Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.8.28
తస్యా నిర్విణ్ణచిత్తాయా గీతం శృణు యథా మమ ।
నిర్వేద ఆశాపాశానాం పురుషస్య యథా హ్యసి: ॥ ౨౮ ॥
tasyā nirviṇṇa-cittāyā
[tasyaa nirvinna-chittaayaa]
gītaṁ śṛṇu yathā mama
[geetam shrinu yathaa mama]
nirveda āśā-pāśānāṁ
[nirveda aashaa-paashaanaam]
puruṣasya yathā hy asiḥ
[purushasya yathaa hy asih]
Word-for-word
tasyāḥ
—
of her
nirviṇṇa
—
disgusted
cittāyāḥ
—
whose mind
gītam
—
song
śṛṇu
—
please hear
yathā
—
as it is
mama
—
from me
nirvedaḥ
—
detachment
āśā
—
of hopes and yearnings
pāśānām
—
of the binding network
puruṣasya
—
of a person
yathā
—
just as
hi
—
certainly
asiḥ
—
the sword.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tasyā nirviṇṇa-cittāyā
tasyāḥ
of her
nirviṇṇa
disgusted
cittāyāḥ
whose mind
gītaṁ śṛṇu yathā mama
gītam
song
śṛṇu
please hear
yathā
as it is
mama
from me
nirveda āśā-pāśānāṁ
nirvedaḥ
detachment
āśā
of hopes and yearnings
pāśānām
of the binding network
puruṣasya yathā hy asiḥ
puruṣasya
of a person
yathā
just as
hi
certainly
asiḥ
the sword.
The prostitute felt disgusted with her material situation and thus became indifferent to it. Indeed, detachment acts like a sword, cutting to pieces the binding network of material hopes and desires. Now please hear from me the song sung by the prostitute in that situation.
Purport
The network of material desires is created when one falsely thinks that he can establish himself permanently in the material world. This binding network should be cut by the sword of detachment; otherwise one will be forced to wander in the illusory network of māyā with no understanding of liberated life on the spiritual platform.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Detachment acts like a sword, cutting to pieces the bondage caused by aspirations. Now please hear from me exactly the song sung by the disgusted prostitute.
Śṛnu yathā mama means “hear from me as it is.” Detachment is the sword for cutting the ropes produced by hopes for material enjoyment.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Disgust with material entanglement, ripened into nirveda, becomes a sword that severs the binding net of hopes tying us to māyā.
Practical Applications
- Name one specific material hope you keep feeding today and consciously withdraw the next thought you give it.
- When a familiar craving rises, treat the disappointment that follows as a teacher, not as a failure to escape.
- Spend ten minutes tonight reviewing the desires you chased this week and ask which of them actually delivered what they promised.
Reflection Questions
- Which material hope am I still polishing even though it has repeatedly disappointed me, and what keeps me from cutting it?
- Where in my life is nirveda already arising as a quiet signal, and how am I numbing it instead of letting it sharpen into a sword?
For Each Age Group
youth
- Pick one social media feed that leaves you emptier than before opening it and uninstall or mute it tonight as a small first cut.
- After the next exam result or friend-group disappointment, write down what you actually hoped that outcome would give you, and notice the gap.
- When peers chase a status you secretly know will not satisfy, practice quiet refusal instead of arguing, and offer that restraint to Kṛṣṇa.
householder
- Identify one family ambition you are pushing largely from habit, and discuss with your spouse whether it still serves anyone's real welfare.
- Before the next major purchase, sit with the hope attached to it for a full day and ask whether the hope or the object is what you actually want.
- Use one recurring frustration at work this week as a deliberate occasion for nirveda rather than venting, and end the day chanting in that mood.
senior
- Walk through your home and name three possessions you are still hoping will mean something to your children, then loosen your grip on at least one.
- When the body's decline brings disgust with material plans, receive it as the sword the verse describes and turn that freed attention toward harināma.
- Mentor a younger seeker by sharing one specific hope you spent decades on and what its collapse finally taught you about real shelter.
Common Pitfalls
- Mistaking depression or burnout for genuine nirveda and using spiritual language to dress up worldly exhaustion.
- Cutting outer attachments while secretly preserving the inner hope that the material world will eventually cooperate.
- Treating disgust as the goal rather than as the blade that clears the ground for surrender to Kṛṣṇa.
Discussion Prompts
- Share one hope you have privately given up on, and discuss whether that surrender felt closer to despair or to nirveda.
- Where do you disagree with the idea that disgust with the material can be spiritually healthy rather than merely negative?
- When has a disappointment functioned in your life like the sword described here, and what did it actually cut?
Role Play
A friend has just lost a long-pursued promotion and tells you they are done chasing career success and want to live simply from now on. Play the conversation twice: once where you affirm whatever they say, and once where you help them test whether this is nirveda ripening or wounded pride speaking, using the verse's image of the sword.
Objections & Responses
- Calling detachment a sword sounds harsh and life-denying; healthy people pursue hopes, they do not amputate them.
The verse does not attack hope itself but the binding network of hopes that promise permanence where none exists; the sword cuts the illusion, not the heart, and frees real desire to flow toward Kṛṣṇa where it can finally be satisfied. - If a prostitute's disgust can be spiritually instructive, are you romanticizing suffering and telling people to wait for life to break them?
Prabhupāda is not prescribing degradation; he is pointing out that when honest reflection on material results yields nirveda, that disgust is precious and should be used as a blade rather than smothered with fresh distractions.
My note
Source: vedabase.io