fallible soldiers
jaimin
atma-sainyesv asatsv api
tesam pramatto nidhanam
pasyann api na pasyati
SYNONYMS
deha -- body; apatya -- children; kalatra -- wife; adisu -- and in
everything in relation to them; atma -- own; sainyesu -- fighting
soldiers; asatsu -- fallible; api -- in spite of; tesam -- of all of
them; pramattah -- too attached; nidhanam -- destruction; pasyan --
having been experienced; api -- although; na -- does not; pasyati --
see it.
TRANSLATION
Persons devoid of atma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of
life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body,
children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do
not see their inevitable destruction.
PURPORT
This material world is called the world of death. Every living being,
beginning from Brahma, whose duration of life is some thousands of
millions of years, down to the germs who live for a few seconds only,
is struggling for existence. Therefore, this life is a sort of fight
with material nature, which imposes death upon all. In the human form
of life, a living being is competent enough to come to an
understanding of this great struggle for existence, but being too
attached to family members, society, country, etc., he wants to win
over the invincible material nature by the aid of bodily strength,
children, wife, relatives, etc. Although he is sufficiently
experienced in the matter by dint of past experience and previous
examples of his deceased predecessors, he does not see that the so-
called fighting soldiers like the children, relatives, society members
and countrymen are all fallible in the great struggle. One should
examine the fact that his father or his father's father has already
died, and that he himself is therefore also sure to die, and
similarly, his children, who are the would-be fathers of their
children, will also die in due course.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 2.1.4