Devanagari
एवं वृत्तो वनं गत्वा दृष्ट्वा दावाग्निमुत्थितम् ।
तेनोपयुक्तकरणो ब्रह्म प्राप परं मुनि: ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ vṛtto vanaṁ gatvā
dṛṣṭvā dāvāgnim utthitam
tenopayukta-karaṇo
brahma prāpa paraṁ muniḥ
Synonyms
evam vṛttaḥ
—
being situated in such an order of life
;
vanam
—
to the forest
;
gatvā
—
after going
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
when he saw
;
dāva
—
agnim — a forest fire
;
utthitam
—
existing there
;
tena
—
by that (fire)
;
upayukta
—
karaṇaḥ — engaging all the senses of the body by burning
;
brahma
—
transcendence
;
prāpa
—
he achieved
;
param
—
the ultimate goal
;
muniḥ
—
as a great saintly person .
Translation
With this attitude, Pṛṣadhra became a great saint, and when he entered the forest and saw a blazing forest fire, he took this opportunity to burn his body in the fire. Thus he achieved the transcendental, spiritual world.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
With this way of life, Pṛṣadhra, having entered the forest, saw a blazing forest fire, which had arisen there. The sage, having burned up his body in the fire, achieved Kṛṣṇa.
Upayyukta-karaṇaḥ means he burned up his body. Param brahma means Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.9)
:
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” Pṛṣadhra, because of his
karma,
was cursed to take his next birth as a
śūdra,
but because he took to saintly life, specifically concentrating his mind always upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became a pure devotee. Immediately after giving up his body in the fire, he reached the spiritual world, as mentioned in
Bhagavad-gītā
(
mām eti
), as a result of his devotional situation. Devotional service performed by thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so powerful that although Pṛṣadhra was cursed he avoided the terrible consequence of becoming a
śūdra
and instead returned home, back to Godhead. As stated in
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.54)
:
yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho sva-karma-
bandhānurūpa-phala-bhājanam ātanoti
karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājāṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Those who engage in devotional service are unaffected by the results of their material activities. Otherwise, everyone, from the smallest microbe up to the King of heaven, Indra, is subject to the laws of
karma.
A pure devotee, being always engaged in the service of the Lord, is exempt from these laws.