Text 18
karmaṇāṁ pariṇāmitvād
ā-viriñcyād amaṅgalam
vipaścin naśvaraṁ paśyed
adṛṣṭam api dṛṣṭa-vat
karmaṇām — of material activities; pariṇāmitvāt — because of being subject to transformation; ā — up to; viriñcyāt — the planet of Lord Brahmā; amaṅgalam — inauspicious unhappiness; vipaścit — an intelligent person; naśvaram — as temporary; paśyet — should see; adṛṣṭam — that which he has not yet experienced; api — indeed; dṛṣṭa-vat — just like that already experienced.
An intelligent person should see that any material activity is subject to constant transformation and that even on the planet of Lord Brahmā there is thus simply unhappiness. Indeed, a wise man can understand that just as all that he has seen is temporary, similarly, all things within the universe have a beginning and an end.
The word adṛṣṭam indicates the heavenly standard of life available in the higher planets within this universe. Such celestial neighborhoods are not actually experienced on the earth planet, although they are described in the Vedic literatures. One may argue that promotion to material heaven is recommended in the karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas and that although the happiness available there is not eternal, at least for some time one may enjoy life. Lord Kṛṣṇa here states, however, that even on the planet of Lord Brahmā, which is superior to the heavenly planets, there is no happiness whatsoever. Even in the upper planetary systems there is rivalry, envy, irritation, lamentation and ultimately death itself.