यस्मिंस्तु सर्वे स्युरसन्निविष्टा धर्मो यतः स्यात्तदुपक्रमेत।
द्वेष्यो भवत्यर्थपरो हि लोके कामात्मता खल्वपि न प्रशस्ता॥
yasmiṁs tu sarve syur asanniviṣṭā
dharmo yataḥ syāt tad upakrameta
dveṣyo bhavaty artha-paro hi loke
kāmātmatā khalv api na praśastā
yasmin tu = by which; sarve = piety and prosperity and enjoyment; syuḥ = are; asanniviṣṭā = not attained; dharmaḥ = piety alone; yataḥ = and by which; syāt = is attained; tat = that activity; upakrameta = one should take up; dveṣyaḥ = detested; bhavati = is; artha-paraḥ = a man pursuing prosperity; hi = because; loke = in the world; kāma-ātmatā = and pursuit of enjoyment; khalu api = is also; na = not; praśastā = appreciated by the learned.
One should take up that activity by which piety and prosperity and enjoyment are not attained and by which piety alone is attained because a man pursuing prosperity is detested in the world and pursuit of enjoyment is also not appreciated by the learned.
Since dharma, artha and kāma have been considered as goals that can be pursued, why not take recourse to attaining any one of them [in this very life]? He answers that in this verse.
The conclusion is that one should give up the endeavor to attain prosperity (artha) and enjoyment (kāma) [in this life] and only endeavor to attain piety (dharma). With this in mind, Śrī Rāmacandra speaks the following verse.