Madhya 8.257

TEXT 257

TEXT

'মুক্তি, ভুক্তি বাঞ্ছে যেই, কাহাঁ দুঁহার গতি?'
'স্থাবরদেহ, দেবদেহ যৈছে অবস্থিতি ॥' ২৫৭ ॥

'mukti, bhukti vanche yei, kahaṅ duṅhara gati?'

'sthavara-deha, deva-deha yaiche avasthiti'

SYNONYMS

mukti-liberation; bhukti-sense enjoyment; vanche-desires; yei-one who; kahaṅ-where; duṅhara-of both of them; gati-the destination; sthavara-deha-the body of a tree; deva-deha-the body of a demigod; yaiche-just as; avasthiti-situated.

TRANSLATION

"And what is the destination of those who desire liberation and those who desire sense gratification?" Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked. Ramananda Raya replied, "Those who attempt to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord will have to accept a body like that of a tree. And those who are overly inclined toward sense gratification will attain the bodies of demigods."

PURPORT

Those who desire liberation by merging into the existence of God do not desire sense gratification within the material world. On the other hand, they have no information about serving the lotus feet of the Lord. Consequently, they are doomed to stand like trees for many thousands of years. Although trees are living entities, they are nonmoving. The liberated soul who attempts to merge into the existence of the Lord is no better than the trees. Trees also stand in the Lord's existence because material energy and the Lord's energy are the same. Similarly, the Brahman effulgence is also the energy of the Supreme Lord. It is the same whether one remains in the Brahman effulgence or in the material energy because in either there is no spiritual activity. Better situated are those who desire sense gratification and promotion to the heavenly planets. Such people want to enjoy themselves like denizens of heaven in gardens of paradise. They at least retain their individuality in order to enjoy life, but the impersonalists, who try to lose their individuality, also lose both material and spiritual pleasure. The stone is immovable and has neither material nor spiritual activity. As far as the hard-working karmis are concerned, Srimad-Bhagavatam states ():

istveha devata yajnaih
svar-lokam yati yajnikah
bhunjita devavat tatra
bhogan divyan nijarjitan

"After performing various sacrificial rituals for elevation to the heavenly planets, the karmis go there and enjoy themselves with the demigods to the extent that they have obtained the results of pious activities."

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.20-21):

trai-vidya mam soma-pah puta-papa
yajnair istva svar-gatim prarthayante
te punyam asadya surendra-lokam
asnanti divyan divi deva-bhogan

te tam bhuktva svarga-lokam visalam
ksine punye martya-lokam visanti
evam trayi-dharmam anuprapanna
gatagatam kama-kama labhante

"Those who study the Vedas and drink soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. They take birth on the planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights. When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus, through the Vedic principles, they achieve only flickering happiness."

Therefore after finishing the results of pious activities, the karmis again return to this planet in the form of rain, and they begin their life as grass and plants in the evolutionary process.

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