SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 6 Text 4
yada hi nendriyarthesu
na karmasv anusajiate
sarva-sankalpa- sannyasi
yogarudhas tadocyate

yada--when; hi--certainly; na--not; indriya-arthesu- -in sense gratification; na--never; karmasu--in fruitive activities; anusaj-jate- -one necessarily engages; sarva-sankalpa- -of all material desires; sannyasi--renouncer ; yoga-arudhah- -elevated in yoga; tada--at that time; ucyate--is said to be.

TRANSLATION

A person is said to be elevated in yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities.

JOURNAL:

In his lecture (L.A. 2-14-69) Srila Prabhupada defines fruitive activities as any activity that is done with the aim of gaining some sense gratification. He even talks about giving to social organizations as fruitive activities in the mode of goodness. He gives the example that if one gives to a school he will get a nice education in the next life. His point, of course, is that we must work for the satisfaction of Krishna. That all other forms of work, no matter what mode they are done in, are not transcendental.

In his purport to today's sloka Srila Prabhupada writes; When a person is fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he is pleased in himself, and thus he is no longer engaged in sense gratification or in fruitive activities. Otherwise, one must be engaged in sense gratification, since one cannot live without engagement. Without Krsna consciousness, one must be always seeking self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Krsna conscious person can do everything for the satisfaction of Krsna and thereby be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has no such realization must mechanically try to escape material desires before being elevated to the top rung of the yoga ladder.