Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.17
ఏత ఆత్మహనోఽశాన్తా అజ్ఞానే జ్ఞానమానిన: ।
సీదన్త్యకృతకృత్యా వై కాలధ్వస్తమనోరథా: ॥ ౧౭ ॥
eta ātma-hano ’śāntā
[eta aatma-hano ’shaantaa]
ajṣāne jṣāna-māninaḥ
[ajshaane jshaana-maaninah]
sīdanty akṛta-kṛtyā vai
[seedanty akrita-krityaa vai]
kāla-dhvasta-manorathāḥ
[kaala-dhvasta-manorathaah]
Word-for-word
ete
—
these
ātma-hanaḥ
—
killers of the self
aśāntāḥ
—
devoid of peace
ajṣāne
—
in ignorance
jṣāna-māninaḥ
—
presuming to have knowledge
sīdanti
—
they suffer
akṛta
—
failing to perform
kṛtyāḥ
—
their duty
vai
—
indeed
kāla
—
by time
dhvasta
—
destroyed
manaḥ-rathāḥ
—
their fanciful desires.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
eta ātma-hano ’śāntā
ete
these
ātma-hanaḥ
killers of the self
ajṣāne jṣāna-māninaḥ
sīdanty akṛta-kṛtyā vai
kāla-dhvasta-manorathāḥ
aśāntāḥ
devoid of peace
ajṣāne
in ignorance
jṣāna-māninaḥ
presuming to have knowledge
sīdanti
they suffer
akṛta
failing to perform
kṛtyāḥ
their duty
vai
indeed
kāla
by time
dhvasta
destroyed
manaḥ-rathāḥ
their fanciful desires.
The killers of the soul are never peaceful, because they consider that human intelligence is ultimately meant for expanding material life. Thus neglecting their real, spiritual duties, they are always in distress. They are filled with great hopes and dreams, but unfortunately these are always destroyed by the inevitable march of time.
Purport
There is a similar verse in Śrī Īśopaniṣad (3) :
asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātma-hano janāḥ
“The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.”
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
The killers of the soul, never peaceful and thinking themselves full of knowledge, though they are ignorant, not doing their real duties, with their desires destroyed by time, continually suffer.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Those who neglect the soul's real duty are restless ātma-hanas — their grand plans inevitably crushed by time's silent march.
Practical Applications
- Name one ambition you are chasing today and ask honestly whether it serves the soul or only expands material life.
- Set aside fifteen unhurried minutes for sādhana before opening any planning app, calendar, or inbox.
- Refuse to call cleverness 'intelligence' when it is only employed to multiply viṣaya — reserve that word for what serves Kṛṣṇa.
Reflection Questions
- Which of my long-cherished dreams has time already begun to dismantle, and what is that dismantling trying to teach me?
- Where am I posing as wise (jṣāna-mānī) while actually neglecting the one duty that would make this human birth fruitful?
For Each Age Group
youth
- Before your next exam or placement push, write one sentence on why this human birth was given to you — and keep it where you study.
- Watch how peer groups and social feeds train you to call material expansion 'success'; name that training out loud to one trusted friend.
- Pick one stretch of the day — commute, walk between classes — and reclaim it from scrolling for japa or remembrance of Kṛṣṇa.
householder
- When making the next family financial decision, ask explicitly: does this serve the souls in this home, or only expand our material life?
- Schedule sādhana into the family calendar with the same seriousness as work meetings and children's activities — and protect it.
- Talk with your spouse this week about one 'manoratha' you are both quietly chasing, and whether it is worth what it is costing your bhakti.
senior
- Take stock of the dreams time has already dissolved in your life and offer that list, without bitterness, to Kṛṣṇa in your evening sitting.
- Choose one younger person and speak to them plainly about what you now see was akṛta-kṛtya — duty you postponed and wish you had not.
- Loosen your grip on one possession or role you have been clinging to as identity, and use the freed attention for hearing and chanting.
Common Pitfalls
- Treating 'killer of the soul' as a label for other people — secularists, materialists — rather than examining one's own daily neglect.
- Using the verse to justify lazy withdrawal from work, when the issue is misdirected intelligence, not action itself.
- Hearing the warning, feeling momentarily sober, and then immediately returning to the same hopes and dreams without changing one habit.
Discussion Prompts
- Share one 'manoratha' — a hope or dream — that time has already destroyed in your life. What did its destruction reveal?
- Where in modern education or career advice do you see jṣāna-mānitā — the posture of knowledge without the substance of self-knowledge?
- Is restlessness always a symptom of being an ātma-hana, or can a sincere sādhaka also feel unsettled? Disagree honestly.
Role Play
A bright college senior tells their parent they are postponing serious spiritual practice until after they secure a high-paying job, buy a home, and 'have time.' One student plays the parent who has just heard SB 11.5.17 in class that morning; the other plays the senior. The parent must respond without moralizing, drawing only on this verse's logic about time and unfinished duties.
Objections & Responses
- Calling people who pursue material progress 'killers of the soul' is harsh and judgmental — surely building a good life is not a sin.
The verse does not condemn building a good life; it condemns mistaking the expansion of material life for the purpose of human intelligence. A householder who earns, raises children, and serves Kṛṣṇa is not an ātma-hana. The one who treats the soul's duty as optional — that is the killing meant here, and it is self-inflicted, not imposed by anyone's judgment. - Plenty of materially successful people seem genuinely peaceful and happy — the verse's claim that they are 'never peaceful' just isn't true.
Observe more carefully and over a longer arc. The verse speaks of akṛta-kṛtya — the unfinished real duty that produces a quiet, persistent unease beneath the surface composure. Time has not yet sent its messengers to such persons; when illness, loss, or aging arrive, the absence of inner shelter becomes visible. The peace you are observing is the calm of one who has not yet been tested.
My note
Source: vedabase.io