SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA

Verse 54

yas tv indragopam athavendram aho svakarma-
bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti
karmani nirddahati kim tu cha bhakti-bhajam
govindam adi purusam tam aham bhajami [54]

Translation: Whether one may be the tiny insect Indragopa or the great king of gods, Lord Indra, He impartially awards all souls on the path of karma the fruits befitting their deeds. Yet it is so wonderful! He burns at the root all the karma of the souls who adore Him—I worship Him, that Primeval Lord Govinda.

Purport: The Supreme Lord is impartial in awarding the conditioned souls the fruits of their karma, or mundane deeds; according to their previous actions He awards them their future engagements. But He gives His special grace to His devotees. He purges out, by the fire of ordeal, all their righteous or unrighteous karma along with its root, that is, the desire to perform karma, and nescience.

Although karma is beginningless, it is nonetheless destructible. Karma is indestructible for those who act in the hope of enjoying the fruits of their actions; their vicious circle of karma can never be terminated. Even the religious duty of sannyasa is a type of karma befitting a certain religious status. In that practice, as long as the practitioner remains hankering for its fruit of liberation, his observance of sannyasa cannot please Krishna or gain His grace. The sannyasis accrue the fruits of their karma, and even when their actions become desireless to the extreme they attain the paltry fruit of self-satisfaction (atma-ramata).

But those who are true devotees perpetually cultivate divine service to Krishna in a way pleasing to Him, totally abandoning all semblance of fleeting desires and independent attempts of jnana, karma, etc. Krishna totally annihilates all their karma, desires for karma, and nescience. Despite His impartiality, Krishna’s partiality to His devotees is a matter of marvel.

• For Reader's Appreciation
• Feelings of Appreciation
• Prologue
• Translator's Note
• Illumination
• Verse 1
• Verse 2
• Verse 3
• Verse 4
• Verse 5
• Verse 6
• Verse 7
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• Verse 9

• Verse 11
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• Verse 20
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• Verse 24
• Verse 25
• Verse 26
• Verse 27
• Verse 28
• Verse 29

• Verse 30
• Verse 31
• Verse 32
• Verse 33
• Verse 34
• Verse 35
• Verse 36
• Verse 37
• Verse 38
• Verse 39

• Verse 40
• Verse 41
• Verse 42
• Verse 43
• Verse 44
• Verse 45
• Verse 46
• Verse 47
• Verse 48
• Verse 49

• Verse 50
• Verse 51
• Verse 52
• Verse 53
• Verse 54
• Verse 55
• Verse 56
• Verse 57
• Verse 58
• Verse 59

• Verse 60
• Verse 61
• Verse 62

• Verse Contents

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