यथाज्ञस्तमसा युक्त उपास्ते व्यक्तमेव हि । न वेद पूर्वमपरं नष्टजन्मस्मृतिस्तथा ॥ ४९ ॥
yathajnas tamasa yukta upaste vyaktam eva hi na veda purvam aparam nasta-janma-smrtis tatha
- yatha
- just as
- ajnah
- an ignorant living being
- tamasa
- in sleep
- yuktah
- engaged
- upaste
- acts according to
- vyaktam
- a body manifested in a dream
- eva
- certainly
- hi
- indeed
- na veda
- does not know
- purvam
- the past body
- aparam
- the next body
- nasta
- lost
- janma-smrtih
- the remembrance of birth
- tatha
- similarly.
As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams and accepts it to be himself, so one identifies with his present body, which he acquired because of his past religious or irreligious actions, and is unable to know his past or future lives.