यावद्धतोऽस्मि हन्तास्मीत्यात्मानं मन्यतेऽस्वदृक् । तावत्तदभिमान्यज्ञो बाध्यबाधकतामियात् ॥ २२ ॥
yāvad dhato ’smi hantāsmī- ty ātmānaṁ manyate ’sva-dṛk tāvat tad-abhimāny ajño bādhya-bādhakatām iyāt
- yāvat
- as long as
- hataḥ asmi
- I am now being killed (by others)
- hantā asmi
- 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
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.