Shloka 13
Priyavrata Accepts Kingship by Brahmā’s Instruction; Sapta-dvīpa Formation and Renunciation
भवाय नाशाय च कर्म कर्तुं शोकाय मोहाय सदा भयाय । सुखाय दु:खाय च देहयोग- मव्यक्तदिष्टं जनताङ्ग धत्ते ॥ १३ ॥
bhavāya nāśāya ca karma kartuṁ śokāya mohāya sadā bhayāya sukhāya duḥkhāya ca deha-yogam avyakta-diṣṭaṁ janatāṅga dhatte
ప్రియవ్రతా, పరమ పురుషోత్తముని ఆజ్ఞచేత జీవులు జననం-మరణం, కర్మాచరణం, శోకం-మోహం, భవిష్యత్ భయాలు, అలాగే సుఖం-దుఃఖం అనుభవించుటకు వివిధ దేహాలను స్వీకరిస్తారు. ఇది అంతా అవ్యక్తమైన విధి ప్రకారమే జరుగుతుంది।
Every living entity who has come to this material world has come here for material enjoyment, but according to his own karma, activities, he must accept a certain type of body given to him by material nature under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27) , prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ: everything is being done by prakṛti, material nature, under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Modern scientists do not know why there are varieties of bodies in 8,400,000 forms. The fact is that all these bodies are ordained for the living entities by the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the living entities’ desires. He gives the living entities freedom to act as they like, but on the other hand they must accept a body according to the reactions of their activities. Thus there are different types of bodies. Some living entities have short durations of life, whereas others live for fantastic durations. Every one of them, however, from Brahmā down to the ant, acts according to the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is sitting in everyone’s heart. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) :
FAQs
This verse explains that due to deha-yoga (identification with a material body), the jīva undergoes alternating sukha and duḥkha, as well as fear, delusion, and lamentation—an arrangement attributed to avyakta-diṣṭa (unseen providence) within material nature.
Ṛṣabhadeva instructs his audience to recognize the inherent miseries of embodied life driven by karma, so they develop detachment from fruitive work and seek a higher, spiritual aim beyond repeated material becoming and destruction.
Treat changing outcomes—success/failure, pleasure/pain—as symptoms of bodily entanglement, reduce karmic obsession with results, and redirect effort toward sādhana (devotional practice) that lifts consciousness beyond fear and illusion.