Text 61
śrī-vasudeva uvāca
bhrātar īśa-kṛtaḥ pāśo
nṛnāṁ yaḥ sneha-saṁjñitaḥ
taṁ dustyajam ahaṁ manye
śūrāṇām api yoginām
śrī-vasudevaḥ uvāca — Śrī Vasudeva said; bhrātaḥ — O brother; īśa — by the Supreme Lord; kṛtaḥ — made; pāśaḥ — the noose; nṛṇām — of men; yaḥ — which; sneha — affection; saṁjñitaḥ — named; tam — it; dustyajam — difficult to free oneself from; aham — I; manye — think; śūrāṇām — for heroes; api — even; yoginām — and for yogīs.
Śrī Vasudeva said: My dear brother, God Himself has tied the knot called affection, which tightly binds human beings together. It seems to me that even great heroes and mystics find it very difficult to free themselves from it.
Heroic leaders of men try to transcend their petty attachments by force of will, while introspective yogīs pursue knowledge for the same purpose. But the Lord’s illusory energy, Māyā, is much stronger than any conditioned soul. Only by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Māyā, can one become immune to her influence.