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Library » Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 11: General History » CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ŚB 11.21.20

Devanagari

कलेर्दुर्विषह: क्रोधस्तमस्तमनुवर्तते ।
तमसा ग्रस्यते पुंसश्चेतना व्यापिनी द्रुतम् ॥ २० ॥

Text

kaler durviṣahaḥ krodhas
tamas tam anuvartate
tamasā grasyate puṁsaś
cetanā vyāpinī drutam

Synonyms

kaleḥ — from quarrel; durviṣahaḥ — intolerable; krodhaḥ — anger; tamaḥ — ignorance; tam — that anger; anuvartate — follows; tamasā — by ignorance; grasyate — is seized; puṁsaḥ — of a man; cetanā — the consciousness; vyāpinī — broad; drutam — swiftly.

Translation

From quarrel arises intolerable anger, followed by the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance quickly overtakes a man’s broad intelligence.

Purport

The desire for material association arises from one’s propensity to deny that everything is God’s energy. Falsely imagining material sense objects to be separate from the Supreme Lord, one desires to enjoy them; such desire gives rise to conflict and quarrel in human society. This conflict inevitably gives rise to great anger, which makes human beings become foolish and destructive. Thus the actual goal of human life is quickly forgotten.