Skip to main content

TEXT 22

TEXT 22

Devanagari

Devanagari

पुरुष: प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् ।
कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु ॥ २२ ॥

Text

Texte

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

Synonyms

Synonyms

puruṣaḥ — the living entity; prakṛti-sthaḥ — being situated in the material energy; hi — certainly; bhuṅkte — enjoys; prakṛti-jān — produced by the material nature; guṇān — the modes of nature; kāraṇam — the cause; guṇa-saṅgaḥ — the association with the modes of nature; asya — of the living entity; sat-asat — in good and bad; yoni — species of life; janmasu — in births.

puruṣaḥ: l’être; prakṛti-sthaḥ: étant situé dans l’énergie matérielle; hi: certes; bhuṅkte: jouit; prakṛti-jān: produits par la nature matérielle; guṇān: des guṇas; kāraṇam: la cause; guṇa-saṅgaḥ: le contact avec les guṇas; asya: de l’être; sat-asat: dans de bonnes et de mauvaises; yoni: espèces vivantes; janmasu: dans les naissances.

Translation

Translation

The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.

Au contact de la nature matérielle, l’être distinct connaît divers modes de vie en jouissant des trois guṇas. Dès lors, il rencontre plaisirs et souffrances dans des formes de vie variées.

Purport

Purport

This verse is very important for an understanding of how the living entities transmigrate from one body to another. It is explained in the Second Chapter that the living entity is transmigrating from one body to another just as one changes dress. This change of dress is due to his attachment to material existence. As long as he is captivated by this false manifestation, he has to continue transmigrating from one body to another. Due to his desire to lord it over material nature, he is put into such undesirable circumstances. Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on. And in all cases the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the influence of material nature.

Ce verset, fort important, nous permet de comprendre le processus de la transmigration des âmes. Le second chapitre expliquait déjà que l’être incarné change de corps comme on change de vêtement. Or, ces changements de corps sont dus à son attachement à l’existence matérielle. Aussi longtemps qu’il sera captivé par cette manifestation illusoire, l’être devra continuer de transmigrer de corps en corps. Seul, en effet, son désir de dominer la nature matérielle l’oblige à traverser des conditions de vie indésirables, tantôt comme un deva, tantôt comme un sage, un homme, un mammifère, un oiseau, un ver, un poisson ou un insecte – toujours en fonction de ses désirs matériels. À chaque fois, il se croit maître de son destin, alors qu’il est asservi à la nature matérielle.

How he is put into such different bodies is explained here. It is due to association with the different modes of nature. One has to rise, therefore, above the three material modes and become situated in the transcendental position. That is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Unless one is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his material consciousness will oblige him to transfer from one body to another because he has material desires since time immemorial. But he has to change that conception. That change can be effected only by hearing from authoritative sources. The best example is here: Arjuna is hearing the science of God from Kṛṣṇa. The living entity, if he submits to this hearing process, will lose his long-cherished desire to dominate material nature, and gradually and proportionately, as he reduces his long desire to dominate, he comes to enjoy spiritual happiness. In a Vedic mantra it is said that as he becomes learned in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he proportionately relishes his eternal blissful life.

Notre verset explique comment l’être se voit attribuer ces divers corps. Cette transmigration est due à son contact avec les différents modes d’influence de la nature. C’est pourquoi il lui faut s’élever au-delà de ces influences matérielles, et atteindre le niveau spirituel. C’est ce qu’on appelle la conscience de Kṛṣṇa. À moins d’être conscients de Kṛṣṇa, nous sommes forcés, par notre conscience matérielle, de passer d’un corps à un autre, car nous nourrissons des désirs matériels depuis des temps immémoriaux. Il nous faut donc changer notre conception des choses, ce qui ne manquera pas de se produire si nous prêtons attention aux paroles venant de sources autorisées. Arjuna, qui reçoit la science de Dieu des lèvres mêmes de Kṛṣṇa, est l’exemple idéal. Si l’être conditionné accepte d’écouter comme il se doit, il perdra son désir si longtemps entretenu de dominer la nature matérielle, et graduellement, en proportion de l’amoindrissement de ce désir malsain, il connaîtra le bonheur spirituel. Un mantra védique explique qu’en proportion du savoir acquis au contact du Seigneur Suprême, on goûte une existence d’éternelle félicité.