यत्पृथिव्यां व्रीहियवं हिरण्यं पशव: स्त्रिय: ।
न दुह्यन्ति मन:प्रीतिं पुंस: कामहतस्य ते ॥
न जातु काम: कामानामुपभोगेन शाम्यति ।
हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते ॥
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
na duhyanti manaḥ-prītiṁ puṁsaḥ kāma-hatasya te ||
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāṁyati |
haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 98)
“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth cannot satisfy the mind of a person afflicted with desire. Desire is never extinguished by enjoyment of objects of desire. It is only again further increased [thereby] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
Commentary
nanu tarhi punar api bahavo viṣayāḥ sevyantām, tato manasi prīte sati kāmopaśāntyā moho nivarteta iti cet, tatrāha—yad iti dvābhyām | na duhyanti na pūrayanti |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“If [Devayānī asks Mahārāja Yayāti], ‘Well, then again many objects of the senses are to be enjoyed [i.e., then you should just enjoy more]. When the mind is pleased thereby, the delusion [you describe yourself to be in] shall withdraw as a result of the cessation of the kāma [that is causing it],’ then to that he speaks with two [verses]: yad …. ‘Cannot satisfy’ (na duhyanti) means cannot fulfill.”
ataḥ strī-puṁsayor api kāma-bhogādinālaṁ-buddhir na bhavatīti bhāva | prāvṛṅ uparame nadī-jala-hrāsavat kāmān upabhogena śāntiḥ syād ity āha—neti |
(Excerpt from the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā-prakāśa)
“Thus, a sense of enough (alaṁ-buddhi) [i.e., of being satiated and wanting no more] does not come about by means of gratification even of female and male desires [i.e., even by plentiful indulgence in sexual activity]. This is the purport. [Devayānī replies to Mahārāja Yayāti:] ‘Extinguishment [of kāma] will come about by enjoying objects of desire just as the diminution of the water in a river does at the cessation of the rainy season.’ Thus, he speaks this verse (na …) [i.e., he explains why this is not so in the second verse, SB 9.19.14].”
nanu tvaṁ samrāṭ pūrṇa-kāmo’si | viṣayānandātmānaṁ ramayatas, tava katham etāvad dainyaṁ sambhavet? tatrāha—yad iti | na duhyanti na pūrayanti, kāmahatasyeti kāma-hatatvam evāpūrṇa-kāmatve kāraṇam iti bhāvaḥ | nanu yāvāṁs te kāmas tāvān eva tato’py adhika-pramāṇo vā viṣaya upabhujyatāṁ, mahāsampannasya tava srak-candana-vanitādi-viṣayāṇāṁ kim alpatvam ity ata āha—na jātv iti | kṛṣṇavartmā agniḥ | tasmād aśānta-kāmasya sadā duḥkham evety ataḥ śānta-kāma eva sukhīti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[Devayānī asks Mahārāja Yayāti:] ‘Well, you, a sovereign, are of fulfilled desire [i.e., successful in attaining what you aim to achieve], and you can please yourself with the pleasures of objects of the senses [since you are a king with access to ample resources of all types]. [So,] How can you have this much covetousness [that even all the resources in the world are unable to satisfy it]?’ To this, he speaks this verse (yad … ). ‘Cannot satisfy’ (na duhyanti) means cannot fulfill. In regard to ‘a person afflicted with kāma’ (kāma-hatasya), being afflicted with kāma is the cause in regard to [his] being of unfulfilled desire [even though he is a king with access to ample resources of all types]. This is the purport.
“[Devayānī replies to Mahārāja Yayāti:] ‘Well, objects of the senses to the extent of your kāma or of a measure even greater than that are to be enjoyed [by you; i.e., you should just enjoy to the full extent of your desires or more than that]. What scarcity of objects [of enjoyment], such as garlands, sandalwood paste, women, and so forth, do you who are greatly wealthy have?’ Thus, he speaks this verse (na jātu …) [i.e., he explains why that will never work]. Kṛṣṇavartmā means fire. The purport is that therefore, a person of unquelled desire undergoes only continuous suffering, and thus only a person of quelled desire is happy.”