Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
कर्मणा जायते जन्तु: कर्मणैव प्रलीयते । सुखं दु:खं भयं क्षेमं कर्मणैवाभिपद्यते ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
karmaṇā jāyate jantuḥ
karmaṇaiva pralīyate
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhayaṁ kṣemaṁ
karmaṇaivābhipadyate
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
karmaṇā
—
by the force of karma
;
jāyate
—
takes birth
;
jantuḥ
—
the living entity
;
karmaṇā
—
by karma
;
eva
—
alone
;
pralīyate
—
he meets his destruction
;
sukham
—
happiness
;
duḥkham
—
unhappiness
;
bhayam
—
fear
;
kṣemam
—
security
;
karmaṇā eva
—
by karma alone
;
abhipadyate
—
are obtained .
Translation
Lord Kṛṣṇa said: It is by the force of karma that a living entity takes birth, and it is by karma alone that he meets his destruction. His happiness, distress, fear and sense of security all arise as the effects of karma.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Lord Kṛṣṇa said: It is by the force of karma that a living entity takes birth, and it is by karma alone that he meets his destruction. His happiness, distress, fear and sense of security all arise as the effects of karma.
KB 10.24.13
With this purpose in mind, Kṛṣṇa began to talk as if He were an atheist supporting the philosophy of Karma-mīmāṁsā. Advocates of this philosophy do not accept the supreme authority of the Personality of Godhead. They put forward the argument that if anyone works nicely, the result is sure to come. Their opinion is that even if there is a God who gives man the result of his fruitive activities, there is no need to worship Him, because unless man works He cannot bestow any good result. They say that instead of worshiping a demigod or God, people should give attention to their own duties, and thus the good result will surely come. Lord Kṛṣṇa began to speak to His father according to these principles of the Karma-mīmāṁsā philosophy. “My dear Father,” He said, “I don’t think you need to worship any demigod for the successful performance of your agricultural activities. Every living being is born according to his past karma and leaves this life simply taking the result of his present karma. Everyone is born in different types or species of life according to his past activities, and he gets his next birth according to the activities of this life. Different grades of material happiness and distress, comforts and disadvantages of life, are different results of different kinds of activities, from either the past or present life.”
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa minimized the importance of the demigods by speaking the philosophy known as Karma-vāda or Karma-mīmāṁsā, which, basically, is atheism with a belief in reincarnation. According to this philosophy, there are subtle laws of nature that reward or punish us according to how we act: “As you sow, so shall you reap.” In a future life one reaps the fruit of his present work, and this is the sum and substance of reality. Lord Kṛṣṇa, being God Himself, could hardly be a serious proponent of this mediocre philosophy. In the role of a young boy He was simply teasing His pure devotees by preaching it.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that Lord Kṛṣṇa was thinking, “Why are these eternal associates of Mine, appearing as My father and other relatives and friends, so caught up in this worship of Indra?” Thus although the Lord’s main purpose was to take away the false pride of Indra, He also wanted to remind His eternal devotees that they need not divert their attention to other so-called gods, since in fact His devotees were already living with the Supreme Absolute Truth, the almighty Lord Himself.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In order to show pastimes as a human being Krsna used logic to stop the sacrifice to Indra. He took shelter of karma vada (condemned by the devotees) and excluded worship of the devatas.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Who is Indra to receive the worship of my eternal associates like Nanda? Though Kṛṣṇa had in his mind the idea of breaking Indra’s pride, he first defeated his father’s arguments by taking shelter of the famous karmavāda in order to protect his human pastimes. Karmavāda would not reveal his nature as the Supreme Lord. Pramīyate means “die.” All beings live and die by karma. Another version has pralīyate with the same meaning. Another version has hi līyate: certainly they must die. And after living and dying they attain happiness, suffering, fear and lack of fear (kṣemam) etc. by karma. The word karmanā is repeated to emphasize the fact that karma is the cause.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
He refutes his father’s words first by taking shelter of karma-vāda, since it is famous everywhere. Beings are born by karma, since by prārabdha karma one receives results in this life. All jivas die (pramiyate) by karma. Another version has vilīyate with the same meaning. While living and in the next life, by karma one experiences happiness etc. and fearlessness (kṣemam). Karma is the cause, but the word is repeated for emphasis.