Canto & Chapters
General History (31 Chapters)
Chapter 130v
Chapter 1
Chapter 230v
Chapter 2
Chapter 330v
Chapter 3
Chapter 430v
Chapter 4
Chapter 530v
Chapter 5
Chapter 630v
Chapter 6
Chapter 730v
Chapter 7
Chapter 830v
Chapter 8
Chapter 930v
Chapter 9
Chapter 1030v
Chapter 10
Chapter 1130v
Chapter 11
Chapter 1230v
Chapter 12
Chapter 1330v
Chapter 13
Chapter 1430v
Chapter 14
Chapter 1530v
Chapter 15
Chapter 1630v
Chapter 16
Chapter 1730v
Chapter 17
Chapter 1830v
Chapter 18
Chapter 1930v
Chapter 19
Chapter 2030v
Chapter 20
Chapter 2130v
Chapter 21
Chapter 2230v
Chapter 22
Chapter 2330v
Chapter 23
Chapter 2430v
Chapter 24
Chapter 2530v
Chapter 25
Chapter 2630v
Chapter 26
Chapter 2730v
Chapter 27
Chapter 2830v
Chapter 28
Chapter 2930v
Chapter 29
Chapter 3030v
Chapter 30
Chapter 3130v
Chapter 31
Canto 11, Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Verse 7 (SB 11.21.7)
SB 11.21.7 • मूल श्लोक
देशकालादिभावानां वस्तूनां मम सत्तम । गुणदोषौ विधीयेते नियमार्थं हि कर्मणाम् ॥ ७ ॥
Transliteration
deśa-kālādi-bhāvānāṁ vastūnāṁ mama sattama guṇa-doṣau vidhīyete niyamārthaṁ hi karmaṇām
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
deśa — of space; kāla — time; ādi — and so on; bhāvānām — of such states of existence; vastūnām — of things; mama — by Me; sat-tama — O most saintly Uddhava; guṇa-doṣau — piety and sin; vidhīyete — are established; niyama-artham — for the restriction; hi — certainly; karmaṇām — of fruitive activities.
Translation
“O saintly Uddhava, in order to restrict materialistic activities, I have established that which is proper and improper among all material things, including time, space and all physical objects.”
Bhaktivedanta Purport
By Śrīla PrabhupādaThe word niyamārtham (“in order to restrict”) is significant in this verse. A conditioned soul falsely identifies with his material senses and thus considers anything giving immediate satisfaction to the body to be good and anything inconvenient or disturbing to be bad. By higher intelligence, however, one recognizes long-term self-interest and danger. For example, medicine may be immediately bitter, but by calculating one’s long-term interest one accepts the bitter medicine to cure a disease that is not immediately troublesome but ultimately fatal. Similarly, Vedic literature restricts the sinful propensities of human beings by establishing what is proper and what is improper among all the objects and activities of the material world. Because everyone must eat, the Vedas prescribe foods in the mode of goodness and not those which are sinful, such as meat, fish and eggs. Similarly, one is advised to live in a peaceful and pious community and not in association with sinful persons, nor in an unclean or turbulent environment. By designating and restricting the exploitation of the material world, Vedic knowledge gradually brings a conditioned soul to the platform of material goodness. At that stage one becomes eligible to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead and enter the transcendental stage of life. It should be remembered that such mere eligibility does not constitute actual qualification; without Kṛṣṇa consciousness mere mundane piety can never qualify a conditioned soul to go back home, back to Godhead. Within this world we are all infected by false pride, which must be diminished through submission to the Vedic injunctions. One who is completely engaged in the loving service of the Lord need not adopt these preliminary methods, for he directly contacts the Personality of Godhead through the spontaneous process of surrender. In the previous verse the Lord explained why Vedic literatures assign different values to the bodies of different living entities, and here the Lord explains the Vedic value system in regard to the material objects that interact with these bodies.