Devanagari
अप्रतर्क्यादनिर्देश्यादिति केष्वपि निश्चय: ।
अत्रानुरूपं राजर्षे विमृश स्वमनीषया ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
apratarkyād anirdeśyād
iti keṣv api niścayaḥ
atrānurūpaṁ rājarṣe
vimṛśa sva-manīṣayā
Synonyms
apratarkyāt
—
beyond the power of reasoning
;
anirdeśyāt
—
beyond the power of thinking
;
iti
—
thus
;
keṣu
—
someone
;
api
—
also
;
niścayaḥ
—
definitely concluded
;
atra
—
herein
;
anurūpam
—
which of them is right
;
rāja
—
ṛṣe — O sage amongst the kings
;
vimṛśa
—
judge yourself
;
sva
—
by your own
;
manīṣayā
—
power of intelligence .
Translation
There are also some thinkers who believe that no one can ascertain the cause of distress by argumentation, nor know it by imagination, nor express it by words. O sage amongst kings, judge for yourself by thinking over all this with your own intelligence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
And among these, some ascertain that happiness and distress come from that which is beyond reason and perception, O sage among kings! Consider the proper truth by your intelligence.
Purport
The Vaiṣṇavites, the devotees of the Lord, do believe, as above explained, that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. He is the supreme director, for He confirms in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
that He, as all-pervading Paramātmā, stays in everyone’s heart and keeps vigilance over all actions and witnesses all activities. The argument of the atheist that one cannot be punished for one’s misdeeds unless proved before a qualified justice is refuted herein, for we accept the perpetual witness and constant companion of the living being. A living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life, but one must know that in the same tree of the material body, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramātmā are sitting like two birds. One of them, the living being, is enjoying the fruits of the tree, whereas the Supreme Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramātmā feature, the Supreme Soul, is actually the witness of all activities of the living being, and only by His direction can the living being remember or forget what he might have done in the past. He is, therefore, both the all-pervading impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā in everyone’s heart. He is the knower of all past, present and future, and nothing can be concealed from Him. The devotees know this truth, and therefore they discharge their duties sincerely, without being overly anxious for rewards. Besides that, one cannot estimate the Lord’s reactions, either by speculation or by scholarship. Why does He put some into difficulty and not others? He is the supreme knower of the Vedic knowledge, and thus He is the factual Vedāntist. At the same time He is the compiler of the
Vedānta.
No one is independent of Him, and everyone is engaged in His service in different ways. In the conditioned state, such services are rendered by the living being under force of the material nature, whereas in the liberated state the living being is helped by the spiritual nature in the voluntary loving service of the Lord. There is no incongruity or inebriety in His actions. All are on the path of Absolute Truth. Bhīṣmadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord. The conclusion is, therefore, that the sufferings of the representative of religion and the representative of the earth, as present before Mahārāja Parīkṣit, were planned to prove that Mahārāja Parīkṣit was the ideal executive head because he knew well how to give protection to the cows (the earth) and the
brāhmaṇas
(religious principles), the two pillars of spiritual advancement. Everyone is under the full control of the Lord. He is quite correct in His action when He desires something to be done by someone, irrespective of the consideration of the particular case. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was thus put to test for his greatness. Now let us see how he solves it by his sagacious mind.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Vaiṣṇavas ascertain that the happiness and suffering come from the Supreme Lord who cannot be determined by designations. Śruti says tvad-avagamī na vetti bhavad-uttha-śubhāśubhayor guṇa-viguṇānvayān: one who knows you cannot understand your connection with good and bad qualities which give auspiciousness and inauspiciousness.
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo ’bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayam eva ca
ahiṁsā samatā tuṣṭis tapo dānaṁ yaśo ’yaśaḥ
bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthag-vidhāḥ
Pleasure, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame, infamy--all these various states of the living beings arise only from me. BG 10.4-5
“But why should it be impossible to designate the Lord as the cause?” From seeing people’s suffering arising from time, karma, property of matter, planets, ghosts, kings, snakes and sickness, even those things cannot be determined as the cause since in reality, those causes are not independent. Everything arises from the Lord. But it is improper for the worshippers to say that the Lord is the cause of happiness and distress.
“But like and dislike do not exist in the Lord.” Yes, he is beyond conjecture (apratarkyād) because being beyond our logical abilities, he does not have like and dislike (in spite of being the ultimate cause of happiness and distress.) Bhīṣma has said:
na hy asya karhicid rājan pumān veda vidhitsitam
yad vijijṣāsayā yuktā muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi
O King! No one can understand the plan of Kṛṣṇa because even those engaged in reasoning and scripture are bewildered by that inquiry. SB 1.9.16
“It can be inferred that the Lord gives suffering to me for benefiting the devotees. He desires to increase remembrance of the Lord by increasing the miserable condition of developing devotees, like me, the bull. As well he wants to announce the fame of the highest devotee like you by your punishing Kali.
Among the various opinions which is the best? You decide by your intelligence the proper truth (anurūpam), because you are a sage among kings (rājarṣi).”
By using the word niścayaḥ (certainty) at the end of the list of opinions, this final opinion should be taken as the correct conclusion according to the Vaiṣṇavas. By saying “among all of them (keṣu)” it is indicated that this idea is rare. The king should consider this (vimṛśa) among the various alternatives. Happiness and distress are not illusory because suffering is actually experienced. Its cause is not the ātmā itself, since the jīva is dependent. The cause is not the planets because they are dependent on movement of time. The cause of suffering and happiness is not karma because it is insentient. Moreover the man of dharma (following the path of the Mīmāṁśakas) has prārabdha and aprārabdha karmas. If so, then their idea that following their path of karma destroys suffering is negated. Svabhāva is not the cause since it is not an exclusive cause. The Lord as the cause is absolute. Bhīṣma has said already that the plan of the Lord however is impossible for everyone to understand.