तावद्रागादयः स्तेनास्तावत्कारागृहं गृहम् ।
तावन्मोहोऽङ्रिनिगडो यावत्कृष्ण न ते जनाः ॥
tāvad rāgādayaḥ stenāḥ tāvat kārāgṛhaṁ gṛham |
tāvan moho’ṅghri-nigaḍo yāvat kṛṣṇa na te janāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.36)
“For that long attachment (rāga) and so forth are thieves, for that long one’s house is a prison, and for that long affection is a foot-shackle—so long as people do not become yours, O Kṛṣṇa!”
Commentary
nanu dhāmādīnāṁ mad-ekārthatayaiva yadi teṣāṁ mahimā, tarhi bhavān api nija-gṛhaṁ gatvā tathaivācareti cet, āstāṁ tāvad eṣām ātmano’pi tvad-ekārthatvenātmārāma-gaṇebhyo’pi mahattaraṁ bhāva-māhātmyam, mādṛśāṁ tu bhavad-unmukhatvam api durghaṭam ity āha—tāvad iti | ayam arthaḥ—rāgo viṣaya-prītiḥ, tad-ādayas tan-maya-viṣaya-lābhālābha-hāniṣu harṣa-viṣāda-śokādyāḥ, gṛhaṁ viṣaya-mātraṁ, moho rāgādi-hetur avivekaḥ | te ca tat-tad-vikriyāyāṁ rāga-mukha-nirīkṣakā eva sarva iti prathamaṁ sa evoktaḥ | tatra nirupādhi-premāspadasyātmano’py ātmatvena tvam eva rāgasya svābhāvika-parama-yogyāśrayaḥ | atas tval-lakṣaṇa-nija-svāminam anupalabhyaiva bhramann asau janānāṁ śubha-vāsanā-rūpāṁ tvad-bhajana-sāmagrīṁ haraṁś caura eva, tatas tad-anuvartino’pi tādṛśāḥ | atha gṛhamayo viṣayo’py avaśiṣṭa-daṇḍanāyaiva kārāgārīkṛtaḥ syāt, tvat-padānusaraṇa-virodhi-rodha-sadanatvāt | moho’py asau tena tenāvasthā-vaiśiṣṭya-prāptas tatra svayaṁ nigaḍāyate, naṣṭe’pi tādṛśa-kārāgṛhe rāgādimayasya tasyāvaśeṣe’pi tvat-padānusaraṇonmukhatvāśakteḥ | tad evaṁ tvadīyānusṛtau te tāvat tādṛśā bhavanti yāvaj janās te tava na bhavanti, tvayā na svīkriyanta ity arthaḥ | jāte tu tāvakatve rāgādīnām apy ātmano’py ātmanas tava prāptau satyāṁ tair nātmāpy āśriyata iti svayam eva te doṣā apagacchantīty arthaḥ | tatra rāgasya tat-prāptiḥ—‘yā prītir avivekānāṁ viṣayeṣv anapāyinī | tvām anusmarataḥ sā me hṛdayān nāpasarpatu ||’ ity anusāreṇa gṛhasya tad-arpitatvena mohasya ca tat-prema-mayatveneti, ata eva te tāvat tāvakānāṁ śiromaṇayaḥ mādṛśas tv etac-caraṇa-reṇu-sparśi-gaṇe, yat-kiñcit tat-prāptāv apy abhilāṣiṇa eva katham etat-kakṣāṁ prāpnuma iti bhāvaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“‘Well, if their [i.e., the Vraja-vāsīs’] greatness is specifically on account of [their] homes and so forth [as mentioned in the previous verse] being solely for my sake, then you too should go to your own home and act in the very same way.’ If [Śrī Kṛṣṇa says this], [then Brahmā replies,] ‘Let be [i.e., let’s leave aside consideration of] the greatness of their [i.e., the Vraja-vāsīs’] bhāva, which is greater than even that of ātmārāmas [i.e., those whose satisfaction is solely from the self], on account of even their [i.e., the Vraja-vāsīs’] very selves being solely for your sake [i.e. being dedicated purely to you]. For persons like me, on the contrary, even intentness (unmukhatva) upon you is difficult to attain.’ Thus, he says tāvat … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. The meaning is this [i.e., is explained as follows]. ‘Attachment’ (rāga) refers to affinity for objects of the senses (viṣaya-prīti). ‘That and so forth’ (ādayaḥ) refers to elation, dejection, sorrow, and so forth in regard to gain, non-gain, and loss of objects of the senses (viṣaya) based on that [i.e., on attachment (rāga) to them]. ‘House’ (gṛham) refers to all objects of the senses (viṣaya) [collectively]. ‘Delusion’ (mohaḥ) refers to a lack of discernment (aviveka) the cause of which is attachment (rāga) and so on [i.e., and the aforementioned elation, dejection, and so on]. These, furthermore, are all verily observers of the face of attachment (rāga) in regard to their various transformations [i.e., elation, dejection, sorrow, delusion, and so on all follow the dictates of one’s attachment (rāga) in terms of how they express themselves]. Thus, that specifically [i.e., attachment (rāga)] was stated first [in the verse]. ‘You alone are the natural and supreme worthy recipient of attachment (rāga) on account of [your] being the Self (Ātma) even of the self (ātmā) [i.e., jīva], which is the object of unconditional affinity [i.e., the self (jīva, or, ātmā) is the object of every embodied being’s unconditional affinity, and because you are the Self (Ātmā) of that self (ātmā), you are the most worthy, natural, and ultimate object of unconditional affinity for every being]. Therefore, this [i.e., attachment (rāga)], wandering about not having recognized its own Master—you—and stealing peoples’ means of worship of you in the form of an auspicious inclination (vāsanā) [i.e., drawing people’s minds away from an inclination (vāsanā) for worship of you by engaging their thoughts and actions in pursuits unrelated to your worship and thus engendering in them inclinations (vāsanās) contrary to any inclination (vāsanā) for worship of you], is verily a thief. Consequently, those following that [i.e., the elation, dejection, sorrow, delusion, and so forth spoken of earlier that act in conformity with attachment (rāga) to objects of the senses] too are such [i.e., they also obstruct people from worshiping you by depriving them of a strong inclination (vāsanā) for worshiping you by means of engendering in their psyches inclinations (vāsanās) for experiences of various objects of the senses (viṣaya), that is, inclinations (vāsanās) contrary to an inclination (vāsanā) for worship of you]. Then, specifically for the sake of [administering] the [necessary] remaining punishment [that attachment (rāga) and so forth deserve for stealing away one’s mind by engendering inclinations (vāsanās) within it for various objects of the senses and thus thwarting the flourishing of an inclination (vāsanā) for worship of you], objects of the senses (viṣaya) as well, in the form of [i.e., referred to collectively as] one’s house, shall be turned into a prison on account of being a confining enclosure that is obstructive of following your feet [i.e., when one’s psyche is beset with inclinations (vāsanās) for objects of the senses, then it is as though these objects act like a prison that restricts the mind from freely engaging in worship of you]. That [aforementioned] delusion as well, having acquired the peculiarity of that condition [of also being antithetical to worship of you] because of these [i.e., because of attachment (rāga) and so on, along with the objects of the senses represented by one’s house], shackles itself therein [i.e., in the midst of ‘one’s house,’ that is, in the midst of various objects of the senses] because of [its] inability in regard to intentness (unmukhatva) upon following your feet even when it, constituted of attachment (rāga) and so on, remains even after this sort of prison [in the form of one’s house—the objects of the senses one is beset with inclinations (vāsanās) towards] is destroyed [inevitably in time, i.e., delusion is like a foot-shackle that holds one back from worshiping you because it continues to hold one back even when the particular objects it is related to for a certain period of time, that is, one’s figurative ‘house’ of various objects of the senses, is destroyed, meaning, even when the objects one engages with out of delusion are lost, the delusion that prompted one to engage with them does not cease but rather becomes redirected towards other objects, thus continuing to shackle one back from engaging freely in worship of you even when the objects on which it becomes fixated periodically, that is, one’s ‘house,’ inevitably cease to exist].’
“‘Thus, in this way, in regard to following you, for that long people remain such [i.e., as though robbed, imprisoned, and shackled in the aforesaid manner such that they do not follow you—they do no engage in worship of you or even foster an inclination (vāsanā) for worship of you]—so long as they do not become yours (te), meaning, [so long as] they are not accepted by you. When, however, [their] belonging to you comes about, and [their] attachment (rāga) and so forth also attains you [i.e., becomes fixed upon you specifically rather than upon various objects of the senses], who are the Self of even the self, [then] even the self is not inhabited by them, that is, those faults withdrawal verily of their own accord [from that person].’ This is the meaning. In this regard, attachment’s attainment of him [i.e., of Śrī Kṛṣṇa] occurs, as does one’s home’s [attainment of him] on account of being offered to him and [one’s] delusion’s [attainment of him also does] on account of [its] becoming constituted of prema for him, in accord with [this statement in VP 1.20.19], ‘As I continuously remember you [viz., Bhagavān], may everlasting affinity (prīti) [for you] which [is possessed of a characteristic like the affinity (prīti) which] the undiscerning have for objects of the senses, never slip away from my heart.’ Thus, they [i.e., those who are accepted by you and endowed with prema for you] then become the crest-jewels among those who are your own, whereas someone like me is among those who touch their feet [i.e., is far from having reached such an elevated state and thus rather is eligible only to adore such persons who have]. How shall we who are certainly desirous of even something of that attainment reach that level? This [sort of expression of lamentation out of humility (dainya) and high regard for the prīti for you and those who have it] is the purport.”
stenāḥ puruṣa-sāra-harāḥ | anyeṣāṁ prākṛta-janānām api tāvad eva rāgādayaś caurādayo bhavanti yāvat te janās te tava na bhavanti sarvatobhāvena tvayy ātmānaṁ na samarpayanti | samarpite cātmani teṣāṁ rāgādayo’pi tvan-niṣṭhā eveti rāgādīnāṁ prākṛtatvābhāvān na caurāditvaṁ pratyuta paramānanda-rūpatvam evety arthaḥ | tathaiva prārthitaṁ śrī-prahlādena—‘yā prītir avivekānāṁ viṣayeṣv anapāyinī | tvām anusmarataḥ sā me hṛdayān nāpasarpatu ||’ iti |
(Excerpt from Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 142)
“‘Thieves’ (stenāḥ) means usurpers of the strength of embodied beings [i.e., of their discernment, steadiness, forbearance, and so on]. Attachment (rāga) and so forth are thieves and the like even for others, that is, worldly persons [in contrast to the Vraja-vāsīs spoken of in the previous verse], certainly for that long—so long as those persons do not become ‘yours’ (te), that is, [so long as they] do not fully offer themselves to you in all respects. Also, when the self is fully offered [to you], even their attachment (rāga) and so forth become only fixity upon you. In that case, attachment (rāga) and so forth’s not being thieves and the like because of [their] not being worldly (prākṛta) [in their focus and function], and [their] rather verily being [in that case] forms of the highest bliss is the meaning. In the very same way, this was prayed for by Śrī Prahlāda [in Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.20.19], ‘As I continuously remember you [viz., Bhagavān], may everlasting affinity (prīti) [for you] which [is possessed of a characteristic like the prīti which] the undiscerning have for objects of the senses, never slip away from my heart.’”