Text 33
yāvad asyāsvatantratvaṁ
tāvad īśvarato bhayam
ya etat samupāsīraṁs
te muhyanti śucārpitāḥ
yāvat — as long as; asya — of the living being; asvatantratvam — there is no freedom from dependence on the modes of nature; tāvat — then there will be; īśvarataḥ — from the supreme controller; bhayam — fear; ye — those who; etat — to this material concept of life; samupāsīran — devote themselves; te — they; muhyanti — are bewildered; śucā — in lamentation; arpitāḥ — always absorbed.
The conditioned soul who remains dependent on fruitive activities under the material modes of nature will continue to fear Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, since I impose the results of one’s fruitive activities. Those who accept the material concept of life, taking the variegatedness of the modes of nature to be factual, devote themselves to material enjoyment and are therefore always absorbed in lamentation and grief.
The living entity is bound in the network of illusion, but although he can understand that he is dependent upon superior powers, he does not want to serve the Supreme Lord. He thus becomes filled with fear of life itself. Desiring material sense gratification, the living entity, like the demon Kaṁsa, always fears destruction of his material arrangement. Remaining addicted to the flavors of material nature, one gradually sinks down into an irrational form of life.
Māyā has two potencies — the first covers the living entity, and the second throws him down into a hellish condition of life. When one is covered by māyā, one loses all power of discrimination, and māyā then throws such a fool into the darkness of ignorance. When one wrongly considers oneself to be independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, one becomes a worshiper of temporary material objects, hoping to enjoy material sense gratification, and as one grows older, one’s life becomes filled with fear and anxiety. A conditioned soul considers himself to be in control of his life, but since he does not have any actual controlling potency, his situation is contradictory and not at all pleasing. As all of one’s material possessions are taken away by time, one becomes filled with lamentation. All in all, material life is truly abominable, and it is only because of dense illusion that we accept it as satisfactory.