Devanagari
अजस्य जन्मोत्पथनाशनाय
कर्माण्यकर्तुर्ग्रहणाय पुंसाम् ।
नन्वन्यथा कोऽर्हति देहयोगं
परो गुणानामुत कर्मतन्त्रम् ॥ ४४ ॥
Verse text
ajasya janmotpatha-nāśanāya
karmāṇy akartur grahaṇāya puṁsām
nanv anyathā ko ’rhati deha-yogaṁ
paro guṇānām uta karma-tantram
Synonyms
ajasya
—
of the unborn
;
janma
—
appearance
;
utpatha
—
nāśanāya — for the sake of annihilating the upstarts
;
karmāṇi
—
works
;
akartuḥ
—
of one who has nothing to do
;
grahaṇāya
—
to take up
;
puṁsām
—
of all persons
;
nanu anyathā
—
otherwise
;
kaḥ
—
who
;
arhati
—
may deserve
;
deha
—
yogam — contact of the body
;
paraḥ
—
transcendental
;
guṇānām
—
of the three modes of nature
;
uta
—
what to speak of
;
karma
—
tantram — the law of action and reaction .
Translation
The appearance of the Lord is manifested for the annihilation of the upstarts. His activities are transcendental and are enacted for the understanding of all persons. Otherwise, since the Lord is transcendental to all material modes, what purpose could He serve by coming to earth?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though the Lord is without birth, he appeared in this world to destroy the wicked. Though without action, the Lord performed actions to attract his devotees. On the other hand the jīvas of this word are dependent on karma and rebirth. How can one who is beyond the guṇas take a body and perform material actions?
“Why should the Supreme Lord full of knowledge and bliss involve himself in the material world of sin and piety?” That is true. The Lord appears in this world for two reasons: affection for his devotee and desiring the good of all other beings. This is what the verse explains. The Lord is devoid of transformations such as birth caused by dependence on māyā, which is the condition of ordinary jīvas. But he takes birth, through yoga-māyā, because of dependence on his devotees’ prema, for destroying the demons who stray from the correct path (utpatha). By killing them he gives them liberation. Though he is not the doer, and does not performs material actions, he performs actions full of knowledge and bliss such as lifting Govardhana, without being the performer of action, which causes bondage in the guṇas. He performs these actions for the pleasure of his devotees (puṁsām) who are detached from the happiness of Svarga or liberation. Or he performs these actions for attracting the people to himself, for attracting the people of the material world, those desiring liberation and those who are already liberated.
nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānād
bhavauṣadhāc chrotra-mano-’bhirāmāt
ka uttamaśloka-guṇānuvādāt
pumān virajyeta vinā paśughnāt
Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the paramparā system; that is, it is conveyed from spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self? SB 10.1.4
On the other hand the jīvas are dependent on their karmas. The Lord is not like that. If the Lord received birth and actions by karma, he would have a relationship with a material body and be dependent on karma. But even his devotee perfect in bhakti, beyond the guṇas, does not have a relationship with a material body, what to speak of the Supreme Lord himself. What jīva, separate from the guṇas, would be dependent on karma (deha-yogam)? No one. Thus the meaning is that he has a relationship with a body not dependent on karma. Because there is no possibility that the Lord can be connected with māyā, it is concluded that his body is knowledge and bliss.
Purport
Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
(
Brahma-saṁhitā
5.1
): the form of the Lord is eternal, blissful and all-satisfying. His so-called birth is therefore an appearance only, like the birth of the sun on the horizon. His birth does not, like that of the living entities, take place under the influence of material nature and the bondage of the reactions of past deeds. His works and activities are independent pastimes and are not subject to the reactions of material nature. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.14)
it is said:
na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti
na me karma-phale spṛhā
iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti
karmabhir na sa badhyate
The law of
karma
enacted by the Supreme Lord for the living entities cannot be applicable to Him, nor has the Lord any desire to improve Himself by activities like those of ordinary living beings. Ordinary living beings work for the improvement of their conditional lives. But the Lord is already full of all opulence, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. Why should He desire improvement? No one can excel Him in any opulence, and therefore the desire for improvement is absolutely useless for Him. One should always discriminate between the activities of the Lord and those of ordinary living beings. Thus one may come to the right conclusion regarding the Lord’s transcendental position. One who can come to the conclusion of the Lord’s transcendence can become a devotee of the Lord and can at once be free from all reactions of past deeds. It is said,
karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām:
the Lord minimizes or nullifies the reactionary influence of the devotee’s past deeds. (
Brahma-saṁhitā
5.54
)
The activities of the Lord are to be accepted and relished by all living entities. His activities are to attract the ordinary man towards the Lord. The Lord always acts in favor of the devotees, and therefore ordinary men who are fruitive actors or seekers of salvation may be attracted to the Lord when He acts as protector of the devotees. The fruitive actors can attain their goals by devotional service, and the salvationists can also attain their goal in life by devotional service to the Lord. The devotees do not want the fruitive results of their work, nor do they want any kind of salvation. They relish the glorious superhuman activities of the Lord, such as His lifting Govardhana Hill and His killing the demon Pūtanā in infancy. His activities are enacted to attract all kinds of men —
karmīs, jṣānīs
and
bhaktas.
Because He is transcendental to all laws of
karma,
there is no possibility of His accepting a form of
māyā
as is forced on the ordinary living entities who are bound by the actions and reactions of their own deeds.
The secondary purpose of His appearance is to annihilate the upstart
asuras
and to stop the nonsense of atheistic propaganda by less intelligent persons. By the Lord’s causeless mercy, the
asuras
who are killed personally by the Personality of Godhead get salvation. The meaningful appearance of the Lord is always distinct from ordinary birth. Even the pure devotees have no connection with the material body, and certainly the Lord, who appears as He is, in His
sac-cid-ānanda
form, is not limited by a material form.