Chapter 9
लब्ध्वा सुदुर्लभमिदं बहुसम्भवान्ते मानुष्यमर्थदमनित्यमपीह धीर: । तूर्णं यतेत न पतेदनुमृत्यु याव- न्नि:श्रेयसाय विषय: खलु सर्वत: स्यात् ॥ २९ ॥
Transliteration
labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
labdhvā — having obtained; su-durlabham — that which is very difficult to obtain; idam — this; bahu — many; sambhava — births; ante — after; mānuṣyam — human form of life; artha-dam — which awards great value; anityam — not eternal; api — although; iha — in this material world; dhīraḥ — one who has sober intelligence; tūrṇam — immediately; yateta — should endeavor; na — not; patet — has fallen; anu-mṛtyu — always subject to death; yāvat — as long as; niḥśreyasāya — for ultimate liberation; viṣayaḥ — sense gratification; khalu — always; sarvataḥ — in all conditions; syāt — is possible.
Translation
“After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṇa consciousness is possible only for a human being.”