Devanagari
प्राचीनबर्हिषं क्षत्त: कर्मस्वासक्तमानसम् ।
नारदोऽध्यात्मतत्त्वज्ञ: कृपालु: प्रत्यबोधयत् ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
prācīnabarhiṣaṁ kṣattaḥ
karmasv āsakta-mānasam
nārado ’dhyātma-tattva-jṣaḥ
kṛpāluḥ pratyabodhayat
Synonyms
prācīnabarhiṣam
—
unto King Prācīnabarhiṣat
;
kṣattaḥ
—
O Vidura
;
karmasu
—
in fruitive activities
;
āsakta
—
attached
;
mānasam
—
with this mentality
;
nāradaḥ
—
the great sage Nārada
;
adhyātma
—
spiritualism
;
tattva
—
jṣaḥ — one who knows the truth
;
kṛpāluḥ
—
being compassionate
;
pratyabodhayat
—
gave instructions .
Translation
While the princes were undergoing severe austerities in the water, their father was performing different types of fruitive activities. At this time the great saint Nārada, master and teacher of all spiritual life, became very compassionate upon the King and decided to instruct him about spiritual life.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Vidura! Nārada, knowing spiritual truth and being compassionate, awakened the King whose mind was attached to karma-yoga.
While Śiva taught the Pracetās his song, Nārada was teaching their father jṣāna, vairāgya and bhakti through the story of Puraṣjana. Without completing the story of the Pracetās, Maitreya now speaks about their father. Nārada was merciful, thinking, “This king in the dynasty of my dear devotee Dhruva is enamored by karma. I will save him.”
Purport
As pointed out by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya,
kaivalya,
or merging into the Brahman effulgence, is just like going to hell. He similarly states that elevation to the upper planetary systems for the enjoyment of heavenly life is just so much phantasmagoria. This means that a devotee does not give any importance to the ultimate goal of the
karmīs
and
jṣānīs.
The ultimate goal of the
karmīs
is promotion to the heavenly kingdom, and the ultimate goal of the
jṣānīs
is merging into the Brahman effulgence. Of course, the
jṣānīs
are superior to the
karmīs,
as confirmed by Lord Caitanya.
Koṭi-karmaniṣṭha-madhye eka ‘jṣānī’ śreṣṭha:
“One
jṣānī,
or impersonalist, is better than many thousands of fruitive actors.” (
Cc. Madhya
19.147) Therefore a devotee never enters upon the path of
karma,
or elevation by fruitive activities. Nārada Muni took compassion upon King Prācīnabarhiṣat when he saw the King engaged in fruitive activity. In comparison to mundane workers, those who are trying to be elevated to the higher planetary systems by performing
yajṣas
are undoubtedly superior. In pure devotional service, however, both
karma
and
jṣāna
are considered bewildering features of the illusory energy.