The ignorant pursue external desires; they enter into the nets of omnipresent death. But the intelligent, having known immortality, do not covet the inconstant things here.

This verse contrasts two paths: that of the ignorant and that of the wise.

Parācaḥ kāmān anuyanti — they pursue outward-oriented desires. Parācaḥ means “outward”; kāmān are desires, sense-appetites. The ignorant follows external impulses.

Bālāḥ — the children, the immature. A term describing those lacking spiritual discernment.

Te mṛtyoḥ yanti vitatasya pāśam — they enter into the nets of extended death. Vitata means extended, omnipresent; pāśa is a snare or trap. Death here represents the cycle of rebirth.

Atha dhīrāḥ — but the firm, the resolute. Dhīra implies mental stability.

Amṛtatvaṃ viditvā — having known immortality. Amṛtatva is the state of non-death, liberation.

Dhruvam adhruveṣu — the permanent among the impermanent. The wise do not seek the inconstant things of the phenomenal world.

This teaching is fundamental in yoga: detachment from the external to find the eternal interior.