SB 11.23.54 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कर्मास्तुहेतु: सुखदु:खयोश्चेत् किमात्मनस्तद्धिजडाजडत्वे । देहस्त्वचित् पुरुषोऽयं सुपर्ण: क्रुध्येत कस्मै न हि कर्ममूलम् ॥ ५४ ॥

Verse text

karmāstu hetuḥ sukha-duḥkhayoś cet kim ātmanas tad dhi jaḍājaḍatve dehas tv acit puruṣo ’yaṁ suparṇaḥ krudhyeta kasmai na hi karma mūlam

Synonyms

karma — one’s fruitive activities ; astu — hypothetically granted ; hetuḥ — the cause ; sukha — duḥkhayoḥ — of happiness and distress ; cet — if ; kim — what ; ātmanaḥ — for the soul ; tat — that karma ; hi — certainly ; jaḍa — ajaḍatve — in being both material and not material ; dehaḥ — the body ; tu — on the one hand ; acit — not living ; puruṣaḥ — the person ; ayam — this ; su — parṇaḥ — endowed with living consciousness ; krudhyeta — one should become angry ; kasmai — at whom ; na — are not ; hi — certainly ; karma — fruitive activities ; mūlam — the root cause .

Translation

If we assume that fruitive work is the cause of happiness and distress, we still are not dealing with the soul. The idea of material work arises when there is a spiritual actor who is conscious and a material body that undergoes the transformation of happiness and distress as a reaction to such work. Since the body has no life, it cannot be the actual recipient of happiness and distress, nor can the soul, who is ultimately completely spiritual and aloof from the material body. Since karma thus has no ultimate basis in either the body or the soul, at whom can one become angry?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

If we assume that karma is the cause of happiness and distress, we still are not dealing with the soul. Karma could be the sole cause if it were simultaneously a conscious entity and an unconscious entity. Since the body has no life, and the soul is spiritual how can they combine as one? Since karma is not the cause of suffering, at whom can one become angry? “Let karma be the cause of suffering and happiness!” This statement is made in a critical mood. There is no karma! How can karma be the cause? That is explained in this verse. Karma could only exist as the sole cause if it were matter and spirit existing as one entity, with material, unconscious part undergoing change while the conscious portion searched for its place of residence. But such a combination is not possible. The body is unconscious, and the jīva is conscious (suparṇaḥ), and there can be no combination of the pure conscious entity and matter made of ignorance into one entity called karma. Therefore at whom should one become angry, since (hi) karma is not the cause of happiness and suffering?

Purport

The material body is composed of earth, water, fire and air, just like bricks, stones and other objects. Our consciousness, falsely absorbed in the body, experiences happiness and distress, and fruitive work ( karma ) is performed when we falsely consider ourselves to be the enjoyers of the material world. False ego is thus the illusory combination within our minds of the self and the body, which are actually two separate objects. Since karma, or material work, is based on illusory consciousness, these activities are also illusory and have no factual basis in either the body or the soul. When a conditioned soul falsely considers himself to be the body, and consequently the enjoyer of the material world, he tries to find pleasure in illicit connection with women. Such sinful activity is based on his false concept of being the body and thus the enjoyer of women and of the world. Since he is not the body, his activity of enjoying a woman does not actually exist. There is merely the interaction of two machines, namely the two bodies, and the interaction of the illusory consciousness of the man and woman. The sensation of illicit sex occurs within the material body and is falsely assimilated by the false ego as its own experience. Thus the miserable or pleasurable reactions of karma ultimately act upon the false ego and not upon the body, which is composed of dull matter, nor upon the soul, which has nothing to do with matter. False ego is the illusory concoction of the mind; it is specifically this false ego that is suffering happiness and distress. The soul cannot become angry at others, since he is not personally enjoying or suffering. Rather, the false ego is doing this.