ŚB 6.1.52
Devanagari
देह्यज्ञोऽजितषड्वर्गो नेच्छन्कर्माणि कार्यते ।
कोशकार इवात्मानं कर्मणाच्छाद्य मुह्यति ॥ ५२ ॥
कोशकार इवात्मानं कर्मणाच्छाद्य मुह्यति ॥ ५२ ॥
Verse text
dehy ajño ’jita-ṣaḍ-vargo
necchan karmāṇi kāryate
kośakāra ivātmānaṁ
karmaṇācchādya muhyati
necchan karmāṇi kāryate
kośakāra ivātmānaṁ
karmaṇācchādya muhyati
Synonyms
dehī — the embodied soul; ajñaḥ — without perfect knowledge; ajita-ṣaṭ-vargaḥ — who has not controlled the senses of perception and the mind; na icchan — without desiring; karmāṇi — activities for material benefit; kāryate — is caused to perform; kośakāraḥ — the silkworm; iva — like; ātmānam — himself; karmaṇā — by fruitive activities; ācchādya — covering; muhyati — becomes bewildered.
Translation
The foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind, is forced to act according to the influence of the modes of material nature, against his desires. He is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then becomes trapped in it, with no possibility of getting out. The living entity traps himself in a network of his own fruitive activities and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered, and repeatedly he dies.
Purport
As already explained, the influence of the modes of nature is very strong. The living entity entangled in different types of fruitive activity is like a silkworm trapped in a cocoon. Getting free is very difficult unless he is helped by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.