Shloka 22
Dhruva Uses the Nārāyaṇāstra; Manu Checks His Wrath and Teaches Dharma
केचित्कर्म वदन्त्येनं स्वभावमपरे नृप । एके कालं परे दैवं पुंस: काममुतापरे ॥ २२ ॥
kecit karma vadanty enaṁ svabhāvam apare nṛpa eke kālaṁ pare daivaṁ puṁsaḥ kāmam utāpare
O King, some explain the varieties of life and their joy and suffering as the result of karma. Others attribute it to nature, others to time, others to fate, and still others to desire.
There are different types of philosophers — mīmāṁsakas, atheists, astronomers, sexualists and so many other classifications of mental speculators. The real conclusion is that it is our work only that binds us within this material world in different varieties of life. How these varieties have sprung up is explained in the Vedas: it is due to the desire of the living entity. The living entity is not a dead stone; he has different varieties of desire, or kāma. The Vedas say, kāmo ’karṣīt. The living entities are originally parts of the Lord, like sparks of a fire, but they have dropped to this material world, attracted by a desire to lord it over nature. That is a fact. Every living entity is trying to lord it over the material resources to the best of his ability.
FAQs
This verse lists common explanations—karma, nature (svabhāva), time (kāla), destiny (daiva), and personal desire—showing how people attribute life’s outcomes to different forces.
He presents the various viewpoints found among thinkers and people in general, setting the stage for the Bhagavatam’s deeper conclusion that the Supreme Lord ultimately governs all causes.
Recognize that outcomes may be influenced by multiple factors, do your duty without obsession over control, and cultivate devotion and surrender to the Lord rather than blaming only fate or only personal effort.