that a person who fails to perform spiritual activities properly will have to suffer the consequences. He will be subject to the results of his actions. The Bhagavatam has assured us that a failed yogi need not worry. Even if he suffers the results of his actions not being performed properly, he will not suffer any loss. Because the auspicious Krishna consciousness never fades. Even if he is born in a lower caste in his next life, he will continue it as before. On the other hand, if a person who strictly follows his duties lacks Krishna consciousness, he may not attain the auspicious results.
The meaning of this can be understood as follows. Human beings can be divided into two categories, namely, the disciplined and the undisciplined. Those who are simply engaged in brute sense enjoyment, without any knowledge of their next life or spiritual liberation, belong to the undisciplined category. Those who follow the rules laid down in the scriptures belong to the disciplined category. The undisciplined, whether civilized or barbaric, educated or uneducated, strong or weak, all have animal instincts. Their actions are never auspicious. Because they remain eternally in the material world, indulging in the animal instincts of food, sleep, fear, and sexual pleasure. On the other hand, those who are systematically guided by the teachings of the scriptures and thus gradually develop into Krishna consciousness will certainly progress in life.
Those who follow the auspicious path can be divided into three categories. They are 1) those who enjoy material progress by following the rules of scripture, 2) those who try to attain ultimate liberation from samsara, and 3) devotees who are in Krishna consciousness. Those who follow the rules of scripture for material pleasure can be divided into two more categories. They are the ones who engage in sensual activities, those who do not seek the results for sense gratification. Those who seek the results of sensual activities for sense gratification, even though they attain a higher life and higher worlds, are not truly following the auspicious path because they are not liberated from the material world. Auspicious activities are those that lead a person towards salvation, and any activity that does not aim at ultimate self-realization or liberation from material body consciousness is not auspicious. Activity in Krishna consciousness is the most auspicious. One who voluntarily accepts all kinds of bodily discomforts to advance on the path of Krishna consciousness is called a perfect yogi, a man of
prapya – after obtaining; punyakritam – those who have performed pious deeds: in the worlds: after residing; sevastiḥ – very; samaḥ
Years of purification – of the virtuous; srimatam – of the virtuous; gehe – in the home, the yoga is broken. One who has fallen from the path of self-realization; abhijayate – is born.
A failed yogi, after many years of blissful experience in the worlds of virtuous beings, is reborn in a family of pious people or a wealthy family.
PURPORT Unsuccessful yogis are divided into two classes. Those who fall after making a little progress, and those who fall after a long practice of yoga. A yogi who falls after a short period of practice of yoga goes to the higher worlds, which only the virtuous can enter. There, after a long life, he is sent back to this world to be born in the family of a virtuous Brahmin Vaishnava or in the family of a wealthy merchant.
The real goal of yoga practice is to attain the highest perfection of Krishna consciousness, as explained in the last verse of this chapter. Those who are not very persistent and who are unsuccessful due to material attractions are given the opportunity to fulfill their desires by the mercy of the Lord. After that, they are given the opportunity to live a life of enjoyment in the families of pious or wealthy people. Those born in such families should make good use of those facilities and try to attain full Krishna consciousness.
