Shloka 63
यथानुमीयते चित्तमुभयैरिन्द्रियेहितै: । एवं प्राग्देहजं कर्म लक्ष्यते चित्तवृत्तिभि: ॥ ६३ ॥
yathānumīyate cittam ubhayair indriyehitaiḥ evaṁ prāg-dehajaṁ karma lakṣyate citta-vṛttibhiḥ
One may infer a living being’s mental state from the workings of two kinds of senses—the knowledge-acquiring and the active senses. In the same way, from a person’s consciousness and its movements, one can discern the karma born of a former body and thus his position in a previous life.
There is an English proverb that says, “The face is the index of the mind.” If one is angry, his anger is immediately expressed in his face. Similarly, other mental states are reflected by the actions of the gross body. In other words, the activities of the gross body are reactions of the mental condition. The mind’s activities are thinking, feeling and willing. The willing portion of the mind is manifest by the activities of the body. The conclusion is that by the activities of the body and senses, we can understand the condition of the mind. The condition of the mind is affected by past activities in the past body. When the mind is joined with a particular sense, it immediately becomes manifest in a certain way. For instance, when there is anger in the mind, the tongue vibrates so many maledictions. Similarly, when the mind’s anger is expressed through the hand, there is fighting. When it is expressed through the leg, there is kicking. There are so many ways in which the subtle activities of the mind are expressed through the various senses. The mind of a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness also acts in a similar way. The tongue chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, the mahā-mantra, the hands are raised in ecstasy, and the legs dance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. These symptoms are technically called aṣṭa-sāttvika-vikāra. Sāttvika-vikāra is transformation of the mental condition in goodness or sometimes transcendental ecstasy.
FAQs
This verse says that previous-life karma can be understood by observing the mind’s present tendencies—its recurring thoughts, attractions, and aversions—revealed through how the senses engage with objects.
Nārada was redirecting the king from external, ritual-centered material aims to inner purification, showing that deep karmic conditioning is visible in the mind’s patterns and must be transformed for true spiritual advancement.
Notice repeated sense-driven habits and the thoughts they produce; treat them as karmic patterns, and deliberately engage the senses in bhakti (hearing, chanting, and remembering the Lord) to reshape the mind toward devotion.