Verse 3.38

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 3.38:

धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर् यथादर्शो मलेन च ।
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस् तथा तेनेदम् आवृतम् ॥ ३८ ॥

dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśo malena ca |
yatholbenāvṛto garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛtam || 38 ||

dhūmena–by smoke; āvriyate–is covered; vahniḥ–fire; yathā–just as; ādarśaḥ–a mirror; malena–by dust; ca–and; yathā–just as; ulbena–by the womb; āvṛtaḥ–is covered; garbhaḥ–an embryo; tathā–in the same way; tena–by that (lust); idam–this world (knowledge); āvṛtam–is covered.

Just as fire is covered by smoke, a mirror by dust, and an embryo by the womb, so the true knowledge of the living being remains covered by different degrees of lust.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Lust is the enemy of all, not just of one particular person. This is explained through these examples. Although fire may be dirty and covered by smoke, it can still perform its function of burning. But when a mirror is covered by dust, it loses the characteristic of cleanliness and cannot perform its function of reflecting the image of the object in front of it, although it is still accepted as a mirror. An embryo covered by the womb cannot move its hands and feet nor can it be recognized as a baby. Similarly, one can remember the supreme goal only when lust is not deep. When lust becomes very deep, such remembrance is impossible. And when it is extremely deep, the world itself appears to be devoid of consciousness.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The knowledge of those jīvas averse to self-realization is covered by three degrees of lust: mild (mṛdu), moderate (madhya) and intense (tīvra). A person whose knowledge is covered by a mild degree of lust can accept instruction on ātma-tattva, knowledge of the self, to a certain extent. When a person’s knowledge is covered by a moderate degree of lust, then it is completely impossible for him to understand even a little knowledge of the self. And when knowledge is covered by an intense degree of lust, knowledge of the self is not perceived at all.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “This whole world is covered by that very lust, in some places mildly, in some places deeply and in some places very deeply. I will illustrate this with an example. Please listen. A conscious jīva who is mildly covered by lust, just as a fire is covered by smoke, can perform remembrance of Bhagavān, for example. This is the situation of jīvas who have taken shelter of niṣkāma-karma-yoga and whose consciousness is a little open (mukulita-cetana) as in the budding stage of a flower. Even if the conscious jīva has a human body, when his consciousness is deeply covered by lust, like a mirror covered by dust, then it is not possible for him to remember the Supreme Controller. This is the condition of the extreme moralist and atheist, or jīvas whose consciousness is shrunken, or contracted (saṅkucita-cetana). Examples of this are animals and birds. A jīva whose consciousness is covered by intense lust, like the embryo covered by the womb, possesses completely covered consciousness (ācchādita-cetana). Examples are creepers, stones and trees.”