Shloka 28
Nārada’s Past Life, the Lord’s Brief Vision, and the Power of Kīrtana
प्रयुज्यमाने मयि तां शुद्धां भागवतीं तनुम् । आरब्धकर्मनिर्वाणो न्यपतत् पाञ्चभौतिक: ॥ २८ ॥
prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ
ഭഗവാന്റെ പാർഷദനായി യോജിക്കുന്ന ശുദ്ധ ഭാഗവതീ (അപ്രാകൃത) ദേഹം എനിക്ക് ലഭിച്ചപ്പോൾ, ഞാൻ പഞ്ചഭൗതിക ദേഹം ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചു; അങ്ങനെ ആരംഭിച്ച കർമഫലബന്ധവും അവിടെ തന്നെ ശമിച്ചു।
Informed by the Personality of Godhead that he would be awarded a transcendental body befitting the Lord’s association, Nārada got his spiritual body as soon as he quit his material body. This transcendental body is free from material affinity and invested with three primary transcendental qualities, namely eternity, freedom from material modes, and freedom from reactions of fruitive activities. The material body is always afflicted with the lack of these three qualities. A devotee’s body becomes at once surcharged with the transcendental qualities as soon as he is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. It acts like the magnetic influence of a touchstone upon iron. The influence of transcendental devotional service is like that. Therefore change of the body means stoppage of the reaction of three qualitative modes of material nature upon the pure devotee. There are many instances of this in the revealed scriptures. Dhruva Mahārāja and Prahlāda Mahārāja and many other devotees were able to see the Personality of Godhead face to face apparently in the same body. This means that the quality of a devotee’s body changes from material to transcendence. That is the opinion of the authorized Gosvāmīs via the authentic scriptures. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that beginning from the indra-gopa germ up to the great Indra, King of heaven, all living beings are subjected to the law of karma and are bound to suffer and enjoy the fruitive results of their own work. Only the devotee is exempt from such reactions, by the causeless mercy of the supreme authority, the Personality of Godhead.
FAQs
This verse states that when one becomes fully engaged in a pure bhāgavata (devotional) condition, the material body made of five elements naturally falls away, and the binding force of previously begun karma comes to cessation.
Nārada is explaining to Vyāsadeva how sincere devotional engagement purified him so completely that his material body ended and his karmic momentum was extinguished—demonstrating the power of bhakti as the ultimate purifier and liberator.
Cultivate steady devotional practice—hearing and chanting about the Lord, serving devotees, and living with purity—so that karmic reactions weaken and detachment from bodily identity naturally grows.