and joy, while glancing at me with affection and smiling, which relieved me of fatigue. SB 3.4.10 The Lord taught the secret knowledge to Uddhava, the greatest and most intimate among Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, not to Maitreya who was listening. But that cannot be! To understand if Maitreya heard that knowledge or not, in the beginning I will not ask that great soul in case he does not know. I will ask only some of my own questions. If he knows that knowledge then he will say, “O Vidura! I was taught by the Lord just for giving this knowledge to you. Please understand this knowledge about the Lord who has no birth but takes birth, in which the contradictions are resolved, which the Lord explained to me.” On his own, he will explain this. In this way he begins speaking to Maitreya. By these activities man does not get happiness and does not get relief from distress (anyad). Nor does he become detached (uparamam). Rather, again and again, by doing actions, he experiences suffering only. Please give an answer to this question.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Fruitive activity is described as a long detour: it produces results, but never the result the soul actually wants. The verse invites us to stop running that loop. The pivot here is illusory energy.
Reflection Questions
  • What activity in your life produces results you keep saying you don't want?
  • What would you do this week if you knew karma was not the deepest layer of your life?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 5