SB 10.4.22
Devanāgarī
यावद्धतोऽस्मि हन्तास्मीत्यात्मानं मन्यतेऽस्वदृक् । तावत्तदभिमान्यज्ञो बाध्यबाधकतामियात् ॥ २२ ॥
Text
yāvad dhato ’smi hantāsmī- ty ātmānaṁ manyate ’sva-dṛk tāvat tad-abhimāny ajño bādhya-bādhakatām iyāt
Synonyms
yāvat—as long as;hataḥasmi—I am now being killed (by others);hantāasmi—I am the killer (of others);iti—thus;ātmānam—own self;manyate—he considers;a-sva-dṛk—one who has not seen himself (because of the darkness of the bodily conception of life);tāvat—for that long;tat-abhimānī—regarding himself as the killed or the killer;ajñaḥ—a foolish person;bādhya-bādhakatām—the worldly transaction of being obliged to execute some responsibility;iyāt—continues.
Translation
In the bodily conception of life, one remains in darkness, without self-realization, thinking, “I am being killed” or “I have killed my enemies.” As long as a foolish person thus considers the self to be the killer or the killed, he continues to be responsible for material obligations, and consequently he suffers the reactions of happiness and distress.
Purport
yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate hatvāpi sa imāḻ lokān na hanti na nibadhyate
“One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, is not the slayer. Nor is he bound by his actions.” According to this axiomatic truth, Kaṁsa pleaded that he was not responsible for having killed the sons of Devakī and Vasudeva. “Please try to excuse me for such false, external activities,” he said, “and be pacified with this same knowledge.”