Adhyaya 57 — The Ninefold Divisions of Bharata: Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples
प्रयाति कर्मभूर्ब्रह्मन् नान्या लोकेषु विद्यते । देवानामपि विप्रर्षे सदैष मनोरथः ॥
prayāti karmabhūr brahman nānyā lokeṣu vidyate | devānām api viprarṣe sadaiṣa manorathaḥ ||
Ó brâmane, esta é a karmabhūmi, o campo da ação kármica; entre os mundos não existe outro igual. Mesmo para os deuses, ó melhor dos sábios, alcançá-la é sempre o desejo mais querido.
{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
The verse elevates embodied life as spiritually strategic: even devas lack the same scope for transformative effort, so one should not waste human opportunity.
Cosmological anthropology within manvantara/yuga framing: it distinguishes realms by their karmic functionality, a common Purāṇic explanatory layer.
‘Karmabhūmi’ implies the rare conjunction of freedom and limitation: enough constraint to generate tapas, enough agency to redirect destiny.