Devanagari
तथापि तच्छक्तिविसर्ग एषां
सुखाय दु:खाय हिताहिताय ।
बन्धाय मोक्षाय च मृत्युजन्मनो:
शरीरिणां संसृतयेऽवकल्पते ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
tathāpi tac-chakti-visarga eṣāṁ
sukhāya duḥkhāya hitāhitāya
bandhāya mokṣāya ca mṛtyu-janmanoḥ
śarīriṇāṁ saṁsṛtaye ’vakalpate
Synonyms
tathāpi
—
still
;
tat
—
śakti — of the Lord’s energy
;
visargaḥ
—
the creation
;
eṣām
—
of these (conditioned souls)
;
sukhāya
—
for the happiness
;
duḥkhāya
—
for the distress
;
hita
—
ahitāya — for the profit and loss
;
bandhāya
—
for the bondage
;
mokṣāya
—
for the liberation
;
ca
—
also
;
mṛtyu
—
of death
;
janmanoḥ
—
and birth
;
śarīriṇām
—
of all those who accept material bodies
;
saṁsṛtaye
—
for the repetition
;
avakalpate
—
acts .
Translation
Although the Supreme Lord is unattached to our happiness and distress according to karma, and although no one is His enemy or favorite, He creates pious and impious activities through the agency of His material potency. Thus for the continuation of the materialistic way of life He creates happiness and distress, good fortune and bad, bondage and liberation, birth and death.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The transformations of his māyā-śakti create the happiness, distress, good fortune and bad fortune, bondage, liberation and the repetition of birth and death of the living beings.
“But if the Lord is equal, why does he make one person happy and cause grief to another?” Even though he is equal in all circumstances, by the transformations of his māyā-śakti, the sequence of beginningless karmas arising from piety and sin creates happiness and distress. The meaning is this. Even though the Lord creates happiness and distress since the māyā-śakti belongs to him, and in that sense he shows inequality, he does not create happiness and distress since māyā is not his svarūpa-śakti. Thus the Lord is actually equal to all. Similarly, the universe of māyā is a form of the Lord, but because it does not arise from his svarūpa, it is different from him. Though the sun appears to be unequal because he gives sorrow to the owl and the night lotus by its rays, and gives happiness to the cakravāka bird and the day lotus, no one says the sun is partial.
Purport
Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate doer of everything, in His original transcendental existence He is not responsible for the happiness and distress, or bondage and liberation, of the conditioned souls. These are due to the results of the fruitive activities of the living entities within this material world. By the order of a judge, one person is released from jail, and another is imprisoned, but the judge is not responsible, for the distress and happiness of these different people is due to their own activities. Although the government is ultimately the supreme authority, the justice is administered by the departments of the government, and the government is not responsible for the individual judgments. Therefore the government is equal to all the citizens. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is neutral to everyone, but for the maintenance of law and order His supreme government has various departments, which control the activities of the living entities. Another example given in this regard is that lilies open or close because of the sunshine, and thus the bumblebees enjoy or suffer, but the sunshine and the sun globe are not responsible for the happiness and distress of the bumblebees.