Devanagari
कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे कारणं प्रकृतिं विदु: ।
भोक्तृत्वे सुखदु:खानां पुरुषं प्रकृते: परम् ॥ ८ ॥
Verse text
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve
kāraṇaṁ prakṛtiṁ viduḥ
bhoktṛtve sukha-duḥkhānāṁ
puruṣaṁ prakṛteḥ param
Synonyms
kārya
—
the body
;
kāraṇa
—
the senses
;
kartṛtve
—
regarding the demigods
;
kāraṇam
—
the cause
;
prakṛtim
—
material nature
;
viduḥ
—
the learned understand
;
bhoktṛtve
—
regarding the perception
;
sukha
—
of happiness
;
duḥkhānām
—
and of distress
;
puruṣam
—
the spirit soul
;
prakṛteḥ
—
to material nature
;
param
—
transcendental .
Translation
The cause of the conditioned soul’s material body and senses, and the senses’ presiding deities, the demigods, is the material nature. This is understood by learned men. The feelings of happiness and distress of the soul, who is transcendental by nature, are caused by the spirit soul himself.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
They say that prakṛti is the cause of the jīva’s actions, being the cause of the body, senses and sense devatās. They say that the Supreme Lord, superior to prakṛti, is the cause of enjoyment and suffering of the jīva.
Bondage is created by the jīvas actions. The cause of the actions and their results is prakṛti and the Supreme Lord. Because action is accomplished by the body, sense and presiding deities of the senses, prakṛti is said to be the cause since it is the cause of the body, senses and devatās. Because they come into existence through prakṛti alone, they are called the cause of the jīva’s actions. They are dependent on māyā. The bestower of results of actions is the Supreme Lord alone. Thus it is said that the jīvas enjoyment of results of action is dependent on the Lord alone. The wise know that the Lord is the cause of the enjoyment of results of actions for the jīva (bhoktṛtve).
Purport
In
Bhagavad-gītā
it is said that when the Lord descends to this material world, He comes as a person by His own energy,
ātma-māyā.
He is not forced by any superior energy. He comes by His own will, and this can be called His pastime, or
līlā.
But here it is clearly stated that the conditioned soul is forced to take a certain type of body and senses under the three modes of material nature. That body is not received according to his own choice. In other words, a conditioned soul has no free choice; he has to accept a certain type of body according to his
karma.
But when there are bodily reactions as felt in happiness and distress, it is to be understood that the cause is the spirit soul himself. If he so desires, the spirit soul can change this conditional life of dualities by choosing to serve Kṛṣṇa. The living entity is the cause of his own suffering, but he can also be the cause of his eternal happiness. When he wants to engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a suitable body is offered to him by the internal potency, the spiritual energy of the Lord, and when he wants to satisfy his senses, a material body is offered. Thus it is his free choice to accept a spiritual body or a material body, but once the body is accepted he has to enjoy or suffer the consequences. The Māyāvādī philosopher’s presentation is that the living entity enjoys his pastimes by accepting the body of a hog. This theory is not acceptable, however, because the word “pastime” implies voluntary acceptance for enjoyment. Therefore this interpretation is most misleading. When there is enforced acceptance for suffering, it is not a pastime. The Lord’s pastimes and the conditioned living entity’s acceptance of karmic reaction are not on the same level.