Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते ।
भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसर्ग: कर्मसंज्ञित: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ
svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo
visargaḥ karma-saṁjṣitaḥ
Synonyms
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
akṣaram
—
indestructible
;
brahma
—
Brahman
;
paramam
—
transcendental
;
svabhāvaḥ
—
eternal nature
;
adhyātmam
—
the self
;
ucyate
—
is called
;
bhūta-bhāva-udbhava-karaḥ
—
producing the material bodies of the living entities
;
visargaḥ
—
creation
;
karma
—
fruitive activities
;
saṁjṣitaḥ
—
is called.
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyātma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
3. The Lord said: the Brahman is the supreme indestructible entity. Adhyātma is the jīva. Karma refers to transmigration arising from the creation of bodies made of material elements.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
3. The Lord said: Brahman is the indestructible jīvātma separate from the body. Adhyātma refers to impressions which accompany the jīva. Karma refers to the creative force which gives rise to bodies through the combination of subtle and gross elements.
Purport
Brahman is indestructible and eternally existing, and its constitution is not changed at any time. But beyond Brahman there is Para-brahman. Brahman refers to the living entity, and Para-brahman refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The constitutional position of the living entity is different from the position he takes in the material world. In material consciousness his nature is to try to be the lord of matter, but in spiritual consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his position is to serve the Supreme. When the living entity is in material consciousness, he has to take on various bodies in the material world. That is called karma, or varied creation by the force of material consciousness.
In Vedic literature the living entity is called jīvātmā and Brahman, but he is never called Para-brahman. The living entity ( jīvātmā ) takes different positions – sometimes he merges into the dark material nature and identifies himself with matter, and sometimes he identifies himself with the superior, spiritual nature. Therefore he is called the Supreme Lord’s marginal energy. According to his identification with material or spiritual nature, he receives a material or spiritual body. In material nature he may take a body from any of the 8,400,000 species of life, but in spiritual nature he has only one body. In material nature he is manifested sometimes as a man, demigod, animal, beast, bird, etc., according to his karma. To attain material heavenly planets and enjoy their facilities, he sometimes performs sacrifices ( yajṣa ), but when his merit is exhausted he returns to earth again in the form of a man. This process is called karma.
The Chāndogya Upaniṣad describes the Vedic sacrificial process. On the sacrificial altar, five kinds of offerings are made into five kinds of fire. The five kinds of fire are conceived of as the heavenly planets, clouds, the earth, man and woman, and the five kinds of sacrificial offerings are faith, the enjoyer on the moon, rain, grains and semen.
In the process of sacrifice, the living entity makes specific sacrifices to attain specific heavenly planets and consequently reaches them. When the merit of sacrifice is exhausted, the living entity descends to earth in the form of rain, then takes on the form of grains, and the grains are eaten by man and transformed into semen, which impregnates a woman, and thus the living entity once again attains the human form to perform sacrifice and so repeat the same cycle. In this way, the living entity perpetually comes and goes on the material path. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person, however, avoids such sacrifices. He takes directly to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thereby prepares himself to return to Godhead.
Impersonalist commentators on the Bhagavad-gītā unreasonably assume that Brahman takes the form of jīva in the material world, and to substantiate this they refer to Chapter Fifteen, verse 7, of the Gītā. But in this verse the Lord also speaks of the living entity as “an eternal fragment of Myself.” The fragment of God, the living entity, may fall down into the material world, but the Supreme Lord (Acyuta) never falls down. Therefore this assumption that the Supreme Brahman assumes the form of jīva is not acceptable. It is important to remember that in Vedic literature Brahman (the living entity) is distinguished from Para-brahman (the Supreme Lord).
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord answers. Brahman refers to the akṣara—that which does not get destroyed, that which is eternal and supreme. The śruti says etad vai tad akṣaram gārgi brāhmaṇā abhivadanti: the knowers of Brahman call the Supreme Lord (tad) the indestructible (akṣaram). [Note: In verse 21 Viśvanatha says that the akṣara is Nārāyaṇa.] (Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.8.8)
Svabhāva means “that which produces one’s self (svaṁ bhāvayati), from imposition of a body.” In other words, it means the jīva, since it creates the body. The jīva is called adhyātma. Or the meaning of svabhāva can be “that which causes one to attain the Paramātmā (sva meaning the Lord in this case). In this case adhyātma refers to the purified jīva, since only the pure jīva is qualified to attain Paramātmā.
The word karma refers to transmigration (visarga) of the jīva, the creation of bodies (bhāva) through the material elements (bhūta). It is called karma because it is produced from actions.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Being asked, the Lord replies to these seven questions one by one. Akṣaram means that which does not perish. I call the jīvātmā, which does not perish, distinct from the body (paramam), brahma. The śruti states that jīva is called brahma and akṣaraṁ:
avyaktam akṣare līyate’kṣaraṁ tamasi līyate tama ekībhavati parasminn
Avyakta (subtle state of prakṛti) merges into aksara (aggregate of the jīvas). Aksara merges into tamas (subtle state of prakṛti with jīva). Tamas becomes one with the Supreme Lord. [Note: Akṣara cannot refer to the Supreme Lord in this verse, since akṣaraṁ merges into tamas and tamas merges into the Lord.] Subāla Upaniṣad 1
vijṣānaṁ brahma ced veda
If one knows the ātmā, called brahman, as vijṣāna, one does not become bewildered. [Note: See Baladeva’s commentary on Vedānta Sūtra 1.1.12 for further explanation. When food, prāṇa, mind, and vijṣāna are called brahman, brahman means jīva. When bliss is called brahman it refers to the Supreme Lord.] Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.5
I refer to the svabhāva as adhyātma. Svabhāva is that substance (bhāva means padārtha) intimately connected to the jīva (sva)—the impressions held in the subtle elements which accompany the jīva birth after birth. Because the impressions are closely related to the ātmā, described as such in the paṣcāgni vidyā of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, they are called svabhāva. This svabhāva is what I call adhyātma, that which governs the body.
That creative force (visarga) which gives rise (udbhava kara) to the bodies (bhāva) of men and others by combination of the subtle elements (bhūta) with the gross elements (bhūta) is called karma. By performance of jyotistoma sacrifice one goes to svarga and in the body of a devatā one enjoys. The remnants coming from pious actions, which are similar to the remnants of ghee gathered in a pot for enjoyment, but which eventually are depleted, appear on this earth for giving the gross body of human or other form to the jīva. This is what I call karma.
In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Chapter 5, it is described that five offerings of faith, god of the moon, rain, food and semen are offered into the five fires of heaven, the god of rain, earth, man and woman. The meaning is this. The jīva following the Vedas in this world offers yogurt and other items with faith. Because they are made of the five elements, those offerings with faith take the form of the five elements, and particularly water. [Note: At the beginning of the fifth chapter of the Upaniṣad, it was asked, “Do you know how the fifth oblation in the form of water becomes man?” Water represents all the elements but is mentioned because water makes up most of the human body. It is said that water means the elements water, earth and fire in subtle form as senses, as these accompany the jīva in all his bodies, and act as a base for the prāṇas and mind which also go with the jīva. These rudimentary elements follow the jīva and assist in producing his gross bodies, as well as carrying previous impressions and karmic reactions.] Because of offering water with faith, it becomes an oblation of faith. This envelops the jīva and goes with him. When the person dies, the devas presiding over the senses offer the oblations of faith to the fire called heaven. That means they lead the jīva to heaven.
Those offerings transform into a heavenly body called Somarāja, King of the Moon. In that body, the jīva enjoys the results of his actions. At the end of enjoyment, the offerings along with the jīva are offered by the devas into the fire of Parjanya, God of Rain, and become rain. That rain along with the jīva is offered by the devas into the fire called earth and become food such as rice. The rice offerings along with the jīva are offered into the fire called man, and then become semen. The semen along with the jīva is offered into the fire called woman, and becomes an embryo, and transforms into man. The cause of such states, the consequence of actions, the residue from actions, is called karma. Thus the writer of the Sūtras has said tad-antara-pratipattau: in going to another body, the jīva takes the subtle elements. [Note: This description and the quotation from the Vedānta Sūtra is given to show that the jīva assumes a gross body by combination of subtle and gross elements (bhūta), which are mentioned in the verse: bhūta bhāva udbhāva kara, This particular sūtra refers to the description of the five oblations mentioned Chāndogya Upaniṣad and Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad.] (Vedānta Sūtra 3.1.1)
Surrender Unto Me
Srila Prabhupada explains in detail, according to the Chandogya Upanisad, about the meaning of karma. It means specifically, technically, according to the Purport: 'Karma means after one performs yajna or sacrifice, he goes to the heavenly planets. Then just before the 'punya' or good karma that is holding him up in the heavenly planets, expires, when there is just a little bit left, he comes down in the form of rain and that rain is absorbed to make the grains grow and the grains are eaten and become semen and the semen gives origin to a child gradually ‑ that is karma ‑ that action which develops material body for a soul when he descends from the heavenly planets. That specifically is what Krsna explains as karma. This body is composed of karma.