prakåter guëa-sammüòhäù
sajjante guëa-karmasu
tän akåtsna-vido mandän
kåtsna-vin na vicälayet
SYNONYMS
prakåteù-of material nature; guëa-by the modes; sammüòhäù-befooled
by material identification; sajjante-they become engaged; guëa-karmasu-in
material activities; tän-those; akåtsna-vidaù-persons with a poor fund of
knowledge; mandän-lazy to understand self-realization; kåtsna-vit-one who
is in factual knowledge; na-not; vicälayet-should try to agitate.
TRANSLATION
Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in
material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although
these duties are inferior due to the performers' lack of knowledge.
PURPORT
Persons who are unknowledgeable falsely identify with gross material consciousness and
are full of material designations. This body is a gift of the material nature, and one who
is too much attached to the bodily consciousness is called manda, or a lazy person
without understanding of spirit soul. Ignorant men think of the body as the self; they
accept bodily connections with others as kinsmanship, the land in which the body is
obtained is their object of worship, and they consider the formalities of religious
rituals to be ends in themselves. Social work, nationalism and altruism are some of the
activities for such materially designated persons. Under the spell of such designations,
they are always busy in the material field; for them spiritual realization is a myth, and
so they are not interested. Those who are enlightened in spiritual life, however, should
not try to agitate such materially engrossed persons. Better to prosecute one's own
spiritual activities silently. Such bewildered persons may be engaged in such primary
moral principles of life as nonviolence and similar materially benevolent work.
Men who are ignorant cannot appreciate activities in Kåñëa consciousness, and
therefore Lord Kåñëa advises us not to disturb them and simply waste valuable time. But
the devotees of the Lord are more kind than the Lord because they understand the purpose
of the Lord. Consequently they undertake all kinds of risks, even to the point of
approaching ignorant men to try to engage them in the acts of Kåñëa consciousness,
which are absolutely necessary for the human being.