TEXT 7

TEXT

é[qXauk- ovac

Na ceidhEvaPaiciTa& YaQaa&hSa"

k*-TaSYa ku-YaaRNMaNao¢-Paai<ai>a" )

Da]uv& Sa vE Pa[eTYa Nark-aNauPaEiTa

Yae k-IiTaRTaa Mae >avTaiSTaGMaYaaTaNaa" )) 7 ))

çré-çuka uväca

na ced ihaiväpacitià yathäàhasaù

kåtasya kuryän mana-ukta-päëibhiù

dhruvaà sa vai pretya narakän upaiti

ye kértitä me bhavatas tigma-yätanäù

SYNONYMS

çré-çukaù uväca—Çréla Çukadeva Gosvämé said; na—not; cet—if; iha—within this life; eva—certainly;
apacitim—counteraction, atonement; yathä—duly; aàhasaù kåtasya—when one has performed sinful
activities; kuryät—performs; manaù—with the mind; ukta—words; päëibhiù—and with the senses;
dhruvam—undoubtedly; saù—that person; vai—indeed; pretya—after death; narakän—different
varieties of hellish conditions; upaiti—attains; ye—which; kértitäù—were already described; me—by
me; bhavataù—unto you; tigma-yätanäù—in which there is very terrible suffering.

TRANSLATION

Çukadeva Gosvämé replied: My dear King, if before one's next death whatever impious acts one has
performed in this life with his mind, words and body are not counteracted through proper atonement
according to the description of the Manu-saàhitä and other dharma-çästras, one will certainly enter the
hellish planets after death and undergo terrible suffering, as I have previously described to you.

PURPORT

Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura mentions that although Mahäräja Parékñit was a pure devotee,
Çukadeva Gosvämé did not immediately speak to him about the strength of devotional service. As
stated in Bhagavad-gétä (14.26):

mäà ca yo 'vyabhicäreëa
bhakti-yogena sevate

sa guëän samatétyaitän

brahma-bhüyäya kalpate

Devotional service is so strong that if one fully surrenders to Kåñëa and takes fully to His devotional
service, the reactions of his sinful life immediately stop.

Elsewhere in the Gétä (18.66), Lord Kåñëa urges that one give up all other duties and surrender to Him,
and He promises, ahaà tväà sarva-päpebhyo mokñayiñyämi: "I shall free you from all sinful reactions and
give you liberation." Therefore in response to the inquiries of Parékñit Mahäräja, Çukadeva Gosvämé,
his guru, could have immediately explained the principle of bhakti, but to test Parékñit Mahäräja's
intelligence, he first prescribed atonement according to karma-käëòa, the path of fruitive activities. For
karma-käëòa there are eighty authorized scriptures, such as Manu-saàhitä, which are known as dharma-
çästras. In these scriptures one is advised to counteract his sinful acts by performing other types of
fruitive action. This was the path first recommended by Çukadeva Gosvämé to Mahäräja Parékñit, and
actually it is a fact that one who does not take to devotional service must follow the decision of these
scriptures by performing pious acts to counteract his impious acts. This is known as atonement.

SB 6.1.8