TEXT 12
TEXT
eka evesvaras turyo
bhagavan svasrayah parah
tam adrstvabhavam pumsah
kim asat-karmabhir bhavet
SYNONYMS
ekah--one; eva--indeed; isvarah--supreme controller; turyah--the fourth transcendental category; bhagavan--the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sva-asrayah--independent, being His own shelter; parah--beyond this material creation; tam--Him; adrstva--not seeing; abhavam--who is not born or created; pumsah--of a man; kim--what benefit; asat-karmabhih--with temporary fruitive activities; bhavet--there can be.
TRANSLATION
[Narada Muni had said that there is a kingdom where there is only one male. The Haryasvas realized the purport of this statement.] The only enjoyer is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who observes everything, everywhere. He is full of six opulences and fully independent of everyone else. He is never subject to the three modes of material nature, for He is always transcendental to this material creation. If the members of human society do not understand Him, the Supreme, through their advancement in knowledge and activities, but simply work very hard like cats and dogs all day and night for temporary happiness, what will be the benefit of their activities?
PURPORT
Narada Muni had mentioned a kingdom where there is only one king with no competitor. The complete spiritual world, and specifically the cosmic manifestation, has only one proprietor or enjoyer--the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond this material manifestation. The Lord has therefore been described as turya, existing on the fourth platform. He has also been described as abhava. The word bhava, which means "takes birth," comes from the word bhu, "to be." As stated in Bhagavad-gita (8.19), bhutva bhutva praliyate: the living entities in the material world must be repeatedly born and destroyed. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is neither bhutva nor praliyate; He is eternal. In other words, He is not obliged to take birth like human beings or animals, which repeatedly take birth and die because of ignorance of the soul. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is not subjected to such changes of body, and one who thinks otherwise is considered a fool (avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam). Narada Muni advises that human beings not waste their time simply jumping like cats and monkeys, without real benefit. The duty of the human being is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 13
TEXT
puman naivaiti yad gatva
bila-svargam gato yatha
pratyag-dhamavida iha
kim asat-karmabhir bhavet
SYNONYMS
puman--a human being; na--not; eva--indeed; eti--comes back; yat--to which; gatva--having gone; bila-svargam--to the region of the lower planetary system known as Patala; gatah--gone; yatha--like; pratyak-dhama--the effulgent spiritual world; avidah--of the unintelligent man; iha--in this material world; kim--what benefit; asat-karmabhih--with temporary fruitive activities; bhavet--there can be.
TRANSLATION
[Narada Muni had described that there is a bila, or hole, from which, having entered, one does not return. The Haryasvas understood the meaning of this allegory.] Hardly once has a person who has entered the lower planetary system called Patala been seen to return. Similarly, if one enters the Vaikuntha-dhama [pratyag-dhama], he does not return to this material world. If there is such a place, from which, having gone, one does not return to the miserable material condition of life, what is the use of jumping like monkeys in the temporary material world and not seeing or understanding that place? What will be the profit?
PURPORT
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (15.6), yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama: there is a region from which, having gone, one does not return to the material world. This region has been repeatedly described. Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gita (4.9), Krsna says:
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so 'rjuna
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."
If one can properly understand Krsna, who has already been described as the Supreme King, he does not return here after giving up his material body. This fact has been described in this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Puman naivaiti yad gatva: he does not return to this material world, but returns home, back to Godhead, to live an eternally blissful life of knowledge. Why do people not care about this? What will be the benefit of taking birth again in this material world, sometimes as a human being, sometimes a demigod and sometimes a cat or dog? What is the benefit of wasting time in this way? Krsna has very definitely asserted in Bhagavad-gita (8.15):
mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection." One's real concern should be to free himself from the repetition of birth and death and attain the topmost perfection of life by living with the Supreme King in the spiritual world. In these verses the sons of Daksa repeatedly say, kim asat-karmabhir bhavet: "What is the use of impermanent fruitive activities?"
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]