नैकान्तत: प्रतीकार: कर्मणां कर्म केवलम् ।
द्वयं ह्यविद्योपसृतं स्वप्ने स्वप्न इवानघ ॥
naikāntataḥ pratīkāraḥ karmaṇāṁ karma kevalam |
dvayaṁ hy avidyopasṛtaṁ svapne svapna ivānagha ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.34)
“O sinless one, mere karma [i.e., karma devoid of jñāna] is not on its own a [real] countermeasure for karma, since both [i.e., any form of karma and any countermeasure for it], like a dream within a dream, are based on ignorance (avidyā).”
Commentary
prabodhaṁ vinā yathā taṁ svāpnikam duḥkhaṁ na nivartate, tathā saṁsāra-nivṛttiṁ vinā sāṁsārikaṁ duḥkhaṁ na nivartata ity uktam |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“As the suffering in a dream does not cease without waking up [i.e., as any attempt to dispel suffering within a dream with something that is part of the same dream, or with another dream, is futile], so sāṁsārika suffering does not cease without cessation of saṁsāra [i.e., trying to dispel suffering within saṁsāra with any means that are part of saṁsāra is futile].”