Devanagari
अग्नेर्यथा दारुवियोगयोगयो-रदृष्टतोऽन्यन्न निमित्तमस्ति
एवं हि जन्तोरपि दुर्विभाव्य:शरीरसंयोगवियोगहेतु: ॥ ५१ ॥
Verse text
agner yathā dāru-viyoga-yogayor
adṛṣṭato ’nyan na nimittam asti
evaṁ hi jantor api durvibhāvyaḥ
śarīra-saṁyoga-viyoga-hetuḥ
Synonyms
agneḥ
—
of a fire in the forest
;
yathā
—
as
;
dāru
—
of wood
;
viyoga
—
yogayoḥ — of both the escaping and the capturing
;
adṛṣṭataḥ
—
than unseen providence
;
anyat
—
some other reason or accident
;
na
—
not
;
nimittam
—
a cause
;
asti
—
there is
;
evam
—
in this way
;
hi
—
certainly
;
jantoḥ
—
of the living being
;
api
—
indeed
;
durvibhāvyaḥ
—
cannot be found out
;
śarīra
—
of the body
;
saṁyoga
—
of the accepting
;
viyoga
—
or of the giving up
;
hetuḥ
—
the cause .
Translation
When a fire, for some unseen reason, leaps over one piece of wood and sets fire to the next, the reason is destiny. Similarly, when a living being accepts one kind of body and leaves aside another, there is no other reason than unseen destiny.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When a fire, for some unseen reason, leaps over one piece of wood and sets fire to the next, the reason is destiny. Similarly, when a living being accepts one kind of body and leaves aside another, there is no other reason than unseen destiny.
KB 10.1.51
There is no certainty how a living entity contacts a certain type of body, just as there is no certainty how a blazing fire comes in contact with a certain type of wood in the forest. When there is a forest fire, it is experienced that the blazing fire sometimes leaps over one tree and catches another by the influence of the wind. Similarly, a living entity may be very careful in the matter of executing his duties, but it is still very difficult for him to know what type of body he is going to get in the next life. Mahārāja Bharata was very faithfully executing the duties of self-realization, but by chance he developed temporary affection for a deer, and in his next life he had to accept the body of a deer.
Purport
When there is a fire in a village, the fire sometimes jumps over one house and burns another. Similarly, when there is a forest fire, the fire sometimes jumps over one tree and catches another. Why this happens, no one can say. One may set forth some imaginary reason why the nearest tree or house did not catch fire whereas a tree or house in a distant place did, but actually the reason is destiny. This reason also applies to the transmigration of the soul, by which a prime minister in one life may become a dog in the next. The work of unseen destiny cannot be ascertained by practical experimental knowledge, and therefore one must be satisfied by reasoning that everything is done by supreme providence.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"What I have decided to do is not improbable, for no living entity can escape its fate (even Kamsa). To illustrate this he gives an example. When there is a forest fire what causes the fire to burn one tree and not another? There is no other cause than fate. Just as the cause of the trees’ suffering is fate, so the cause of person accepting and getting separated from his body is fate alone. We cannot determine it with our intelligence."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Similarly, for certain (hi), the cause of birth and death of all beings is inconceivable fate. One cannot determine what fate, whose fate, when it will occur, or what will happen as a result. By the inconceivable power of fate, Kaṁsa may die because of my son.