Parīkṣit Mahārāja says that dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyaṁ yat pāpaṁ jānann apy ātmano 'hitaṁ (SB 6.1.9). A person knows that this is not good for him. For example, a thief. A thief knows that stealing is not good. It is against law, and against our revealed scriptures also. No religious book or scriptures will say that, "You go on stealing." No. Neither the state laws also allow stealing. A man knows.
And suppose he's stolen in the past, and he was punished, or he sees that one who has stolen property, he is arrested by the police and he's being taken into the custody. He has seen it, he has heard it. We experience. We gather our knowledge by seeing and by hearing. So both things he has done, but still he is stealing. Why? This is the question.
So suppose if I knowingly do something and I make atonement and again I do it . . . or a disease. I know that if I attack this infection I'll suffer, still I, ah, become infected, and again I suffer. Again I go to the physician, he gives me medicine, again I'm cured, again. This is going on. Why this is? He has got experience, and still he has experienced, he has seen, he has heard, he has full knowledge that, "This kind of sinful activity will be fruitful in this way, and I'll have to suffer." Why does he do it? Therefore, he says:
- kvacin nivartate 'bhadrāt
- kvacic carati tat punaḥ
- prāyaścittam atho 'pārtham
- manye kuñjara-śaucavat
- (SB 6.1.10)
"My dear Śukadeva Goswāmī . . ." If a man knows it, by knowing he may refrain for some time from sinful activities, but again he does it. Again he does it. He's forced. He's forced: "Let me do it. All right, I shall suffer. Doesn't matter." But again he suffers, and when he suffers he says: "Oh, I'll not do it again. I'll not do it again. I'll not . . ." But when he's cured, again he does it. Therefore, Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . the same, confession, or anything you take, atonement. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja is comparing it, kuñjara-śaucavat. It is just like the elephant's taking bath.