Text 5
ye sva-dharmān na duhyanti
dhīrāḥ kāmārtha-hetave
niḥsaṅgā nyasta-karmāṇaḥ
praśāntāḥ śuddha-cetasaḥ
ye — those who; sva-dharmān — their own occupational duties; na — do not; duhyanti — take advantage of; dhīrāḥ — intelligent; kāma — sense gratification; artha — economic development; hetave — for the sake of; niḥsaṅgāḥ — free from material attachment; nyasta — given up; karmāṇaḥ — fruitive activities; praśāntāḥ — satisfied; śuddha-cetasaḥ — of purified consciousness.
Those who are intelligent and are of purified consciousness are completely satisfied in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Freed from the modes of material nature, they do not act for sense gratification; rather, since they are situated in their own occupational duties, they act as one is expected to act.
The first-class example of this type of man is Arjuna. Arjuna was a kṣatriya, and his occupational duty was to fight. Generally, kings fight to extend their kingdoms, which they rule for sense gratification. But as far as Arjuna is concerned, he declined to fight for his own sense gratification. He said that although he could get a kingdom by fighting with his relatives, he did not want to fight with them. But when he was ordered by Kṛṣṇa and convinced by the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā that his duty was to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, then he fought. Thus he fought not for his sense gratification but for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Persons who work at their prescribed duties, not for sense gratification but for gratification of the Supreme Lord, are called niḥsaṅga, freed from the influence of the modes of material nature. Nyasta-karmāṇaḥ indicates that the results of their activities are given to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such persons appear to be acting on the platform of their respective duties, but such activities are not performed for personal sense gratification; rather, they are performed for the Supreme Person. Such devotees are called praśāntāḥ, which means “completely satisfied.” Śuddha-cetasaḥ means Kṛṣṇa conscious; their consciousness has become purified. In unpurified consciousness one thinks of himself as the Lord of the universe, but in purified consciousness one thinks himself the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Putting oneself in that position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Lord and working for Him perpetually, one actually becomes completely satisfied. As long as one works for his personal sense gratification, he will always be full of anxiety. That is the difference between ordinary consciousness and Kṛṣṇa consciousness.