TEXT 57
na hy asya janmano hetuh
karmano va mahipate
atma-mayam vinesasya
parasya drastur atmanah
SYNONYMS
nanot; hiindeed; asyaof Him (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); janmanahof the appearance, or taking birth; hetuhthere is any cause; karmanahor for acting; vaeither; mahipateO King (Maharaja Pariksit); atma-mayamHis supreme compassion for the fallen souls; vinawithout; isasyaof the supreme controller; parasyaof the Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the material world; drastuhof the Supersoul, who witnesses everyones activities; atmanahof the Supersoul of everyone.
TRANSLATION
O King, Maharaja Pariksit, but for the Lords personal desire, there is no cause for His appearance, disappearance or activities. As the Supersoul, He knows everything. Consequently there is no cause that affects Him, not even the results of fruitive activities.
PURPORT
This verse points out the difference between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and an ordinary living being. An ordinary living being receives a particular type of body according to his past activities (karmana daiva-netrena jantur dehopapattaye [SB 3.31.1]). A living being is never independent and can never appear independently. Rather, one is forced to accept a body imposed upon him by maya according to his past karma. As explained in Bhagavad-gita (18.61), yantrarudhani mayaya. The body is a kind of machine created and offered to the living entity by the material energy under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the living entity must accept a particular type of body awarded to him by maya, the material energy, according to his karma. One cannot independently say, Give me a body like this or Give me a body like that. One must accept whatever body is offered by the material energy. This is the position of the ordinary living being.
When Krsna descends, however, He does so out of His merciful compassion for the fallen souls. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.8):
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium. The Supreme Lord is not forced to appear. Indeed, no one can subject Him to force, for He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everyone is under His control, and He is not under the control of anyone else. Foolish people who because of a poor fund of knowledge think that one can equal Krsna or become Krsna are condemned in every way. No one can equal or surpass Krsna, who is therefore described as asamaurdhva. According to the Visva-kosa dictionary, the word maya is used in the sense of false pride and also in the sense of compassion. For an ordinary living being, the body in which he appears is his punishment. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (7.14), daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya: This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But when Krsna comes the word maya refers to His compassion or mercy upon the devotees and fallen souls. By His potency, the Lord can deliver everyone, whether sinful or pious.

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