Text 35
arthe hy avidyamāne ’pi
saṁsṛtir na nivartate
manasā liṅga-rūpeṇa
svapne vicarato yathā
arthe — factual cause; hi — certainly; avidyamāne — not existing; api — although; saṁsṛtiḥ — material existence; na — not; nivartate — ceases; manasā — by the mind; liṅga-rūpeṇa — by subtle form; svapne — in a dream; vicarataḥ — acting; yathā — as.
Sometimes we suffer because we see a tiger in a dream or a snake in a vision, but actually there is neither a tiger nor a snake. Thus we create some situation in a subtle form and suffer the consequences. These sufferings cannot be mitigated unless we are awakened from our dream.
As stated in the Vedas, the living entity is always separate from two kinds of material bodies — the subtle and the gross. All our sufferings are due to these material bodies. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata
“O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” Lord Kṛṣṇa thus informed Arjuna that all the distresses brought about by the body come and go. One has to learn how to tolerate them. Material existence is the cause of all our sufferings, for we do not suffer once we are out of the material condition. The Vedas therefore enjoin that one should factually understand that he is not material but is actually Brahman (ahaṁ brahmāsmi). This understanding cannot be fully realized unless one is engaged in Brahman activities, namely devotional service. To get free from the material conditions, one has to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only remedy.