Devanagari
स्वधर्मनिष्ठ: शतजन्मभि: पुमान्
विरिञ्चतामेति तत: परं हि माम् ।
अव्याकृतं भागवतोऽथ वैष्णवं
पदं यथाहं विबुधा: कलात्यये ॥ २९ ॥
Verse text
sva-dharma-niṣṭhaḥ śata-janmabhiḥ pumān
viriṣcatām eti tataḥ paraṁ hi mām
avyākṛtaṁ bhāgavato ’tha vaiṣṇavaṁ
padaṁ yathāhaṁ vibudhāḥ kalātyaye
Synonyms
sva
—
dharma — niṣṭhaḥ — one who is situated in his own dharma, or occupation
;
śata
—
janmabhiḥ — for one hundred births
;
pumān
—
a living entity
;
viriṣcatām
—
the post of Lord Brahmā
;
eti
—
gets
;
tataḥ
—
thereafter
;
param
—
above
;
hi
—
certainly
;
mām
—
attains me
;
avyākṛtam
—
without deviation
;
bhāgavataḥ
—
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
atha
—
therefore
;
vaiṣṇavam
—
a pure devotee of the Lord
;
padam
—
post
;
yathā
—
as
;
aham
—
I
;
vibudhāḥ
—
demigods
;
kalā
—
atyaye — after the annihilation of the material world .
Translation
A person who executes his occupational duty properly for one hundred births becomes qualified to occupy the post of Brahmā, and if he becomes more qualified, he can approach Lord Śiva. A person who is directly surrendered to Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, in unalloyed devotional service is immediately promoted to the spiritual planets. Lord Śiva and other demigods attain these planets after the destruction of this material world.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
A person fixed in dharma attains the post of Brahmā after a hundred births, and by more pious acts than that a person attains me, Śiva. But the devotee attains the abode of Vaikuṇṭha beyond the material world after leaving the body. Similarly I in another form reside there, and the devatās who are qualified go there after destroying their subtle bodies.
Hear from my mouth the ranking of attainment of Brahmā, Śiva and Viṣṇu according to pious acts. Attaining Viṣṇu is by far superior. Being fixed in dharma, a person attains the post of Brahmā after a hundred births. And if he is not fixed, even after a hundred births, he does not attain that position. By greater pious acts one can attain me, superior (param) to Brahmā. But one who worships Viṣṇu (bhāgavataḥ) attains Vaikuṇṭha, beyond the material world (avyākṛtam), after leaving his body, just as I, residing in Vaikuṇṭha at every moment, worship the Lord in one form. The devatās who are qualified devotees also, with destruction of their subtle bodies, after finishing their duties, will go there. Bhakti is shown as the best because it is easy to perform during practice and after attainment of the Lord.
Purport
This verse gives an idea of the highest perfection of the evolutionary process. As described by the Vaiṣṇava poet Jayadeva Gosvāmī,
pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedam.
Let us begin tracing the evolutionary process from the point of devastation (
pralaya
), when the whole universe is filled with water. At that time there are many fishes and other aquatics, and from these aquatics evolve creepers, trees, etc. From these, insects and reptiles evolve, and from them, birds, beasts and then human beings and finally civilized human beings. Now, the civilized human being is at a junction where he can make further evolutionary progress in spiritual life. Here it is stated (
sva-dharma-niṣṭhaḥ
) that when a living entity comes to a civilized form of life, there must be
sva-dharma,
social divisions according to one’s work and qualifications. This is indicated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.13)
:
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
“According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me.”
In civilized human society there must be the divisions of
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
and
śūdra,
and everyone must properly execute his occupational duty in accordance with his division. Here it is described (
sva-dharma-niṣṭhaḥ
) that it does not matter whether one is a
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya
or
śūdra.
If one sticks to his position and properly executes his particular duty, he is considered a civilized human being. Otherwise he is no better than an animal. It is also mentioned herein that whoever executes his occupational duty (
sva-dharma
) for one hundred births (for instance, if a
brāhmaṇa
continues to act as a
brāhmaṇa
) becomes eligible for promotion to Brahmaloka, the planet where Lord Brahmā lives. There is also a planet called Śivaloka, or Sadāśivaloka, which is situated in a marginal position between the spiritual and material worlds. If, after being situated in Brahmaloka, one becomes more qualified, he is promoted to Sadāśivaloka. Similarly, when one becomes even more qualified, he can attain the Vaikuṇṭhalokas. The Vaikuṇṭhalokas are targets for everyone, even the demigods, and they can be attained by a devotee who has no desire for material benefit. As indicated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.16)
, one does not escape material miseries even if he is elevated to Brahmaloka (
ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna
). Similarly, one is not very safe even if he is promoted to Śivaloka, because the planet of Śivaloka is marginal. However, if one attains Vaikuṇṭhaloka, he attains the highest perfection of life and the end of the evolutionary process (
mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate
). In other words, it is confirmed herein that a person in human society who has developed consciousness must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in order to be promoted to Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Kṛṣṇaloka immediately after leaving the body.
Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
(
Bg. 4.9
). A devotee who is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who is not attracted by any other
loka,
or planet, including Brahmaloka and Śivaloka, is immediately transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka (
mām eti
). That is the highest perfection of life and the perfection of the evolutionary process.