Devanagari
जीवन्मृतत्वं नियमेन राजन्
आद्यन्तवद्यद्विकृतस्य दृष्टम् ।
स्वस्वाम्यभावो ध्रुव ईड्य यत्र
तर्ह्युच्यतेऽसौ विधिकृत्ययोग: ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
jīvan-mṛtatvaṁ niyamena rājan
ādyantavad yad vikṛtasya dṛṣṭam
sva-svāmya-bhāvo dhruva īḍya yatra
tarhy ucyate ’sau vidhikṛtya-yogaḥ
Synonyms
jīvat
—
mṛtatvam — the quality of being dead while living
;
niyamena
—
by the laws of nature
;
rājan
—
O King
;
ādi
—
anta — vat — everything material has a beginning and an end
;
yat
—
because
;
vikṛtasya
—
of things that are transformed, such as the body
;
dṛṣṭam
—
is seen
;
sva
—
svāmya — bhāvaḥ — the condition of servanthood and mastership
;
dhruvaḥ
—
unchangeable
;
īḍya
—
O you who are worshiped
;
yatra
—
wherein
;
tarhi
—
then
;
ucyate
—
it is said
;
asau
—
that
;
vidhi
—
kṛtya — yogaḥ — fitness of order and duty .
Translation
My dear King, you have unnecessarily accused me of being dead though alive. In this regard, I can only say that this is the case everywhere because everything material has its beginning and end. As far as your thinking that you are the king and master and are thus trying to order me, this is also incorrect because these positions are temporary. Today you are a king and I am your servant, but tomorrow the position may be changed, and you may be my servant and I your master. These are temporary circumstances created by providence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! You have said I am living but dead, but this is not so for me only. One sees change everywhere, since there is a beginning and end of all things. You have said that I disregard your order. O King, worthy of worship! When the conditions of servant and master are fixed, then one may say a person is suitable to be engaged in service.
You have said that I am living but dead. If you are defining me in terms of bodily identity, then living but being dead do not belong to me only. Everything seen is a transformation, since transformation takes place at every moment, with a beginning and end. You said that I am disobeying the order of the master. The states of servant (sva) and master (svāmya) exist. When these are fixed, then one can say “This person is fit to carry the palanquin.” Ucyate can mean “it is said” or “It is suitable.” If you give up the kingdom and I obtain the kingdom, then I make you carry the palanquin and say “What is this?”
Purport
The bodily conception is the basic principle of suffering in material existence. In Kali-yuga especially, people are so uneducated that they cannot even understand that the body is changing at every moment and that the ultimate change is called death. In this life one may be a king, and in the next life one may be a dog, according to
karma.
The spirit soul is in a deep slumber caused by the force of material nature. He is put in one type of condition and again changed into another type. Without self-realization and knowledge, conditional life continues, and one falsely claims himself a king, a servant, a cat or a dog. These are simply different transformations brought about by the supreme arrangement. One should not be misled by such temporary bodily conceptions. Actually no one is master within the material world, for everyone is under the control of material nature, which is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the ultimate master. As explained in
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya:
the only master is Kṛṣṇa, and everyone else is His servant. Forgetfulness of our relationship with the Supreme Lord brings about our suffering in the material world.